On 16 September 1979, two East German families flew a homemade hot air balloon over the Iron Curtain in one of the Cold War’s most audacious escapes. The Strelzyks and Wetzels, ordinary citizens from Pössneck, built a 28-metre balloon from taffeta and cotton bought in secret, then flew eight people, including four children, across the heavily militarised border in 28 minutes of flight. They landed in Bavaria, free. Also on this date in 681, the Sixth Ecumenical Council excommunicated Pope Honorius I, 42 years after his death, for letters that seemed to support the Monothelite heresy. The posthumous condemnation fuelled debates about papal authority for over a millennium. And in 1732, a lightning strike hit the armoury in Campo Maior, Portugal, causing an explosion that killed roughly 800 people, two-thirds of the town’s population. The town was rebuilt and today hosts the vibrant Festa do Povo flower festival. Three stories about walls, literal and theological, and what people do when faced with them.
