24. “Immediately – Right Away
East Berlin’s communist party boss Gunter Schabowski held a press conference on November 9th, 1989, to explain some minor revisions to the travel code. However, he screwed up, and mistakenly implied that travel restrictions were being completely removed. When a reporter asked when the changes would take effect, Schabowski shrugged and replied: “immediately, right away“.
That hit the news, and when East Germans heard it, they swarmed the border, demanding the promised free passage. The border guards had received no such instructions, but rather than deal with a riot, they stepped aside. As a result, the forbidding wall which had stood for decades ended up coming down suddenly in a rapturous celebration – Berlin’s greatest citywide party, ever.