Martyrs Square: In the background is the Rivoli Building, site of the famous pre-war cinema. It took three attempts to demolish the building with explosives in 1993.

A boy collects empty Pepsi cans in one of downtown Beirut's desolate public squares.

Martyrs Square: In the background is the Rivoli Building, site of the famous pre-war cinema. It took three attempts to demolish the building with explosives in 1993.

Martyrs Square: In the background is the Rivoli Building, site of the famous pre-war cinema. It took three attempts to demolish the building with explosives in 1993.

The reconstruction of Martyrs Square in downtown Beirut begins.

Reconstruction takes place near the Zawiyat Ibn Iraq Mosque in central Beirut, a 16th century Mamluk shrine, site of today's downtown souks.

View of the former opera house in downtown Beirut.

Facing west, a view of the reconstruction of downtown Beirut. To the left is the famous Beirut City Center Dome, also known as the "Egg," an iconic movie theatre heavily damaged during the war whose remains have been preserved as a memorial to the war's destruction.

Children standing on the rubble of a building destroyed in the war.

Child playing near the Grand Serail, the former Ottoman and French Mandate seat of government and currently the headquarters of the Lebanese Prime Minister.

Damaged apartment building next to the port of Beirut.

Damaged buildings in downtown Beirut. In the background is the notorious Murr Building, a favorite spot for snipers during the war. Started in 1974, construction was halted by the war at 40 floors and never completed since.

The statue of Martyr's Square surrounded by damaged buildings.

At the bottom of the photo is a sign warning against land-mines along the "Green Line" separating east and west Beirut.

Two men walking in front of the opera house in downtown Beirut.

Buildings badly damaged in the old souks of downtown Beirut.

A street coffee vendor sets up shop in Martyr's Square.

The ruins surrounding Martyr's Square. Various make-shift cafés appeared shortly after the war, hence the plastic tables and chairs.

The Rivoli Building, since demolished, as seen from the vantage point of the 'Martyr's Square' statue.

Damaged buildings along the "Green Line" separating east and west Beirut in the center of the city.

Damaged buildings on Bechara El-Khoury street in downtown Beirut, one of the city's principal north-south thoroughfares.

The ruins of a building in downtown Beirut

Removing the rubble during the reconstruction of downtown Beirut.

Three young boys play in the rubble of a destroyed building.

A damaged and abandoned house near the 'Green Line'.

In southeast Germany, Gorlitz borders Poland and in 1990 remained untouched and forgotten both during the war and for decades since, providing an eerie impression of the country's neglected infrastructure. Today it is fully modernized and renovated.

Tile mural of propagandized East German Socialist benefits remained in East Berlin before Western consumerism values supplanted the new implemented direction.

Dismantled sections of the Berlin Wall during pre-reunification summer of 1990; former East Berlin, Germany.

A collision of time periods and cultures arose within former East Berlin in summer 1990 during a short transition between not yet dismantled sections of the Berlin Wall positioned near newly introduced Western advertisement billboards. German reunification would occur on 3 October later that year.

Evident replacement of consumer tastes appears in humorous advertisement depicting post-Soviet era passage towards assimilated Western values.

The Brandenburg Gate had an historic opening on 23 December 1989 ending 28 years of barbed wire seclusion positioned between the main borders of East and West Germany. Today it is a thriving international symbol and meeting point.

Weekly Monday night protests throughout late 1989 in Leipzig became infamous across former East Germany as a specter that the communist government had only weeks remaining before the Berlin Wall would ultimately open on 9 November. Leipzig held several 25th anniversary commemoration events during October 2014.

Berlin Wall with still occupied sentry tower 3-4 weeks after opening; seen from within East Berlin, early December 1989.

Lignite coal miner in central GDR; once considered the most polluted region in Eastern Europe, Bitterfeld, Germany today has become a region for solar energy development plus tourism; December 1989.

Time seemed to stop in former East Germany before the opening of the Berlin Wall occurred which abruptly opened the borders to the Western world of commerce. The impenetrable barriers between then Soviet central command ideologies against free market values extended between 1961-1989 when the wall was unexpectedly erected on 13 August 1961 then modified over a 28 year period until its final breach on 9 November 1989.

Berlin Wall with still patrolled though no longer enforced death strip one month after opening; immediately seen from outside Western border looking into Eastern sector, early December 1989.

Berlin Wall, East Berlin, 1983; six years before its historic dismantling.

On June 25, 1982, Mother Teresa visited St. Paul, Alberta, to receive a gift from the community — money to build a leper colony in India. The day was hot and sunny. Hundreds of people from St. Paul and the region thronged to the Landing Pad to see the iconic Sister accept the gift the people had bestowed on her. Premier Peter Lougheed was on the pad with Mother Teresa, as were representatives from Saddle Lake and other officials. A parade ensued. It was led by Mother Teresa who was in the passenger seat of a jeep, followed by crowds of her admirers and supporters. Residents of the seniors’ lodge, who couldn’t walk to the event, lined the curb outside of the lodge to watch the parade roll by. Whenever she stopped, she went among the people, meeting and exchanging a few words with the adults and chatting with children, who were clearly in awe of her presence. A children’s choir sang.

On June 25, 1982, Mother Teresa visited St. Paul, Alberta, to receive a $925,000 gift from the community — money to build a leper colony in India.

The day was hot and sunny. Hundreds of people from St. Paul and the region thronged to see the iconic Sister accept the gift the people had bestowed on her. A parade ensued. It was led by Mother Teresa who was in the passenger seat of a jeep, followed by crowds of her admirers and supporters.