PreviousDays✦THE WIKI
← All historyTHE ARCHIVE · 5 STORIES

1946–1999

Giant leaps. Divided worlds. New beginnings.

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History doesn’t stand still.

MOMENTS FROM THIS ERA

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5 illustrated stories · growing daily
An imagined scene of a couple leaving open prison gates as a hopeful crowd looks on.Society & Freedom

Nelson Mandela leaves prison: February 11, 1990

Nelson Mandela left Victor Verster Prison on February 11, 1990, after approximately twenty-seven years in custody. His unconditional release became a defining moment in South Africa’s transition, but apartheid had not ended: negotiations and the struggle for democratic government still lay ahead.

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An imagined nighttime crowd celebrating at an opened border checkpoint in 1989.Society & Freedom

The fall of the Berlin Wall: November 9, 1989

On November 9, 1989, an announcement about East German travel rules sent crowds to Berlin’s border crossings. Guards eventually opened the barriers. The night transformed movement through a divided city, while the physical dismantling of the Wall unfolded over subsequent months.

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An imagined view of Apollo 11’s lunar module and an astronaut on the Moon’s dusty surface.Space & Science

Apollo 11 lands on the Moon: July 20, 1969

Apollo 11’s Eagle landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969, carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit. The landing and the first moonwalk were separate milestones, occurring on different dates in universal time.

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An imagined 1964 railway platform with a rounded-nose 0 Series bullet train.Invention & Travel

Japan opens the Shinkansen: October 1, 1964

Japan’s Tōkaidō Shinkansen began operating between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka on October 1, 1964. Its original 0 Series trains introduced a purpose-built high-speed railway system. The fastest opening timetable covered the journey in four hours; the familiar three-hour-ten-minute service followed in 1965.

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An imagined 1948 laboratory with valve racks, exposed wiring and a glowing cathode-ray tube.Science & Technology

The Manchester Baby runs its first program: June 21, 1948

On June 21, 1948, the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine successfully executed a program held in electronic memory. Nicknamed the Baby, it demonstrated a practical electronic stored-program computer. Its immediate purpose was to test a memory technology that could support more capable computing machines.

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