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Since April 23rd in 1979 also came on a Monday, it was the start to what promised to be a busy week for Jimmy Carter, and for Capitol Hill in general.

First off - with Carter back at the White House from his 11 day Easter vacation, he was gearing up for the onslaught of cameras and microphones as he went into lobbying mode for this Windfall Profits Tax and SALT Treaty legislation. SALT was thought to be a hard sell because of the verification agreement in the Treaty. While the Windfall Profits Tax proposal, aimed at the Oil Producers, had a "wait and see" cloud hanging over it. Obviously a welcome piece of legislation from the voters, there was "Big Oil" to deal with, and that could pose a big problem.

Meanwhile - as Congress came back from Easter recess, the Senate were gearing up for testimony from Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh and others over the recent 3-Mile Island Nuclear Power plant disaster. Looking for answers amid a sea of finger pointing. Also at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearings was more testimony regarding the SALT Treaty and questions over CIA Chief Stansfield Turner's appearance at the Hearings, resulting in Carter's blast of Turner for leaks an distortions during his previous testimony.

On the Union front - Negotiations resumed between the Machinists Union and United Airlines, attempting to end a strike that got started late March. Also pending was a tentative agreement between Teamsters and the Steel industry.

In the rest of the world - Heavy fighting was reported in Cambodia with an estimated 40,000 civilians and fleeing troops loyal to Pol Pot fleeing over the border to Thailand. The Thai government were tight-lipped and clamped a black-out on Press inquiries.

Senator Frank Church, while visiting Tokyo, warned the Japanese government that a strong feeling of Protectionism was brewing in the U.S. over the trade imbalances between Japan and the U.S.

Deposed Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin turned up in Iraq, flying in from Libya, presumably seeking asylum in Baghdad.

And flooding continued in Mississippi, with protests launched at the Feds for the reported 7% interest rate being handed flood-ravaged victims.

And on and on it went, that Monday April 23rd in 1979. As reported on the CBS World News Roundup.

The controversy surrounding the Pentagon Papers, and their release to the public was unprecedented in history. Putting it in contemporary perspective, it most closely rivaled that of Wikileaks and the release of sensitive and potentially embarrassing government documents to the public.

The Pentagon Papers basically exposed (or confirmed) a vast series of coverups, deceits and falsehoods during the Vietnam War. The papers were damning to our Foreign Policy, our Military complex and the White House.

Key to the release of those papers was a former Pentagon Official, Daniel Ellsberg, who presented them to The New York Times, where excerpts were published. The resulting storm brought under fire and repercussions, not only Ellsberg and The New York Times, but the whole question of censorship and National Security and the Public's right to know, especially where it concerned the lives of so many of its citizens.

In the end, The Supreme Court sided with Ellsberg and The New York Times. and this broadcast, aired shortly after the decision was given, attempts to cover those bases.

Here is the special program, originally aired on June 30, 1971 from NBC News "The Supreme Court And The Pentagon Papers"

Since March 29th was a Sunday in 1987, today's installment covers the entire week in that rather scandal plagued year.

Starting with news that PTL Club televangelist Jim Bakker resigned his position with the "church" over alleged sex scandals involving an assistant. Bakker was quick to blame fellow Bible thumper Jimmy Swaggart for spreading the dirt around as part of a plot of overtake Bakker's ministry and promised to spread some dirt of his own on Swaggart. Those wacky Evangelicals.

The ensuing defecation storm involved, not only Swaggart but Jerry Falwell and figures from The Moral Majority who characterized the seedy goings-on as attributed to "sex, money and power: The Unholy Trinity". Falwell would take over the PTL Club temporarily while the Bakker's aired tons of dirty laundry in public.

Meanwhile, not to be outdone by theatrics from the PTL kids, the Inimitable Oral Roberts announced he was told by God to "raise $8 milllion" or "be called home" by March 31st. Roberts gleefully announced around the first of the week that, yep, he raised the money via a $1.3million check given by a race track owner and that he wasn't going to go anywhere. Further evidence God has a sense of humor, but what kind, remains to be seen.

