News on May 31, 1942 may not have seemed like it at the time, but it marked a decided change in how the war would be waged from the air.

News reports on this day told of the first massive RAF bomber raid on the German city of Cologne the night before. Some 1,000 planes, the most of any air raid, and the first of what would become a new policy of mass bombing of cities throughout Germany, left the city almost totally destroyed. Fires could be seen some 150 miles away. RAF losses were reported at 44, which was a surprisingly small number in lieu of the damage inflicted on Germany.

In other news - From Moscow came reports the Germans had claimed to retake the industrial city Kharkov and that the much anticipated Spring Offensive was underway.

Fighting around Libya was continuing with German Field Marshall Rommel aiming to take Tobruk and staging an attempt to cut off British supply lines at the Suez Canal.

From Belfast came reports that U.S. troops, isolated from news of the war were starting to pass rumors, allegedly supplied by "Lord Haw-Haw", that the war was going badly for the allies and that the need arose for some method of supplying the American troops with useful information on news of the war, rather than propaganda.

From Washington came word that the former War Production Chief during World War One, Bernard Baruch, had been tapped to repeat his performance in this war. News also came of Chinese reports that the Pearl Harbor attack was originally intended to be one of two major attacks on U.S. targets. The other being The Panama Canal. But the Japanese aircraft carrier reportedly heading to the area was sunk somewhere in the Eastern Pacific, and the raid was thwarted.

News also came of an Allied Oil Tanker was sunk in Tampico Harbor in Mexico, under suspicious circumstances. Since Mexico had declared War on the Axis a day earlier, it was widely believed this was the work of sabotage.

And that's what was going on this May 31st in 1942, as broadcast by The NBC World News Roundup.

For this week, ending on May 11th in 1975, news was about the last Americans and press evacuated from Cambodia. The stories now coming out about the atrocities and the takeover by the Khmer Rouge. In South Vietnam, the Tsunami of refugees was still on, with stories of over-flowing boats and chaos and confusion.

So confusing, that the story came out of the last two Marines, killed in Vietnam were still somewhere in a Saigon hospital morgue, waiting to be picked up. Reports also came in that Laos was facing a Communist takeover, based on the elections recently held.

And that was the picture from Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, it was reported Senator George McGovern was visiting Cuba and talk of the OAS preparing to drop sanctions against the Castro government, sometime during the Summer.

Egypt was moving to finally clear the Suez Canal of wrecked ships leftover from the 1967 War.

And on this week it was 30 years since VE day, and many comparisons were being drawn between the end of that conflict and the one just recently ended in Vietnam.

All in a week, ending May 11, 1975 as reported on The World This Week from CBS Radio.

Day 520 in what would soon become World War 2, but still only "the war in Europe" this January 31st in 1941. The U.S. still had diplomatic ties as well as news bureaus in Berlin and Tokyo. But how long that was going to last was only a matter of time.

The previous night, on January 30, 1941 Adolf Hitler, during a 90 minute speech, warned the U.S. that dire consequences would arise if we continued providing aid to Britain and that the German navy would be compelled to torpedo U.S. ships entering "zones of contention" (i.e. British waters).

The threat was interestingly timed, as arguments over Lend-Lease and Foreign Aid to Britain were being argued on Capitol Hill all this week.

But the war nonetheless continued. News of continued daylight bombings of London were containing reports of indiscriminate targets being hit as the result of cloud cover and civilian casualties were on the rise.

Meanwhile, the Italian army was losing on several fronts, substantiating Prime Minister Churchill's assessment that Italy really had "no stomach for war". Greek troops were advancing in Albania, forcing the Italian army to retreat after suffering heavy losses resulting in a failed counter-attack. Likewise in Libya where British forces forced Italian abandonment of Derna and reports of large numbers of prisoners taken as the result. Italy was rapidly losing ground in Libya and in threat of losing their entire toehold in North Africa.

In Southeast Asia, Siam (now Thailand) issued surrender demands to the Vichy Government to give up French claim to Cambodia and one-fourth of Indo-China. Also stipulating that, should France give up Indo-China altogether, it had first dibs on a second province in the Indo-China territory (remember this for later reference in the 1950's). Suspicions were aroused that the Japanese were behind these negotiations as it was Tokyo who acted as buffer between Siam and the Vichy Government.

And that's how this day went in 1941, as reported by NBC and their morning as well as evening newscasts.

Day 520 indeed.

News on this day in January 1957 had to do with the continuing Suez Canal crisis. Here, by way of the CBS Radio program Update: The Suez Canal from January 25th, is a primer on the crisis with background on the conflict going back July 1956, when the first ripples of the dispute were felt.

As of January 1957, Prime Minister Anthony Eden handed in his resignation and the United Nations had established a cease-fire and set up a peacekeeping mission, and as of January 25th establishment of U.S. Intervention in the Suez Canal.

Fascinating stuff. And if you aren't familiar with this aspect of the Middle East conflict and the emergence of Arab Nationalism throughout the region, it's almost essential listening.

What you might have been listening to on this day if you were around in 1957.

Pretty much a week of turmoil, that week of May 11th in 1975. May 11th came on a Sunday that year and news from this broadcast of The World This Week was filled with stories of evacuation, mayhem, confusion and anger.

The evacuation of Cambodia was nearing completion with Khmer Rouge forces closing in on Phenom Penh, the Capitol of Cambodia. Journalists escaping told stories of forced evacuations of Phenom Penh, leaving the city virtually empty, but the roads leading from the city clogged with sick and dying. Other refugees, this time feeling South Vietnam, were heading to the U.S. - and stories of mass panic and desperate attempts to escape were filling the news on an hourly basis. Egypt was busily clearing the Suez Canal of sunken ships, remnants from the 1967 War with Israel, with the hopes of re-opening the Canal as soon as the wreckage was cleared. And this week in 1975 marked the 30th anniversary of the end of the War in Europe - VE-Day.

If you can, please do. If you can't, keep coming back anyway.