Lest I forget, Monday marked the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Two decades ago, I was a little girl in elementary school — and I can’t seem to recall hearing the news back then. I wonder what it was like to be a first or second grade teacher in 1989, unable to discuss this pivotal world event with your students. I can imagine the complications… for instance, in describing to young kiddos what was unfolding, these potential minefields could also surface:

Countries.
Borders.
Guards.
Checkpoints.
A gigantic wall.
Europe.
Germany.
Communism.
The Iron Curtain.
The Marshall Plan.
World War II.
Protests.
Death.

I think my teacher might have given up trying.

Two years after the collapse of the wall, I learned of the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. My father walked into my bedroom and informed me that the National Geographic map hanging on my wall was now incorrect. Unfortunately, he also continued allowing me to borrow books from the library with titles such as WEST GERMANY — which, without my previous knowledge of the fall of the Berlin Wall (see above) and without inclusion of an addendum clarifying current events, led elementary school me to continue in blissful ignorance of November 9, 1989 for a good number of years to come.

From Font Number 54 to Times New Roman to Starling, the Financial Times details typographer Mark Parker’s quest for the truth behind Microsoft Word’s default font.

Typography may present a genteel exterior, but it’s an art form punctuated by bitter rivalries and rampant plagiarism.