Today we celebrate the 90th anniversary of the end of the first World War.  On this day in 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Germany signed the Armistice concluding the “War to End All Wars.”

In the United States we commemorate this anniversary with Veterans Day.  Other parts of the world celebrate this occasion with  Armistice Day or Remembrance Day.

Free people also remember this week for the end of another conflict:  the Cold War.  On November 9, 1989, after weeks of public demonstrations, the German Democratic Republic announced the lifting of travel restrictions to the West.  Over the next few weeks the Berlin Wall was first breached and then dismantled.

This video celebrates the human spirit’s indomitable capacity for peace and freedom: