The Berlin Wall gave way to revolution that swept the Eastern Bloc in the summer and ultimately resulted in the dismantling of the Iron Curtain 20 years ago today. The communist-controlled GDR is no more and Germany reunification followed this historic event. However, sections of the concrete wall still stand in museums and parks all over the world.

I was five years old and too young to remember the live news coverage from 1989, but I was fortunate enough to observe eight graffiti-filled panels of the Berlin Wall at The Newseum in Washington, D.C., the first stop of my cross-country roadtrip. This experience, along with the world’s remembrance and the media’s replaying of the timeless news coverage, put the pivotal moments into an even greater context.