The Berlin Airlift where the U.S. and its allies dropped supplies to the people of East Berlin .

1. The Berlin Airlift where the U.S. and its allies dropped supplies to the people of East Berlin.

2. Station A: Berlin Airlift (background) The Berlin airlift marked the first major confrontation in the Cold War. For 11 months, beginning in June 1948, the Western allies took part in an unprecedented attempt to keep a city alive -- entirely from the air. Following World War II, Germany is divided into four zones of occupation -- Soviet, British, French and American. Germany, and Berlin in particular, are the only places where communist and capitalist forces come into direct contact. In June 1948, an announcement by the Western Allies brings a crisis to Berlin. They establish a currency reform meant to wipe out the German black market and further tie the vulnerable German economy to the West. The Soviets are not told and are infuriated by the action. On Thursday, June 24, 1948, West Berlin wakes to find itself under a Soviet blockade -- and in the midst of the first major confrontation of the Cold War. The Western Allies impose a counter-blockade on the Soviet zone. The Soviets hope to starve the West out of Berlin. In West Berlin, the airlift brings people sustenance and hope. In one memorable instance, the airlift rains candy on West Berlin's desperate children. As it became evident that the Soviets are not going to back down from their blockade, the Western Allies considered how to expand their airlift operations. Larger cargo planes were brought in, as well as bombers with cargo capacity The Soviet Union ended its blockade of Berlin on May 12, 1949. A month earlier, at the airlift's peak, Western cargo planes were landing at one of Berlin's three airports at a rate of one every 62 seconds. By the time the airlift ended, more than 275,000 flights had carried 2.3 million tons of supplies to Berlin -- an effort that went down in history as an aviation and logistical feat.

3. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin.

4. Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.

5. West Berlin soldiers wait to assist those fleeing East Berlin.

7. Graffiti art was used to both protest the wall, the Cold War, and as Urban art.

8. West Berliners help East Berliners over the wall.

11. As Communism began to falter in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia in 1988 and 1989, new exodus points were opened to East Germans who wanted to flee to the West. Then suddenly, on the evening of November 9, 1989, an announcement made by East German government official Günter Schabowski stated, "Permanent relocations can be done through all border checkpoints between the GDR (East Germany) into the FRG (West Germany) or West Berlin." People were in shock. Were the borders really open? East Germans tentatively approached the border and indeed found that the border guards were letting people cross. Very quickly, the Berlin Wall was inundated with people from both sides. Some began chipping at the Berlin Wall with hammers and chisels. There was an impromptu huge celebration along the Berlin Wall, with people hugging, kissing, singing, cheering, and crying. The Berlin Wall was eventually chipped away, into smaller pieces (some the size of a coin and others in big slabs). The pieces have become collectibles and are stored in both homes and museums. After the Berlin Wall came down, East and West Germany reunified into a single German state on October 3, 1990.

16. The Vietnam War .