GDR border troops begin building new observation towers along the Berlin Wall. They are no longer round, but constructed of rectangular pre-fabricated concrete elements.
While the old towers are so instable that they are not permitted to be used in storms or when there are winds of force 7 or higher, the new towers do not have to be abandoned until winds reach force 11.
Observation tower (BT 6) of GDR border troops near the "House of the Ministries"/Martin-Gropius-Bau (Photo: Berliner Mauer-Archiv Hagen Koch)
The "NSDD-75" document, the Reagan administration’s best-kept secret, strictly confidential to this day, which was drawn up by the Harvard historian Richard Pipes and staff of the National Security Council, replaces the legendary "containment" NSC-68 report (signed by US President Truman, drawn up by Paul Nitze). Its objective is no longer co-existence with the Soviet Union, but to overthrow the Soviet system.more