On this day in 1960, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik 2 satellite with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants.
On this day in 1989, several hundred East Germans crossed the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic. It was part of the events that began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
On this day in 1991, the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was toppled, just one day short of the scheduled signing of the Union Treaty. The document was hated by hardliners because it signaled the beginning of the end of the Soviet empire.