MANDELA JAILED

THE BERLIN WALL

On August 13, 1961, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, began to build a barbed wire and concrete wall between East and West Berlin.

The official purpose of this Berlin Wall was to keep Western “fascists” from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state, but it primarily served the objective of stemming mass defections from East to West.

The Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens could cross the border whenever they pleased.

That night, ecstatic crowds swarmed the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought sledge hammers and pick-axes and began to chip away at the wall itself. To this day, the Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of the Cold War.

DRUGS

Recreational drugs became synonymous with the Swinging Sixties.

Images of the Woodstock festival show people high on marijuana and LSD, dancing in fields with paint on their face and their hair flowing free.

Many high-profile pop stars like The Beatles and the Rolling Stones dabbled in drugs with both bands making references to drug use in their music, making them seem more desirable to their army of fans.

SEXUAL FREEDOM Pill changed women’s lives

BARRIER Construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961

CHANGE Revellers and, right, Nelson Mandela

The leader of the African National Congress had dedicated his life to protesting against the South African government’s apartheid system.

Mandela was arrested on August 5, 1962, and sentenced to five years’ jail for inciting a strike.

Already a prisoner of the notorious Robben Island jail, in 1963 he was charged under the sabotage act and sentenced to life. He was freed 27 years later and became the first president of post-apartheid South Africa.