Each year, the European Union awards the European Capital of Culture title to a city or region. The goal is to draw greater attention to the region in question, to promote the continent's rich cultural heritage and strengthen people's sense of European identity.

Romania's Timisoara, Hungary's Veszprem and the Greek city of Elefsina might not have been household names so far, but the European Capital of Culture label could well change that. In 2023, all three will be staging a host of fabulous events to attract even more visitors and showcase their unique history and culture.

With a population of 300,000, Timisoara is the third-largest city in Romania and is located near the borders with Hungary and Serbia. It boasts more than 15,000 beautiful historical buildings that have rightfully earned it the moniker "Little Vienna." That's no wonder, as Timisoara once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

Timisoara was also the city that set in motion the Romanian Revolution of 1989, culminating in the death of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Timisoara boasts a rich history and multiethnic population. It aims to showcase this legacy and diversity as European Capital of Culture.

What's there to see exactly? Quite a bit! Union Square with its colorful baroque architecture is certainly worth visiting, for example. As is the neo-Moldavian Timisoara Orthodox Cathedral, with its stunning interior, mosaic floors and magnificent paintings (pictured).

Veszprem is one of Hungary’s oldest cities, first established on several hills along the River Sed. It is best known for its handball team, though the city has much more to offer than that. With numerous churches, museums, art galleries and, of course, the imposing Castle Hill, there is much to discover.

So far, very few tourists find their way to Veszprem. But that could all change next year. The organizers behind the European Capital of Culture initiative hope to attract more than 2 million visitors to the Hungarian city. A spectacular opening ceremony will kick things off on January 21. Over the year, visitors will get to enjoy musical performances, fine dining events and more.

Veszprem lies just 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from Lake Balaton, a wine-growing region since Roman times. Lake Balaton is fairly shallow and warms up nicely during summer, making it a popular swimming spot. The region is set to benefit from Veszprem's European Capital of Culture status.

Elefsina, an industrial port city just 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from the Greek capital, Athens, has often been overlooked. Maybe in 2023 everything will change when Elefsina is also promoted as European Capital of Culture. As of February, it will be staging an elaborate artistic, research and education program titled Mysteries of Transitions.

Back in antiquity, tens of thousands would make the pilgrimage to Elefsina, which then was known as Eleusis, in the hopes of learning the secret of life after death, and to visit the temple of Demeter, the Greek goddess of the harvest. Temple remnants can still be seen in the city. Next year, Elefsina will be putting on numerous exhibitions, theater performances, gardening workshops and more.

Elefsina saw solid growth in the 19th and early 20th century owing to its busy port, making it one of the country’s major economic hubs. That was until Piraeus and Athens became Greece’s economic centers and Elefsina port was condemned to becoming little more than a ship graveyard.

The Iron Curtain still divided the East and the West. Increased tensions between the US and Russia led them to become more militaristic. The nuclear missiles they aimed at each other would land in the middle of Europe if they were ever to be fired. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets for peace and disarmament in Germany.

The hype began in 1981: Before they had Nintendo and cell phones, kids of the 1980s passed time with a colorful cube, pivoting its rows to get only one color on each of its faces. It is widely considered to be the world's best-selling toy to this day. A world record was set in 2018 by an Australian who solved it in 4.22 seconds, but a robot can achieve that same feat in 0.38 seconds.

The 17-year-old red head triggered an unseen tennis boom in Germany by becoming the first German as well as the youngest player to win the traditional tennis tournament. After his victory on July 7, 1985, Boris Becker became a world-famous man — and has remained in the tabloids ever since.

Short at the front and sides, and long in the back. While women were into perms, many men wore this hairstyle in the 1980s. Among the world's most famous mullet heads at the time were tennis star Andre Agassi (photo) or singers George Michael and U2's Bono. In the US during that decade, the mullet also became popular within lesbian culture, serving as a public sign of a woman's homosexuality.

The Opel Manta was the right car to go along with the mullet in the 1980s. With a fox tail hanging on the rearview mirror, you were all set up to be a classy redneck. The most famous model from Opel, the car has been built more than a million times to date. It starred alongside actor Til Schweiger in the German movie "Manta Manta" (photo).

The world was fascinated when suddenly, a small battery-driven device allowed people to carry their music with them. With your headset over your ears, pop in a cassette tape — another icon of the '80s — and if you turned the volume up high enough, everyone nearby could hear what you were listening to. Doctors were up in arms, predicting lasting hearing problems for an entire generation of youth.

The computer descended from the lofty heights of huge data processing centers to private homes in the 1980s. "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home," said a skeptical Ken Olsen, the founder of Digital Equipment Corp DEC, in 1977. Well, we know how that went.

Olsen was wrong. In the 1980s, the Commodore 64 home computer was wildly popular, and it was affordable. Young people loved to play the computer game Pac Man. Players navigated a yellow ball through a maze, where it devoured blinking dots, always rushing to escape the four ghosts hunting the Pacman ball.

In 1982, Steven Spielberg's blockbuster science fiction film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial had people all over the world glued to the big screen, many in tears at the plight of the extraterrestrial creature left behind on earth and then befriends young Elliot. The line "E.T. phone home" is a top movie quote to this day.

That same year saw the release of Michael Jackson's album Thriller, produced by the greatest producer of that decade, Quincy Jones. The whole world danced to "Beat it", "Billie Jean" and the title track, "Thriller." The video with its zombie dance routine was a huge hit that young audiences of the time will never forget either. Thriller holds the record of being the most-sold album ever.

The 1980s also had Madonna on the music scene — and to this day, no other female musician has managed to top the US pop icon's success. Lace skirts, revealing bra tops and pouting red lips, Madonna Louise Ciccone had moralists up in arms. She wowed the young audience when she performed "Like a Virgin" at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards dressed like a sexy bride, rolling around on stage.

The infamous Berlin Wall came down late on November 9, 1989 — all of a sudden, the border between West Berlin and communist East Berlin was broached. The entire East Bloc opened up, and the Iron Curtain crumbled. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who led the way to open borders, was celebrated like a pop star. The world was moving toward a new order and an exciting decade came to a close.