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A curious mix of optimism and pessimism for this week, ending on April 26th in 1964.

On the optimistic side - President Johnson announced to the world that the U.S. would make substantial reductions in Nuclear Weapons and Uranium enrichment production. Simultaneously, it was announced by Nikita Khruschev via Radio Moscow, that the Soviet Union would do the same thing. The news was greeted with a sense of relief and UN General Secretary U Thant offered an evaluation on what was deemed a hopeful sign towards an easing of Cold War tensions.

On the Pessimistic side - tensions were brewing between the U.S. and Cuba as Cuban Premier Fidel Castro vowed to down any U.S. Reconnaissance planes flying over Cuban territory as it had been doing since 1962.

On the optimistic side - Sec. of State Dean Rusk returned from a fact-finding mission to Saigon and offered an upbeat assessment of the situation in Vietnam, saying the South Vietnamese Army could handle themselves nicely.

On the Pessimistic side - Defense Secretary Robert McNamara conceded it will "take time" for any progress to be made in Vietnam and that the South Vietnamese Army is running a defensive strategy rather than an offensive one. Oh well.

Meanwhile - the four year long negotiations between the Railroads and the Unions was finally at the settlement stage. And just in the nick of time, as the settlement averted a threatened strike.

President Johnson went on a brief tour of the Appalachia region, hitting the towns and cities worst hit by poverty and unemployment, touting his War on Poverty legislation. He was greeted with waves of enthusiasm.

Not so enthusiastic were reports from Capitol Hill saying the 1964 Civil Rights Bill was at a standstill, making the future unclear for passage of the Legislation.

And the much publicized "Stall-ins", threatened for Opening day of the New York Worlds Fair on April 22nd, didn't materialize. But that didn't stop some 300 Civil Rights demonstrators from being arrested from the Fair opening anyway.

All this in one week, ending on April 26th 1964, as reported on the ABC Radio Voices In The Headlines program.

I remember just how much of a panic people got into when the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated to this point on October 23rd. We had all become too familiar with the "pending atomic attack" from the Soviet Union over the years. And how, as a kid living in Los Angeles, reading an article in the L.A. Times with accompanying graphic of just how much of L.A. would be reduced to dust if such an event occurred. As best as I could tell, our house was destined to be boiling ash and it created no end to the amount of sleepless nights in the days and months to come.

In retrospect, it probably explains a lot of what we eventually grew into and the choices we'd make because, let's face it, we were convinced we'd be radioactive waste at any given moment.

But I think it was the cool detachment of the media when this crisis hit the boiling point that is so fascinating in hindsight. And this broadcast from 7:00 pm Eastern on the evening of the 23rd perfectly exemplifies that.

Ray Scherer (NBC News): “The most significant moment of this perhaps historic day came at seven minutes after seven tonight when the President took up a pen and put his name to the Quarantine Proclamation, a two page document titled ‘Interdiction Of Delivery Of Offensive Weapons To Cuba’. Here is the list of prohibited materials: Surface to Surface Missiles, Bombers, Bombs, Air-To-Surface Rockets and Guided Missiles, Electronic Equipment To Support Them. After 10:00 tomorrow morning, any ships carrying such materials will be turned back. If there is resistance, force shall be used, says the document, to the extent necessary.”

It's interesting to consider (and I certainly didn't at the time), that no doubt there was a family somewhere in Moscow with a 12 year old kid who was probably just as freaked out about the possibilities of being reduced to radioactive waste as I was. The threat of war is just like that.

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When news of the ill-fated CIA backed invasion of Cuba at The Bay Of Pigs was first announced on April 17th, it wasn't clear if the attempted overthrow of the Castro regime would be a success or not. But as hours and days passed, it was clear it wasn't. In fact, it was a howling failure and it made for a goodly amount of Anti-U.S. propaganda fodder for the Soviet press and another big set-back for our Foreign Policy in Latin America.

President Kennedy made an address to the country during a meeting of the Press Association. At the time it wasn't made known the CIA had anything to do with the invasion, rather it was touted to be a group of Anti-Castro rebels, trained and equipped on a shoestring, attempting to overthrow Fidel Castro. That part looked good on paper. But the reality was a bit different.

Here is that address from April 21, 1961.

And further evidence the 70's were just as haywire as every other decade. The news from June 14, 1978 was proof.

In the continuing series of accusations and denials, President Jimmy Carter alleged he had irrefutable proof that Cuban advisers were heavily involved in the rebel uprising in Zaire, from intelligence gathered that Cuban troops were training rebels in bases from neighboring Angola. Castro flatly denied it. The saga dragged on.

Meanwhile, Carter pressed to put negotiations with China on the fast track in an effort to get full normalization of relations as soon as possible.

On Capitol Hill - Questions were being posed to Israel regarding their future status of the Gaza Strip and the Occupied West Bank. The inquiry set off a rift in the Knesset, causing a three-way split in the Israeli cabinet.

The United Nations was wrestling with the Lebanon situation. Southern Lebanon was going relatively smoothly, but it was Northern Lebanon that was the cause of concern. Tensions were high in that region over the killing of the son, daughter-in-law and grand-daughter of former President Sulieman Franjileh by Phalangist gunmen, and fears of an outbreak of violence during the funeral put everyone on the alert.

Japan was weighing their Oil Storage policy as the result of serious damage done to several Oil tanks and the resultant spill of millions of gallons of crude at facilities in Sendai, which had been hit hard by a recent earthquake.

And Jimmy Carter was meeting on this day with Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai for talks regarding U.S.-India relations. The two got on famously, even though there were areas of disagreement.

And the news ended with a roundup of recent Primary election results around the country.

