1961: The Berlin Wall was built.

1942: Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin drafted a memorandum to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U. S. President Franklin Roosevelt opposing their decision not to invade Western Europe at that time. In the memo, Stalin, whose beleaguered Russian army had been contending with a German invasion for over a year, impressed upon the Americans and the British the necessity of relieving the pressure on Russia's western front. Stalin pressed the Allies to open a second front against Hitler in Europe. Concluding that this action would be militarily unsound for them to attempt in 1942, England and the U.S. chose instead to invade North Africa. (Source: Library of Congress)