On January 13

On this day in ...

... 1993, a criminal court in Berlin announced its abandonment of the trial of former East German leader Erich Honecker, who was 80 years old an suffering from terminal liver cancer. Honecker had been charged with "manslaughter over the deaths of defectors fleeing by way of the Berlin wall," which separated the city during the Cold War. Soon after the trial was aborted, Honecker flew to Chile, where he died a year and a half later. (credit for 1986 photo of Berlin Wall)

... 1933, President Herbert Hoover vetoed a bill to give the Philippines independence from the United States. Within hours the House of Representatives overrode the veto; however, the Senate did not so act, and so the bill failed. In his veto message, the New York Times reported, Hoover (right) suggested "that a plebiscite for freedom be deferred for fifteen or twenty years" in the Philippines, lest "'economic and social chaos'" ensue.

On August 1

On this day in ...
... 1975, more than 3 dozen states, including all of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, signed the Helsinki Final Act. The document, which included "a list of agreements concerning political freedom, mutual cooperation, and human rights; it can be considered the major achievement of détente," the name given to the Cold War thawing process. Part of the process included establishment of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, later renamed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a body whose 56 member states hail from Europe, Central Asia, and North America. (credit for photo of signing by, from left, West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, East German leader Erich Honecker, and U.S. President Gerald Ford)
... 1291, the Old Swiss Confederation was founded as an alliance for peace and free trade among various communities in Europe's Alps. Today remains a national holiday in Switzerland. (map credit)