Unless you spent most hours of the day dialing around your Shortwave Radio, you probably might have missed this. If you never listened to shortwave, even as a kid, you probably never heard this. But Radio Moscow had regular English language broadcasts for several hours a day, beamed at us and whoever else in the English speaking world cared to tune in.

This particular broadcast comes from March 16, 1947 and features news from Radio Moscow and a review of the Soviet Press on news of the day.

If you read yesterday's entry regarding the Cold War, this would probably make a lot of sense to you because it's the Soviet version of what was reported in the American press for that day.

The Big Four Conference. Repatriation of German prisoners in Russian camps. The flap over U.S. foreign aid to Greece and Turkey, charges of Imperialism directed at the Truman Administration and a huge dose of the cultural goings on in Russia.

All fascinating stuff if you have even a passing interest in the Cold War period and were wondering what "the evil Empire" was up to.

Well now you know.

Since it's Shortwave it makes for some frustrating listening as the signal gets a little buried in noise. But it's all there and, for history, you just can't beat it.

Since the last day of the year is usually enveloped in contemplation of the 364 days before, 1955 kept that tradition up nicely.

Here are two commentaries on the day's news and the current state of American affairs on December 31, 1955 as presented by veteran news reporters Gabriel Heatter and Virgil Pinkely.

Strange times when you consider the possibility of nuclear annihilation was hovering over everyone's head while trying to be optimistic about the future at the same time. So on the one hand you had news of the Cold War escalating and drunk drivers going completely out of control on the nation's highways. And on the other hand you had a picture painted of who the first born of 1956 would be.

It explains the growth of the pharmaceutical industry and the advent of Mitown.

At the end of the two broadcasts there is a very nice commercial for the 1956 Desoto. A reminder that conspicuous consumption was also very much a household word in the 1950's.

News and commentary from Gabriel Heatter and Virgil Pinkley, broadcast on December 31, 1955 over the Mutual/Don Lee Radio network by way of KHJ in Los Angeles.

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 in 1941 was all about saber rattling. FDR delivered his annual Navy Day Address the previous day and it was met with wild enthusiasm in Britain and wild disdain in Germany. In either case, it signified a rapidly advancing state of open war between the U.S. and the Axis powers and one which would soon enough become a reality within weeks.

But the war was going on with or without U.S. involvement. The German Army was reported on this day to be within 30-40 miles of Moscow, although neither Radio Moscow or Berlin Radio were giving any details.

Meanwhile Syria, the former French colony, had now declared its independence and was quickly recognized by Great Britain with the hopes of gaining another ally in the rapidly deteriorating Middle East.

All in all a rather anxiety-driven day in history, as reported on NBC's News Of The World edition for October 28, 1941.

News on this day in 1995 of a shooting at Ft. Bragg Army Base with an at-the-time-unknown sniper firing into a group of soldiers, killing one and wounding several others. As the day dragged on it became clear the assailant was one of their own. And safety concerns arose over airbag use for children as it was claimed the bags could do more harm than good, especially if the children in question weren't wearing seat belts to begin with. Claims that the Million Man March yielded a million men went under scrutiny and a researcher claimed it may have actually been around 800,000 - but with the margin of error it may have been either 600,000 or 1.1 million. And the check gets made out to who?

Boris Yeltsin was rushed to the hospital, much to the concern of all those around him even though they were tight-lipped about it.

And the Cleveland Indians were still in the World Series, coming up on Game 6 in Atlanta this evening. Trailing at 3-2, the Indians were still hopeful of pulling this one out of the hat.

Hope, like everything else, springs eternal.

And so it was on this October 27th in 1995, thanks to The CBS World News Roundup.

A mostly political day, this October 13th in 1979. The Florida Caucus was underway with Ted Kennedy actively being the boil on Jimmy Carter's posterior. Iowa was holding a straw poll too, with George Bush campaigning for the Republican nod.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill a temporary Compromise Money bill squeaked past the House with threats of Government shutdown avoided for now (cue: broken record). The House also passed a bill lifting price controls on Gasoline with many fearing the cost of a gallon of gas would skyrocket to $2.00. The goings on in Iran seemed to be a likely scapegoat for the gouge.

This week's installment of "Ask The President" would feature no phone calls - the assumption being clairvoyants would occupy the otherwise busy phone banks instead.

Fidel Castro was busy painting New York red after his appearance the previous night at the UN, giving lots of face time to dignitaries and politicos.

Speaking of Cuba - the Washington Post reported the U.S. was moving in the direction of establishing a multi-National Naval force in the Caribbean as a precaution against overtures from Havana to the rest of Latin-America.

Vietnam was busy accusing China of repeated border intrusions - surefire sign a hotspot was getting ready to develop.

And Bolshoi Ballet stars Leonid and Valentina Kozlov were the latest in a long string of Soviet dancers defecting to the U.S. - making their American debut in New Orleans with a new company and packed house.

And the world pirouetted endlessly on, this October 13th 1979 as reported by Neil Strawser and crew at The CBS World News Roundup.

Contrary to what certain people are saying about this being Elvis' birthday . . .'fraid not.

It was August 16, 1977 that Elvis Presley, dubbed The King of Rock n' Roll died at the age of 42.

Here is a clip from CBS Hourly News (9:00 pm PDT) on August 16, 1977.

Just to keep the record straight in case you were planning on sending a card.