On this March 22nd in 1941 we were already 567 days into the War in Europe. It had not officially involved us on a shooting basis and so it wasn't yet considered officially World War 2. But it was getting close.

On this particular day in 1941, the otherwise quiet town of Plymouth England was scene of the second straight night of German bombing, where damage was said to be slight, but loss of life was said to be high. The reason - much of the building in the city went back to the 1600's, long before the days of incendiary bombs and blockbusters. Military targets didn't sustain the damage the civilian targets did. And because of that, the British people felt Britain wasn't responding in kind, saying RAF raids on German cities were devoid of civilian targets and so the morale in Germany wasn't suffering as the result.

But even with criticism of the RAF, they still managed to stage successful raids on the Occupied French coast against several German submarine bases.

In other news - rumors were rife in the British press that the U.S. Navy was going to get involved in the convoy of War supplies across the Atlantic. If the rumors were true, it would be only a matter of time before Naval action would take place, and another step towards all-out war was inching closer. Also inching closer were rumors Yugoslavia would be joining the Axis. It was said to be only a matter of days.

In Berlin - it as learned that Conscientious Objectors were being dealt with harshly by the Nazi government. One church group in particular, a German arm of Jehovah's Witnesses, had five of its members stand trial on charges of sabotaging air raid protection, interfering with the War and belonging to an Anti-Military organization. One of it's members had already received a Death sentence while the others were awaiting prison sentences and other fates as-yet unknown.

On Capitol Hill - Congress passed a Military Appropriations Bill to the tune of $4Billion in less than four hours after its introduction. And a $15Billion Defense spending package was scheduled for approval in two weeks.

And that's what this day sounded like, via the NBC News Of The World for March 22, 1941.

With the latest ceasefire in Sarajevo some four hours old, February 10th 1994 started off on a note of cautious optimism. With NATO and United Nations forces stepping up their efforts at a settlement in the never-ending ethnic strife that had overtaken the region, and air of skepticism and hope pervaded the atmosphere in the troubled former Yugoslavia.

So the news on this day in 1994 was hopeful. Hopeful too were signals a partial agreement had been reached between Israel and the PLO over the autonomy question in Gaza and Jericho. How long this would be in effect was also a matter of time, but it was a start.

Somalia, another up-and-coming trouble spot on the World stage, reported the kidnapping of two British members of Parliament and a British Aid worker. No news on conditions, demands or consequences as of this broadcast.

And the Winter Olympics/Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan Scandal was back in the news with lawyers for Harding filing a $25 million lawsuit over the barring of their client from the Winter Olympics. Hearings were continuing in Oslo over Harding's role as accomplice in the attack on skater Nancy Kerrigan. While attorney's for Harding maintained her innocence, a PR blitz ramped up on behalf of the Harding camp portrayed Tonya Harding as an innocent victim.

And University of Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson died at the age of 77.

All that and so much more, this day in history for February 10, 1994 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup.

With the Solidarity Movement in Poland considered a government overthrow, the move towards more severe repression was underway. This time the target for Jaruzelski's wrath was the Catholic Church, with news of priests being targeted for a particular form of Police repression and beatings of Catholic Priests despite repeated calls from the Vatican and Pope John Paul II to end the brutal repression.

The hunt for kidnapped Brigadier General James Dozier was underway in Italy. Dozier was kidnapped by terrorists several weeks prior. The worst was feared but the relentless pursuit of freeing the General with a minimum of bloodshed would yield results a month later.

On top of everything else - two liquor stores in Beverly Hills, California removed all bottles of Polish and Russian Vodka from their shelves.

All that via CBS News 5:00 am hourly news reports.

News on this day was dominated by the NATO Summit Conference which was getting underway in Paris. President Eisenhower had addressed the assembly and the big concern on everyone's mind was the Cold War. The question of stockpiling nuclear weapons in NATO countries was a subject for much discussion and fear was the big factor in talking about Soviet missile capabilities.

Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, hearings were underway regarding the Vanguard Space Program and the missile failures that had been occurring recently. Also news on the Atlas Missile program and a scrapped launch that had been scheduled to take place earlier in the day. Needless to say, morale around NASA was getting pretty low.

And that was what was going on during this particular December 16 in 1957. Further evidence of a nervous decade as reported on The Don Lee Newsreel via Mutual.

It certainly was a day for civil unrest. October 21, 1995 saw a wave of prison riots erupting across the U.S. - some blamed the refusal to relax stiff penalties on crack cocaine, others attributed it to the Million Man March. Whatever the reason, all prisons in the U.S. on this particular day were on lock down.

And there were riots in Okinawa - due to the continued U.S. military presence on the island and the recent rash of rapes among U.S. service personnel and Okinawa locals.

Fingers were crossed that hostage David Hutchings and three others would be released shortly from captivity in India, at least it was hoped.

President Clinton leveled a few blasts at the GOP for their Budget plan.

Mexico suffered its third earthquake in a month. This doing a bit more damage than the others.

And the World Series was getting underway this evening with the Cleveland Indians going up against the Atlanta Braves - the first time the Indians made it to a World series since 1954.

And that's what today was all about in 1995, via The CBS World News Roundup for October 21, 1995.

Another August 25th and another crisis in the Middle East. On this day it was the PLO leaving Beirut, after a brokered and somewhat tenuous peace settlement. The U.S. Marines arrived as part of a peace keeping force which would have disastrous results some months later. But for now they were acting as buffers.

Meanwhile, President Reagan returned to his vacation ranch vowing to veto the $14 Billion Supplemental Money Bill before Congress . . . oh yeah, another one of those threatened Government shutdowns we hear so much about and seem terminally shocked by. Speaking of Congress and terminally shocked, New York Congressman Fred Richmond was facing an indictment on fraud and drug charges and calls for his removal from office. Somewhere in the middle of all that was an incident with a 16 year old boy and a somewhat maladroit attempt at "who's yer daddy?" which sparked the investigation. The recession was lumbering along with the Steel Industry complaining about unfairly low prices from overseas suppliers, claiming governments in Europe were subsidizing their Steel industry and we . . .well, weren't.

And a mural painted for the Nixon library depicted a 25 foot Phoenix rising from the ashes. Cautious smiles from the Nixon folks, however there was no Nixon library at the moment to put it in. Thank God for small favors.

And so went this particular August 25th in1982 as breathlessly presented by ABC World News This Morning.

Seventy years ago this day World War Two hadn't quite involved us officially (not as far as troops were concerned, but just about everything else) so there were still reports to be had from Berlin despite heavy censorship. The news concerned the German advance East, heading deep into Russia. While reports came in of Russian air raids over Germany from the east, and British air raids over Germany from the West. News from Berlin reported on crackdowns on the Black Market, widespread over Germany with numerous death sentences handed down. News from London reported no raids over the British Capitol in the last 24 hours and rationing for Baby clothes was announced.

In Washington, there was talk of a curtailment in "installment buying" to counter fears of inflation due to increased consumer spending. The Federal Reserve Board was working on a plan for the Reserve system to ration credit to prevent runaway business in installment buying and limit Credit agencies (i.e. banks and other lending institutions) from extending credit over a ceiling amount. Can you imagine how that would go over today?

And so it was seventy years ago to the day, on August 12, 1941 as reported by NBC Radio.

Staying with Rupertgate for at least a little while, here is a recap via BBC Radio 4's excellent program PM Magazine. Today it was the Home Affairs Select Committee to hold investigations over alleged wrongdoing within the offices of The Sunday Times, the now-defunct News Of The World. Current and Former members of the Metropolitan Police Commission which turned into something of a free-for-all.

Midway through the broadcast it was revealed Rupert and James Murdoch, along with Rebekah Brooks will be testifying before the Select Committee this coming Tuesday. Shortly after the story was backtracked and it was then revealed there was no concrete commitment to show up for the inquiry.

Current Deputy Assistant Sue Akers went on to explain that, of the 4,000 + phones hacked, less that 170 were actually invstigated.

