News on this January 12th in 1980 was just as skewed and drama-plagued as any other January day in 1980.

Starting off with word that UN voting on sanctions against Iran had been postponed from the previous night because of hints from Tehran there might be softening on demands for release of the American hostages.

The Hostage drama entered week #11.

In Iran, word of crackdowns on opposition came from Tabriz, where supporters of opposition leader Ayatollah Shariatmadari were rounded up and summarily executed by militia loyal to Ayatollah Khomeni. The end result were riots throughout Tabriz with businesses and banks looted and torched in protest.

Meanwhile, the Soviet excursion into Afghanistan was weighing on people's minds, with the US grain embargo being given support by everyone except Argentina.

Further fallout from Afghanistan came in guise of Canada, who offered the facilities of the former Montreal Olympics site as alternative to Moscow - although the offer wasn't exactly squared with the Montreal Expos who were using the stadium for baseball during the Summer.

In Africa, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was readying for it's first legitimate Majority Rule general elections and relations between Salisbury and Mozambique took a rosy turn as the border re-opened and trade resumed between the two countries, who were only weeks before exchanging raids and artillery fire.

On the Domestic front - The Illinois State Legislature approved financial bailout for the bankrupt Chicago School System, the 3rd largest in the U.S.

And election season was heating up with the Iowa Caucuses poised to go on January 20th and word that Ted Kennedy was behind Jimmy Carter a whopping 25 points - but there was still 8 days to go.

And anything could (and would) happen by then.

And that's what that January 12th looked like in 1980, via Neil Strawser and The CBS World News Roundup.

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.

(Happily jumping out of the frying pan)

Thirty-one years ago today The Islamic Revolution in Iran declared victory. With fighting still going on in the streets, the provisional government of Shahpour Bakhtiar, loyal to the deposed Shah of Iran, collapsed and paved the way for a takeover by the forces of Ayatollah Khomeni and a victory for Islamic fundamentalism.

Things have changed in the 31 years since. The promise of change did just that, but it wasn't the change everyone had in mind. No, it managed to replace one repressive regime for another. And thirty-one years later there is rioting again in the streets.

Three reports today - the first from that day in 1979:

Ann Taylor (NBC News): “Iran’s religious opposition appears to be in control, with reports that the Bakhiar government has been toppled. But no official word yet on the resignation of the Prime Minister.”

The second, a report from earlier today via the BBC and their PM program on Radio 4:

Eyewitness (to PM): “Wherever people gathered the security forces attacked them, and at times using their motorbikes, went right into the crowd. The security forces had batons which some of them were concealing under their sleeves. It was the same story both north and south of the river”

And the third, a news report earlier today from IRIB Radio in Tehran. IRIB is the government-run news service, so don't expect anything resembling objective reporting.

One event that changed the landscape and, no doubt probably the destiny of the region, most likely forever, or at least for now.

(On a scale of bad to worse - eleven)

Continuing our odyssey of November 4th, we arrive at 1979. This one went from bad to worse in a matter of hours. And stayed that way for a record 444 days. The U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran is largely thought to be responsible for bringing the Carter Presidency down and it did prove to be one series of epic blunders after the next, culminating in a disastrous rescue attempt that only served to aggravate an already out of control situation and further ramp up the chants of "death to America". But in the early hours of November 4, it only seemed like a diplomatic problem.

Richard C. Hottelet (CBSNews): “Young Iranians described as students, acting with the blessing of Ayatollah Khomeni have occupied the American Embassy in Tehran and hold more than fifty hostages there. They demand extradition of the Shah, who is now under medical treatment in New York.”

As the days wore on, there was no end in sight.

(Outside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran - November 1979. Not the happiest place on earth.)

For all the recent saber rattling coming from the shrill sector, it seems the lessons of history have fallen on selectively deaf ears.

And speaking of Iran - the last time we got the good idea of being the world's policeman we had our embassy overrun by militant students chanting "Death to America" and the uneasy feeling we were stuck in a game of chicken, seeing who was going to do what first and who was going to blink while doing it.

Trouble was, we had a history with Iran, going back a long way. Contrary to what some think that the average Iranian has a short memory span, most remember our foray into nation building in 1953, where we actively supported the overthrow of a legitimately elected government and replaced it with a monarchy the people no longer wanted.

We had a vested interest and it was called oil and we became inexorably linked to supporting the wrong guy in our adventures abroad for a goodly chunk of 20th Century history, particularly in the area of the independence movements after World War 2.

So when the overthrow of the Shah came in 1978, we were stuck in the rotten position of giving tacit support to the Shah while ignoring the moderate majority and allowing the fundamentalist factors to hijack a populist movement and turn it into a radical version of the repression they were dealing with since 1953.

The rest, as they say, is history. It is with that in mind that our current administration is taking the position of holding their tongues and letting history play itself out. In light of running the risk of history repeating itself, it's the only option available at the moment.

But in case you forgot the last episode, here is a rundown of events that took place between Washington and Tehran starting on November 4, 1979 and going to December 29th with Jimmy Carter's press conference.

A refresher course in the consequences of screwing up seems in order now.

(Jumping from one frying pan straight into another.)

With the elections in Iran less than two days away, I remembered 2009 marked the 30th anniversary of the overthrow of the Shah and the ushering in of the Ayatollah - going from one repressive regime to another in a matter of months.

And in 2009 there is talk of an ouster of the fundamentalist regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a swing towards moderation and an unprecedented youth vote, probably too young to remember those days in 1979.

Word on the streets in Tehran is moderation and reform - women having an equal say in government, doing away with the repressive restrictions. Losing the stranglehold the fundamentalists have had these past 30 years.

But it's interesting to look back during those first 3 months of the overthrow (January to March 1979) to hear what was unfolding. News reports and speculations and finally an interview via Face The Nation with the Ayatollah Khomeni.

A quick look back. Later on in the year it would mean American hostages - and we'll cover that in the coming months.