And that's how life rolled, this June 14, 1978 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup.

May 14, 1978 saw the world in a state of threatened discontent. There were grumblings of a war developing between Ethiopia and Somalia. Border clashes between China and Russia brought a call from Beijing for intense training of its armed forces, citing a war between the two Communist powers was inevitable. Three Cambodian soldiers were killed in a clash with Thai Border police. And Yassar Arafat let everyone know Cuba offered to send troops to Lebanon if the PLO asked.

Meanwhile, a group of military experts was slated to accompany National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski on his upcoming trip to China. It was viewed as a slap in the face to Taiwan and further evidence the Taipei government was losing favor with the White House.

Speaking of Capitol Hill; the big push was on to win over votes in the Senate for Jimmy Carter's F-15 Fighter jet sales package to Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The bill was in threat of being vetoed and Carter pledged to override the veto if push came to shove.

A Russian language newspaper published in Manhattan was bombed by a Pro-Israeli group calling themselves The Jewish Resistance. No injuries, but a lot of damage, and phone calls claiming credit also demanded Russian Jews be allowed to emigrate to Israel.

In Zimbabwe Rhodesia. Abel Muzorewa threatened to pull out of the bi-racial transitional government of Ian Smith over the recent dismissal of a Black judge.

And American companies operating in Iran were told to restrict the movements of their employees because of intensified anti-government violence against the Shah.

Supposedly a quiet news day, since May 14th in 1978 was a Sunday.

All that, as reported by Neil Strawser on the 7:00 am (PDT) CBS Hourly News.

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.

News for this April 4th in 1960 was short and medicinal. President Eisenhower heaped praise on vice-President Richard Nixon as the 1960 Presidential campaign got underway from the Republican camp. The general consensus of opinion was Nixon would be a shoe-in for the nomination.

Meanwhile, violence continued in South Africa with hospitals reporting a shortage of bandages to treat the injured. Protests against the White-Minority government were intensifying, as were the crackdowns.

A board of Inquiry from Civil Aeronautics concluded the recent crash of a National Airlines plane in North Carolina was the object of a bomb planted on board. No clues as to who did it though.

The biggest Communist Youth Rally ever held took place in Havana, Cuba with a sea of Cuba, Si - Yanki, No placards on display. There was seemingly no end to the love for us, particularly in Cuba.

And this night was the night of the Oscars in Hollywood.

All this and some cheery ads for Sylvania Blue Dot Flashbulbs all via NBC News On The Hour.

News of this day in 1982 was pretty sad. It had been reported that actor John Belushi had died earlier in the day from "natural causes". Only as the hours went by did the news reports get more facts in. Still, Belushi the Comic genius was gone and that was bad enough.

In other news (if we really paid attention at the time) - Gen. Alexander "I'm In Charge Here" Haig claimed proof that Cuban and Nicaraguan aid was pouring in to the rebels in El Salvador.

The trial of Klaus von Bulow was wrapping up with Defense resting its case. Only a matter of time before it went to the Jury.

Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill were proposing a crackdown on people who underpaid their taxes. It was said this sort of forgetfulness was responsible for the government not getting as much as $77 Billion in tax revenue.

Rumors that Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev had died halted temporarily the downward spiral in gold prices. When he later appeared on TV the prices spiraled upward.

And so went that particular March 5th in 1982 via CBS Hourly News as well as local (KNX-Am) coverage of the Belushi death.

The Benitez Sisters got their start in their native Cuba. Fashioning themselves after the more popular singing groups around Havana at the time. However, as the times dictated Hermanas Benitez found themselves settling in Mexico in the early 1960's where their recording career took off.

Tonight it's a track from 1960 and an early stab at a Girl Group rock n' roll sound. Pepito has none of the trappings of the Havana singing groups of the time. Rather they tried to emulate a modified Doo-Wop approach. The result is . . .well . . interesting.

I would imagine you probably haven't heard this track before - I don't think it's been reissued on any of their compilations, and if you can get past the Accordion that plays a prominent position in the song it's rather catchy.

But don't take my word for it.

Domestic goings on dominated the news this Leap Year Day in 1996.

President Clinton was hosting a Media Summit on the subject of Sex & Violence on TV with much political hay being harvested in the way of the proposed Telecommunications Reform Bill. The topic was a popular one with everyone agreeing things were getting just a bit out of hand.

Elsewhere, FBI Regulators decided not to sue First Lady Hillary Clinton over the alleged Whitewater affair. Meanwhile, the House narrowly refused Government subsidies to expire for Sugar and Peanuts, but did vote to end Dairy subsidies.

On the GOP Primary front - Steve Forbes was making news on this day. He was given the okay to appear on the New York Primary ballot while some in the GOP accused Forbes of "buying" his Arizona Primary win. The Candidates were heading South this day, to get ready for the next batch of Primaries and the final debate being held in Columbia South Carolina later on in the day.

40 people were arrested and 4 gangs were said to be involved in a rash of warehouse robberies and the kidnapping of High-Tech industry executives in California's Silicone Valley. the robberies were said to net a low-ball figure of $500,000 per heist and a high-ball figure of $10 million per. Nothing to sneeze at. And drug-trafficking was muddled in there too.

The Cuban exile group "Brothers To The Rescue" were discovered to be aligned with not only the Cuban Government but also the FBI, playing both ends of the equation.

A judge refused to throw out Assisted Suicide charges against Dr. Jack Kevorkian - again.

And singer Alanis Morissette scored huge at the Grammy's, winning for her multi-multi-platinum Jagged Little Pill debut. Quick: Name a tune.

And that's how it went for February 29, 1996 as told to the curious among us by The CBS World News Roundup.