In June of 1987, President Ronald Reagan traveled to Venice to attend an economic summit with European leaders. On his way home, he stopped in West Berlin on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the city. On June 12, during a speech at Brandenburg Gate, Reagan made a dramatic Cold War plea to Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev. ''Mr. Gorbachev,'' Reagan said while gesturing to the guarded barbed wire and cement that had divided the two Berlins since 1961, ''tear down this wall!'' Here, Reagan is heard telling the American people about his European trip. Two years later, on November 9, 1989, demonstrations for liberal reforms in East Germany forced the country's beleaguered Communist government to open the Berlin Wall. Gorbachev, faced with similar demonstrations all across the Soviet bloc, chose to permit these sweeping changes to run their course without the traditional intervention of Soviet troops and tanks. In 1990, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The same year, Ronald Reagan returned to Berlin with his wife Nancy, and the couple walked unhindered through Brandenburg Gate and into East Berlin.