On January 4th 1968 Secretary of State Dean Rusk held a Press Conference where he reviewed Foreign Policy accomplishments of the previous year, and laid out goals for 1968. As always during the Vietnam Era, the goings on in Hanoi were first and foremost and, among other subjects, the offer of a ceasefire for January was talked about. It is ironic that less than three weeks later North Vietnam would launch the bloody and opinion-changing Tet Offensive. The event which was said to have turned many Americans against our involvement in Vietnam and, for all intents and purposes, was influential in Lyndon Johnson's decision not to seek re-election for the 1968 Presidential election.

But on January 4th neither Rusk, nor anyone in the State Department or on the ground in Vietnam, have a clue as to what was coming within a matter of days. The Offensive was said to have surprised everyone. There were skirmishes in the weeks leading up to Tet. But nothing to give any indication as to the scale of what was to come.

So with that in mind, here is the Dean Rusk Press Conference of January 4th, 1968 as heard over NBC Radio.

Pretend you have no idea how it all turned out.

News for this day in 1940 was all about the deteriorating situation in Norway and the reaction on both sides of the Atlantic to what was becoming an ominous tide to the war. It was also around this day the world got a new word to mull around; Quisling.

Vidkun Quisling was head of the puppet government which ultimately paved the way for Berlin to take over Norway with comparative ease. After this episode, anyone accused of selling out or being a traitor to his own country was referred to as a "Quisling". But the invasion of Norway wasn't without resistance, and the small Norwegian Army, still loyal to the King who was now in hiding somewhere in the mountains, was facing the German onslaught, along with assistance from Britain. It wasn't sufficient enough to prevent the German army from occupying Oslo and several other key cities in the country. As of this day, most fighting was taking place around the port city of Narvik and speculation was rife that Norway would be one of several small European countries coming under German occupation in the coming months.

News from Capitol Hill was also in reaction to the situation in Norway, with a feature report of heroism on the part of American Ambassador to Norway Daisy Harriman in aiding refugees and keeping the State Department informed of the goings on.

All of this led many in Washington to wonder just how long it was going to be before the U.S. got involved in the shooting war.

But at the moment, it was all very distant and abstract, even as it was being reported by the NBC Blue Network on their News Of The World for April 13, 1940.

And ironically, March 23rd in 1945 was a Friday too. But on that particular Friday the news was moving very fast. Even while this newscast was on the air, reports came in that Allied troops had crossed the Rhine and events were moving faster than they could be reported.

So most of the news on this day was about the Allied advances into Germany with cautions not to break out in celebration just yet - there was still some 300 miles to go until Berlin and it promised to be no picnic.

In other news, there was still the Pacific and fighting there was continuing. Reports came in of massive air raids over Tokyo which succeeded in destroying some 20% of that city's industrial capacity, at least for three months, and further reports of devastating raids on Japanese air bases, destroying some 731 planes in three days.

On Capitol Hill - Congress voted overwhelmingly to extend the Draft, with not a single "no" vote to be had. The State Department reported that it had given the upcoming UN Meeting in San Francisco a special name. From this day in 1945 on it would be known as The United Nations Conference Of International Organizations.

And the Senate voted overwhelmingly against confirmation of Aubrey Williams to the post of Rural Electrification Administrator.

But the news on this day was predominately about the War and its progress and the cautious optimism that went along with it.

And so ended that week in 1945, as reported on The NBC Alka-Seltzer News Of The World for March 23rd.

The world spun oddly, this February 28th in 1981.

While Prime Minister Thatcher and President Reagan exchanged toasts and cordialities at a dinner hosted by the British Embassy in Washington, the rest of the world was going off on its own direction.

The Soviet newspaper Pravda labeled lies over reports from the State Department claiming Russia was sending arms to El Salvador. Had they known. . .

Meanwhile earlier, President Reagan asked for funds to reactivate two WW2 era Battleships, based on information the Soviet Navy was stepping up warship production. This, hot on the heels of Reagan presiding over additional government budget cuts to the tune of $10-13 Billion. A budget and Tax cut battle were heating up.

In the rest of the world - An Islamic Peace Mission landed in Tehran to try and settle the 6 month old Iran-Iraq War. Three British Missionaries were released from captivity by the Iranians. John and Audrey Coleman and Mrs. Gene Wadell were glad to be home. Still, there were more to worry about. Speaking of hostages, the Basque Separatists ETA released hostages snatched from the consuls of Austria, El Salvador and Uruguay after 8 days of captivity.

Domestically - violence was threatening to loom between Vietnamese and American Shrimp fishermen in the Texas Gulf Coast. The Vietnamese were reported to be stocking up on arms for protection and the Americans were seen at various KKK meetings, espousing the virtues of immigrant bashing. The Shrimp had no opinion one way or the other, and no doubt preferred they just went away.