In short, it's going to be a very long summer. One which will mostly likely go in to Fall and Winter without too much problem.

Here is PM as broadcast by BBC Radio 4

A typical day in 1970 it seemed - this July 6th. In Egypt it was revealed Soviet advisers were playing target practice with SAM-2 and SAM-3 missiles directed at Israel and Israeli jets, purportedly downing 6. And in Southeast Asia the Siege of Phenom- Penh was keeping things lively in Cambodia while reports of fighting in Vietnam were considered "light and scattered" on this day. Secretary of State Rogers was paying a visit to Saigon and getting an earful and a shopping list from other Southeast Asian leaders trying to enlist U.S. Aid.

Italy was patiently waiting for their 32nd government since the end of World War 2 to start. And Northern Ireland was accusing the British Army looting and vandalism in their search for weapons in Belfast homes. A civil war between Protestants and Catholics was predicted by many in the area for the summer and there was no end to skirmishes, riots, teargas, firebombs and curfews to go around. Summer would indeed be a hot one.

President Nixon arrived back in Washington from a 12 day sojourn in San Clemente and a series started on this day (from Huntley and Brinkely) focusing on the average Mexican-American living in San Antonio Texas and daily battles of discrimination, racism and rampant unemployment - and that had nothing to do with anybody illegal, it had to do with surnames. Gotta love Texas.

But Los Angeles wasn't without it's own set of blemishes as the Manson Family trial had gotten underway with Jury selection taking forever as the prospects of a lengthy, drawn-out trial loomed very large in everyone's minds.

And as further evidence this July 6th in 1970 was just as skewed as ever, The Universalist Unitarian Church, while holding their annual convention, passed a resolution that concluded the Vietnam War should be taken over by Private concerns and that an army of mercenaries should replace our combat forces. Of course, it was also suggested the U.S. Government just pay for the thing and otherwise stay out of it. Sounds like Iraq and Haliburton and Blackwater.

Maybe they knew something we didn't.

And so that one went - via the Huntley-Brinkely Report for July 6, 1970 (and oh yeah, we were still smoking like crazy back then too).

July 5, 1980 and it was knee-deep in the Presidential Campaign season. Jimmy Carter headed back to Plains Georgia for a respite after staging a whirlwind tour of the U.S. that took him from Los Angeles (where he got an enthusiastic endorsement from the NEA Convention) to Miami (where he got tepid applause from the NAACP convention). Ronald Reagan was still raising eyebrows for his by-pass of the NAACP Convention. Realizing the faux pas, Reagan promptly fell over himself to accept an invitation to speak to the Urban League. And the hoopla sprinted on.

News on the Shah of Iran, then residing in a Cairo hospital, wasn't good. Meanwhile, Thailand received the first installment of their $400Million purchase of military ordinance from the U.S. - we paid for the shipping.

Cuban Boat People were steaming to Florida's shores with a rumored 500 Marines forming a greeting line when they arrived. Fears were rampant this was the first of Fidel Castro's proposed Convict Dump, as suddenly prisons in Cuba were surprisingly empty this July 5th. And on the subject of dodging bullets, U.S. Embassy officials in Jamaica were taking extra precautions as a rash of shootings in and around Kingston were directed at U.S. government personnel purported to be CIA agents.

Detroit was getting so ready for the upcoming Republican Convention they headed into marathon talks with Sanitation workers over the Garbage Strike responsible for odorizing Woodward Avenue. And a record heatwave scorched the Southwest, even though temperatures dipped to a balmy 104 in Dallas the previous night - they were promised to go upwardly mobile for at least the next month.

425,000 people (according to the Park Service) jammed the Washington Mall to celebrate the 4th and pray for surf with The Beach Boys. And in Boston, John "Mr. Star Wars" Williams celebrated his very first 4th with the Boston Pops. The 1812 Overture and Darth Vader found a new home.

And no doubt, if you were around to hear this CBS World News Broadcast on the morning of July 5th 1980 you were either hung-over or massively relieved you weren't.