August 23

On August 23, 1939, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed. The immediate result of this pact was the division of Eastern European spheres of influence between the Soviet Union and Germany. On the fiftieth anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1989, the residents of those states most affected by the Pact, presented a rather graphic display of the proportions of what would come to be known as the The Singing Revolution (probably deriving its name from all the singing involved, the album however, didn’t even chart and went nowhere.). Approximately two million people held hands and formed a human chain across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to draw the world’s attention to their plight. It took a bit more time for their freedom to be restored but, what the heck, it killed the afternoon.