And so went this rather skewed February 28, 1981 as reported on the CBS World News Roundup.

This February 24th in 1941 was marked by continued German bomber raids over London and various other cities in Britain overnight with casualties reported as "light". Britain responded with RAF raids over the German occupied port cities of Calais and Boulogne in France.

Meanwhile - Britain labeled as untrue reports of diplomatic proposals to Japan about the Far East. Both London and Tokyo denied any sort of overtures, although it was reported Britain did issue a warning if Japan made any moves on Indochina or the Dutch East Indies there would be trouble.

News from Bulgaria reported German troops were on the border, poised to move in, but nothing had been confirmed - only the waiting game. Turkey pledged alliance with Great Britain over the looming Bulgarian crisis.

London labeled as unconfirmed reports of increased U.S./UK collaboration in the war effort and Russia adamant about maintaining neutrality in light of the Bulgarian situation, despite the fact that German troops were massed on the Russian Border and Russian troops were massed back. Some neutrality, that.

Reports from Berlin announced Hitler was getting ready for an address to the German people. This on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the founding of the National Socialist Party (established Feb. 24, 1920).

And on Capitol Hill - The Dies Committee (precursor to HUAC) reported claims that Russia had been secretly acting as an agent for the German government, with apparent evidence of a dramatic spike in goods shipped to Russia that just so happened to be on the German short-of-supply list. The State Department immediately called for an investigation over the allegations that America had been increasing its shipment of Cotton and Oil Drilling Parts to Russia in recent weeks.

There was also news of a Senate inquiry over Union strikes in the Defense industry and debate was about to begin on the latest Lease-Lend Bill.

For a war, it was a rather calm day, considering.

All reported on the morning roundup of news from NBC broadcast on February 24, 1941.

A significant day in history, but one that was moving so fast we didn't appreciate it at the time.

On February 7, 1990 sweeping changes were taking place in the Soviet Union, almost hourly and predominating the news of the day. As Mikhail Gorbachev repealed Article 6 in the Communist Party platform, making way for a multi-party system and Democracy to replace the old Communist system of government. Everyone was in favor, except for one - Boris Yeltsin, regarded by most as a maverick politician. The news was greeted in the West with enthusiasm, although President Bush quickly rushed to claim at least partial credit for the changes. Ironically, he also called for increased spending of the Star Wars Defense system, which baffled everyone, including Central Committee Member Georgi Abatov who said:

"I think you are, you Americans, not yet prepared to live without an enemy. You just don't know what to do without an enemy".

True, that. And still true, some 20 years later.

In other news - Vaclav Havel was scheduled to arrive in Washington for a visit and address a joint session of Congress. Jesse Jackson was scheduled to arrive in Johannesburg South Africa, continuing his call for an end to Apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela. Schools in Selma Alabama were closed on this day, as racial tensions rose and black marched in protest to the recent dismissal of black School Superintendent Norbert Rousseau by a mostly white Board of Education.

The State Department was up to its eyeballs in scandal as it suspended employee Felix Bloch on spy charges. Chicago was minus 20 organized crime figures as the DOJ did a sweep and handed out indictments like party favors.

And a study found the majority of high school students had no idea about geography or even where they were on the map. The good news was 87% could find Canada - but that was about it.

And we were now The Big Kids Left Standing.

And so went this particular day in history as reported by CBS Radio and The World Tonight along with Special Reports and a word or two from Dan Rather.

The latest in the seemingly endless (going into year 7 without a letup) war between Iraq and Iran hit a new milestone on this day with Iran poised to capture the Iraqi town of Basra. The fortunes of war weren't going well for Iraq and the German press were circulating rumors the U.S. was standing by to jump in. The State Department vehemently denied the report, even though U.S. warships were cruising around the Persian Gulf.

In other news this rather haywire day in 1987; a suspect in the terrorist hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985 which resulted in the shooting death of a Navy Seal was being held in a cell in Bonn West Germany. With threats of extradition to the U.S. also came the threat of reprisals from terrorists and the citizenry of Bonn were understandably nervous.

On the Domestic front - the Long Island Railroad strike was heading into its second day with commuters forced to take alternate transportation. And even though it was a holiday, snarls were bad enough in Manhattan to force a run on Valium for the next day. Meanwhile, talks lumbered on.

22,000 Steelworkers were urged by their union today to accept the new contract from USX.

The U.S. entry in the Americas Cup Race won this day's round against New Zealand. They got to face Australia shortly.

The dollar sank to a new post-War low against the Yen in Tokyo. At last count, 150 Yen to the dollar and Japan was worried exports would suddenly slow to a crawl.

And 37 states celebrated Martin Luther King's Birthday today for the first time.

All this and a lot more via the CBS World News roundup for (Monday), January 19, 1987.