20th Anniversary of the Fall...yesterday

If you didn't see it on the news, read about it in the paper or hear about it on the radio, yesterday was the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. World leaders past and present gathered in the German capital to celebrate the anniversary of the Berlin Wall's fall, which led to German reunification. On the historic night of November 9, 1989, East Berliners trapped behind the 12 feet high concrete barrier rushed checkpoints to force it open and the rest is history.

Representatives from Topps must have been there that night because 12 years later I pulled this card from a pack of 2001 Topps American Pie:

If you look closely, you can see the "remnants" are basically dust some 8 years after I pulled the card.

The card actually commemorates John F. Kennedy's speech at the Berlin Wall on June 26, 1963. A few of his more famous words appear in the quote on the back of the card.

"Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe...All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words Ich bin ein Berliner." I suppose it is a good thing the Wall wasn't in Frankfurt, otherwise Kennedy would have "bin ein Frankfurter."

This is by far the coolest non-sports card I've pulled. I'm fascinated by history so I like to pull this card out now and then and look at it.