US and Japan sign Kanagwa Treaty

On March 31, 1854, US Commodore Matthew Perry and representatives of the Japanese government signed the Convention of Kanagawa. The terms of the treaty marked the end of Japan’s 500 years of self-imposed isolation by opening the Ports of Shimoda and Hakodate. Four years later, Japanese-American relations were further expanded by the Treaty of Amity and Commerce (Harris Treaty), which opened more Japanese ports to US trade and set up a system of extraterritoriality for Americans in Japan.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US signed peace treaty with Germany ending World War I

On August 25, 1921, the United States, which never ratified the Versailles Treaty ending World War I, finally signed its own peace treaties with Germany, Austria and Hungary.

Former East Germany leader convicted of manslaughter for Berlin Wall policy

On August 25, 1997, Egon Krenz, the former of East Germany was convicted of manslaughter for promulgating a policy of shooting any East Germans who attempted to cross the Berlin Wall. Krenz was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison, of which he served four before being released into retirement from political life.