With the big PN-PC game this Friday, this has been a big week for Northern students, but it is, more importantly, also an anniversary for many events. For example, Edgar Allen Poe was found delirious in a gutter in 1849, Iraq gained independence from the UK in 1932, the first black owned radio station was launched in Atlanta in 1949, and OJ Simpson was acquitted in 1995.

Another significant event was the unity of Germany in 1990. Post WWⅡ Germany was split into four separate areas, each one being controlled by either France, the United Kingdom, the United States, or the Soviet Union. The division was most visible in Berlin, Germany, where the city was split into East Berlin and West Berlin by the Berlin wall. In Berlin, life was very similar in East Berlin, the area controlled by the US, France, and UK, but the area controlled by the USSR was very different. The area controlled by the USSR was known as West Berlin, and was very guarded. It was not to stop people from entering, however, it was to stop people from getting out. In West Berlin, poverty and crime rates were very high. Many people crossed the wall to get to a better life in East Berlin, and some died doing so.

After 28 years of the wall being up, it was finally destroyed. This was a key step to the unification of Germany. After the destruction, the West German government head Helmut Kohl created a 10 point program that called for cooperation between the two Germanys in order to begin reunification. One of the first steps taken towards unification was an economic treaty where they established a shared currency and monetary value of said currency. Then, on August 23rd, the Parliament of East Germany passed a resolution that called for the final reunification of the two Germanys. The bills that would finally unify them was passed on September 20th, 1990, with overwhelming support in both countries. They officially joined together on this day, in October 3rd. Today, Germany is still one nation united under a common flag. It has been 26 years since the unification, which has allowed Germany to become the nation and ally to the US that it is today.