28th August 1963: Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Taking place on the centenary of President Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation, in which he declared the freedom of slaves, ‘I Have a Dream’ was the sixteenth of eighteen speeches given by different orators that day and is regularly described as one of the best speeches of the 20th Century.

26th June 1963: American President John F. Kennedy declares US support for West Berlin with the phrase, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’

While the speech effectively recognised East Berlin as part of the Soviet Bloc, it also reaffirmed America’s commitment to defend West Berlin against Communist expansion.

26th June 1963: JFK declares ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’

On the 26th June 1963 American President John F. Kennedy declared US support for West Berlin with the phrase, “Ich bin ein Berliner” – I am a Berliner – 22 months after the Soviet-supported DDR, more commonly known as East Germany, built the Berlin Wall.