November 9, 1989 - The Berlin Wall falls after a Politburo member says at a press conference that new travel laws are to take immediate effect. Thousands of East Berliners throng to West Berlin. Shortly before midnight the first barriers open at the wall. November 10, 1989 - Todor Zhivkov is ousted in a party coup in Bulgaria. A few days later, his successor, Petar Mladenov, announces an effective end of the totalitarian regime.
November 17, 1989 - Riot police crack down on a peaceful student protest in Prague, kicking off the Velvet Revolution.
November 24, 1989 - Czechoslovak Communist Party leadership resigns.
December 1, 1989 - The East German parliament removes the right of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) to rule exclusively.
December 2, 1989 - Austria lifts visa restriction for Czechoslovakian citizens. More than 100,000 Czechs use the opportunity for short visits to Vienna.
December 3, 1989 - The East German Politburo and the Central Committee, led by Egon Krenz, step down.
December 7, 1989 - The Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) is formed as the first openly anti-communist movement in Bulgaria.
December 10, 1989 - Czechoslovakia's President, Gustav Husak, makes way for the first non-communist government since the 1948 Communist putsch.
December 16, 1989 - Romanian Security forces crack down on anti-Ceausescu demonstrations in Timisoara.
December 17, 1989 - Austrian and Czechoslovakian Foreign Ministers Alois Mock and Jiri Dienstbier symbolically cut through the border fence.
December 22, 1989 - Romania's Ceausescu is visibly shaken at the presence of chanting crowds during what turns out to be his last official speech. He flees by helicopter.
December 22, 1989 - In Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate is reopened, though initially only for pedestrian traffic.
December 23, 1989 - Romania's army turns against Ceausescu.
December 25, 1989 - Romania's Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu are executed. Their bullet-riddled bodies are shown on national TV.