And over on Capitol Hill - President Reagan ventured out from the soothing climes of K Street, his first since November, and visited a grade school in the Mid-West and later addressed a Governor's Conference where he loudly committed to "making sure Education in America was the best in the world". He also vetoed the 65 mph Highway Bill before he left town.

Over at SCOTUS - a blow was struck for Affirmative Action in upholding a lawsuit brought about by a male employee who was passed over in preference for a Female employee, which Reagan loudly voiced disapproval over. And it was ruled Baseball Team owners did not have to share revenue from Broadcast rights with Team members.

In Beirut Lebanon, a video was released showing two kidnapped American teachers being held in exchange for PLO members being held in Israeli prisons. No dice, at least for the time being.

The FDA finally approved the drug AZT for fighting the effects of the AIDS virus. Still, a cure for the disease wasn't expected to be found until "sometime by the end of the century". Still waiting.

Alexander Haig announced his intentions to run for the Presidency on the Republican ticket in 1988.

And "Music Man" icon/actor Robert Preston died. And Dean Paul Martin, son of Dean Martin, was killed in a military plane accident.

What a week.

February 22nd in 1984 had a lot to do with uncomfortable situations everywhere. From the Middle East, the attempts at brokering a peace settlement in Lebanon fell on Saudi Arabia and Syria in an attempt to hammer something out in what became known as The Damascus Peace Plan. Unfortunately, it left Lebanon President Amin Gemayal in one of those "damned if you do - damned if you don't" situations. In the meanwhile, U.S. Marines, stationed in Beirut since 1982 were pulling out and turning over responsibilities to a UN Peacekeeping force. Enough of this getting shot at from both sides.

Elsewhere in the Middle East - the Iran-Iraq War was still raging on, with Iran now threatening to close the Straits of Hormuz, effectively cutting off oil shipments. That wasn't going to fly with oil interests at all.

In Europe, an uproar over austerity measures in France, Spain and Italy were causing most services to be shut down over strikes in protest.

Back home - President Reagan was set to go before microphones and cameras with his first Press Conference of 1984. The Press had a lot of questions over our Foreign Policy and that age-old malady, our Economy.

The Supreme Court ruled companies on the verge of bankruptcy could cancel union contracts at the discretion of a Federal Bankruptcy judge. And the Miranda Law did not apply to Probation Officers.

The New Hampshire primaries were set to go in a week with one last debate to go before heading to the polls. Democratic hopefuls Walter Mondale and Gary Hart were in the number one and two spot while John Glenn was seeking a change in his campaign after dropping to fifth in the polls.

And U.S.-Vietnam talks were ready to resume after hitting a few bumpy spots over MIA's, causing the negotiations to be put on hold.

All this and lots more via the CBS World News Roundup and 9:00 am (PST) network news for this Wednesday February 22, 1984.

Less of a cliffhanger day than the one we're currently in. July 29, 1965 nonetheless had it's fair share of historic moments. Reaction was swift and varied from President Johnson's address the night before. He called for a dramatic buildup in troops in South Vietnam, asking for 50,000.

Pres. Johnson: "This is a different kind of war."

And even as he was speaking, the 1st Brigade of the 101st airborne Division was readying to land in South Vietnam. The buildup also meant an increase in draft quotas and a call from House Minority Leader Gerald Ford to cut back on new Domestic spending in order to fund this excursion. Somewhat ironic, since the Medicare Bill passed the Senate with flying colors and was ready for LBJ to sign on the 30th. When in doubt, blame Medicare.

Overseas reaction was somewhat subdued with the Kremlin reaction noted as being "cool". Britain was hesitant to be all that committal, saying if the U.S. had observed the 1954 agreements regarding Vietnam, this buildup might not be happening. They suggested the UN Security Council engage in a peace settlement.

Elsewhere, Civil Rights demonstrations were starting up again in Greensboro Alabama after one peaceful demonstration turned violent. It also got violent in Americus Georgia overnight with one person killed in a driveby.

Aside from the Vietnam buildup occupying conversation on Capitol Hill, there was also talk about the appointment of Abe Fortas to the bench on the Supreme Court, taking over for Arthur Goldberg.

In hindsight, a momentous day which of course, we didn't know at the time. History is like that.

