Certainly a baffling day if you weren't "from around here" on this June 12th in 1982. In one part of the Hemisphere you had one of the largest Anti-nuclear/Anti-War rallies being staged in Central Park in New York. While in another part of the Hemisphere you had the British Army staging the "final assault" on Port Stanley in the Falklands, and Pope John Paul II offering communion to the ruling Military Junta in Buenos Aires. Go figure.

Between all that you had the Middle-East and an announcement from Tel-Aviv that a ceasefire had been brokered in Lebanon with the PLO, and Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal's house had been bombed in Vienna.

And the much-heralded Holmes-Cooney fight ended with Holmes winning as predicted.

And that's how this particular June 12th rolled in 1982 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup and CBS Hourly News.

This day in 1982 was about shooting wars. British troops landed on The Falkland Islands and the shooting war started. Amid reports of casualties and both sides claiming the upper hand, the propaganda wheels were in motion. The diplomatic wheels however were not, and even though Pope John Paul II appealed to Britain to show restraint and seek a peaceful solution, Margaret Thatcher said "thanks, but no thanks". And the war was on.

Likewise in the Middle East, only this time it was Iran who boasted major gains in territory over the Iraqi's, but it didn't look as though this thing would be over anytime soon. Terrorist bombs went off in Beirut, this time at the French Embassy and with scores of casualties.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the world. Successor to the ailing Leonid Brezhnev was looking more and more like Yuri Andropov, head of the Secret Police.

On Capitol Hill - Pres. Reagan's Fiscal spending plan for 1983 goes to battle at the House. Reagan also pushed for The Department of Energy to be merged with the Department of Commerce. The Supreme Court ruled people on Nixon's Enemies list did not need to be revealed. The Abortion question was also back on the docket, this time via State's rulings on abortions.

The DeLorean Auto plant in Ireland was ordered closed by the Irish government, citing no buyers in the foreseeable future.

All that, and a lot more on this May 24th in 1982 from the CBS World News Roundup and the 9:00 am (PDT) network news.

The world spinning only moderately out of control, this March 2nd in 1983.

Save for the worst weather to Southern California in decades, with storms dumping in excess of 21 inches as of this day, compared to 6 inches for the entire season last year, it was a reasonably calm day, as days on planet Earth go.

Pope John Paul II was winging his way to Costa Rica for the first of an 8 country visit to Central America. Billed as an "Appeal for Peace", foremost on his "to-do" list was having a sit-down with his emissaries to figure out why so many priests were joining up with the Sandanista rebels.

Meanwhile, loud calls for increased funding and arms shipments to the Contras were bouncing around Capitol Hill. The old Domino Theory being trotted out for another moth-ridden appearance. Or maybe a smokescreen.

In other Capitol Hill goings-on; the $150bn bailout for Social Security was approved, and the index of Leading Indicator figures were released showing a whopping 3.6% increase - the biggest jump since 1950.

The worst batch of storms in decades was pounding the West Coast of the U.S., soaking Southern California in particular to the tune of 21 inches for this latest storm - a far cry from the 6 inches total for the previous year. And at last report, a whole series of storms was lined up to continue the assault. The weather put a damper on Queen Elizabeth's visit to California, forcing a cruise of the Royal Yacht up the coast to be shelved in favor of flying to Santa Barbara for lunch with the President.

At least it wasn't lava flowing like it was in Hawaii, compliments of the Kilauea Volcano and the 15 foot wall of molten detritus marching relentlessly towards a newly constructed subdivision.

Or the on-going Iran-Iraq War which saw an attack on Iran's Oil fields and the reported sinking of 5 Iranian ships, including oil tankers - that one sent out pangs of apprehension for the gas pump, even though Saudi Arabia and Venezuela proposed to OPEC a lowering of oil prices, rather than raising them.

And Burlington Vermont re-elected their first Socialist Mayor. Bernard Sanders was ushered in for a second term, defeating both the Democratic and Republican candidates for the job. Burlington was the first city in the U.S. to have a Socialist Mayor and all eyes were gazing askance towards New England, wondering if this was going to be a trend or, like Flashdance, just a phase.

And so it went for this March 2nd, 1983 as told to eager ears on The CBS World News Roundup, Newsbreak, the 9:00 am Network news and Reporters Notebook.

Just in case you needed confirmation.

By all accounts a normal day, this May 17th in 1988. There was a dramatic decline in the Trade deficit and stock markets throughout Europe broke out in waves of giddy. Even our own Stock Market rose 10 points over the news. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, debate was girding its overblown loins for ratification of the INF Treaty and Conservative Republicans were threatening fits and tirades. Edwin Meese fired spokesman Terry Eastland and circles in the State Department thought it was Meese who needed to be fired.

Since it was election year, news was crowded with the horse race known as Primaries and the one in Oregon had Michael Dukakis and Jesse Jackson sprinting to the wire. A recently released CBS/New York Times Poll had George Bush trailing Michael Dukakis by 10 points if the election were held on that particular Tuesday.

On the world front - The Honduran Ambassador was arrested on Cocaine possession charges. South African Bishop Desmond Tutu called for an Isolation Campaign against the apartheid government of South Africa. Pope John Paul II was on a 12 day Latin American visit and exchanged finger wagging on Human Rights violations with Paraguayan Strongman General Alfredo Stroessner, whose miserable record of Human Rights earned the ire of the Vatican and whose Papal criticism earned the ire of Stroessner.

And it was the 1-year anniversary of the bombing of the USS Stark by an Iraqi jet.

Not thrill-packed, but dramatic nonetheless. Here is the CBS World News Roundup for May 17,1988 (A Tuesday).

On this particular day in 1979 you probably heard about the sudden death of former vice-President Nelson Rockefeller at 70 from a heart attack. You would probably also hear later that he was rumored to have died with a smile on his face, but that was long before the days of TMZ. Other news you were probably hearing about were the continued and intensifying demonstrations in Tehran over the newly installed Shah-replaced government and the prevention of Ayatollah Khomeni from landing in Iran. You also heard about Pope John Paul II and his tour of Mexico, being greeted by upwards of a million people and the breathless anticipation on what he was going to say to the crowd later in the day. You would probably be hearing about all that and a lot more and wondering if it really was worth getting out of bed on this particular day.

And that was the question. But in the meantime, here is the CBS World News Roundup for January 27, 1979.