Here is the complete half-hour newscast from WCBS-FM in New York, including local New York City news and the World News Roundup for July 29, 1965.

At least it's a distraction.

By all intents and purposes the real fireworks on this particular July 4th were going on between Abortion Rights protesters and Anti-Abortion protesters as the result of a SCOTUS ruling upholding States rights to limit a woman's access to an abortion if they so chose. Flags were burned, cars were overturned, teargas canisters littered the streets in most cities from L.A. to Washington D.C. And so it continues.

Meanwhile in Paris, Mikhail Gorbachev touched down with a basket full of agreements between the Soviets and the French aimed at stimulating Glasnost economy. The French were wary but Gorbachev was bent on making deals. Poland swore in their new Parliament, the first time they did so since the late 1940's. China was still in the midst of cracking down, post-Tiananmen Square with blacked out TV programs from the West and Jammed radio signals from the BBC and Voice of America.

And since it was a holiday in the U.S. there was little to report about except the raging brush fires in Southern California which raced through and charred most of Turnbull Canyon in eastern L.A. County along with some expensive real estate. And it wasn't really officially fire season yet.

And all via the CBS World News Roundup for July 4, 1989.

Further evidence our world has always been at least a little skewed comes in the form of this installment of ABC Radio's World News This Week, for the week ending June 27, 1993.

A rash of arrests in connection with the World Trade Center bombing in February netted the alleged ringleader, Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali and fingers pointing at Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman, who broke out in bibles and a chorus of "It's A Grand Old Flag" in protest. No one bought it, but they pretended for a while.

Meanwhile, a raid was staged on a bomb-making factory whose aroma of the business end of Bessie mixed with Texas Tea brought about further culprits who were this time looking to do in, among others, the United Nations and Alphonse D'Amato, although not necessarily in that order. Seems things were planning to get a darker shade of nasty around the 4th of July.

And on the subject of bombs, an uptick this week in exploding packages being sent to Universities, compliments of someone they couldn't nail yet (Ted Kaczinski wasn't on the map yet).

Capitol Hill was full up on drama this past week. President Clinton's Budget bill HR-2264 squeaked by with the help of VP Gore, who cast the tie-breaker. The Supercollider didn't fare nearly as well, dying yet another death. NASA's Space Station was another squeaker, with a 1 vote lead in approval. The big Drama came in the form of Base Closings with announcements being made and greeted with all the enthusiasm of the Grim Reaper.

And SCOTUS got ready to close for the summer by giving workers a harder time filing discrimination suits against their employers. And if you were Haitian and on a boat, you were SOL for hitting Miami with open arms anytime soon as it was 5-4 in favor of keeping Bush's "thanks, but no thanks" policy preventing Haitians landing immigrant status in the U.S.

And legislation was introduced to make Advertising in Space a possibility by way of gigantic billboards visible in the sky just about anytime day or night from a few hundred miles away. Creative Directors went screaming and falling over like teenage boys at a Depeche Mode concert, but the halls of Congress echoed with the phrase "side of a bus" and cooler heads prevailed.

And you could have been there - now you just get to listen to it and wince.

First day of June in 1981 and the Haywire Season is in full swing. President Reagan invites Democrats in Congress to a sit-down and lip-service for his new tax-cut proposal, the message being "my way or the highway", but making it look good for the cameras. In the rest of the world - fighting spirals out of control in Beirut. Naim Khadar, the PLO Representative in Belgium is gunned down in Brussels. Bangladesh crushes a coup and South Africa celebrates 20 years as a White-ruled Republic at a cost of $90 million and more troops on the streets of Durbin than onlookers.

Meanwhile, back in the States - The Teamsters gather for the 22nd National Convention opening in Las Vegas and The UMW scrambles for votes of approval in the wake of a new contract proposal for Coal Miners. Former Congressman Carl Vincent passes away at the age of 97. Pianist Andre-Michel Schub wins the 6th Annual Van Cliburn Piano Competition in Texas and The Supreme Court rules people have a Constitutional Right to dance nude in public.

And now you know.

But don't take my word for it, it says so on the CBS World News Roundup and Hourly News reports from June 1, 1981.