More ominous news, this 3rd day of April in 1941. The War in Europe continued. News of the apparent suicide of Count Teleki of Hungary leads to speculation the suicide was helped along by the German Government. The war was taking its toll in other ways. Captured German troops reveal large quantities of sedatives and sleeping pills in their kits, suggesting stress is high everywhere.

Italy suffers numerous setbacks in the Middle East with the report of substantial air losses for the month of March and a growing amount of dissatisfaction among the Italian populace for the war. The prediction in London was that Germany would be forced to occupy much of Italy sooner or later.

The signs from Yugoslavia were ominous on this day, with the Yugoslav Army preparing for a German invasion and German diplomats packing and leaving the country, quickly.

The U.S. got drawn closer to the conflict with the seizure of several German and Italian ships in American Ports. With no plans to release the vessels, Congress was faced with the task of what to do with the ships. In the meantime, the Navy was keeping guard.

As retaliation, it was reported that several Americans living in Germany were rounded up for question in Berlin the previous night. Several students, a member of the Trade Commission and a Priest were brought in and later released via intervention of the Foreign Office. But the feeling was high that the Welcome Mat was going to be pulled at some point.

And on Capitol Hill, all the strikes going on this day were leading some members of Congress to call for a Federal curb on strikes in anticipation of increased War production. And a Congressional tour of Military bases brought about a stinging report of graft, corruption and incompetence and a call for further investigations and courts martial for the offending Military personnel and arrests for their civilian counterparts.

A nervous day, all around as reported on the NBC News Of The World for April 3, 1941.

A lot of Pacts going on this day in March, 1940. From Berlin it was learned that Rome and Budapest signed a Pact of Alliance, while Soviet Russia and Persia signed a Trade Pact, which bothered the French Foreign Minister no end. Berlin Radio also reported the explosions heard in the Romanian Oil fields at Ploesti were the work of saboteurs from the British Secret Service, with no other details.

From London it was reported the infamous scuttling of the German pocket Battleship Graf Spee in Montevideo Uruguay was actually the result of a Mutiny among the battleship's crew and Berlin giving the signal to destroy the ship, rather than have it fall into Allied hands.

From Capitol Hill it was reported that Secretary of State Sumner Welles, upon returning from his diplomatic mission to all the Capitals in Europe, concluded that there was "one chance for peace and a thousand chances for war", making for a gloomy assessment, particularly in light of upcoming legislation and hearings regarding our shipping of Military Aid to Britain. Other goings on in Washington - Federal Judge Peyton Gordon ruled that Labor Unions do come within range of U.S. Anti-Trust laws, therefore paving the way for half a dozen Union officials to be indicted on charges of Conspiracy for Restraint of Trade over Cement Mixers on Washington construction sites.

And that's what went on this March 27th in 1940 via the NBC News Of The World.

(Budapest on November 4 - Waking up to smell the sulfur)

Just when the world thought the Cold War wasn't going to get any colder, this happens. Only twelve days earlier, Hungary went through something of an upheaval with anti-Soviet riots springing up all over the country and a return to power of Imre Nagy (pronounced: Imray Nahj), the moderate who was ousted by pro-Soviet Premier Andras Hegedus in 1955.

So on the morning of November 4th, 1956 when you fell out of bed, it sounded like this:

Bob Pfeiffer (CBS News announcer): “ The latest word from Budapest is that Soviet armored forces seized Budapest in a surprise attack today and captured the government of Premier Imre Nagy. According to communications from Vienna the last words at 8:24 am from the . . .one of the news bureaus in Vienna was – ‘we shall leave our post, we shall leave our post’, according to the Budapest operator ‘goodbye friends, goodbye friends. God save our souls, the Russians are too near’. And then the line from Budapest went dead. Repeating – the Soviet armored forces seized Budapest in a surprise attack today and captured the government of Premier Imre Nagy.”

The Russian army quickly captured Budapest and within days the revolt was crushed and the pro-Soviet hardline regime of Janos Kadar was installed. Hungary would slip back into the Soviet Bloc and not really re-emerge until the collapse of the Soviet Union some 30 years later.

At the time the situation was worrisome as it came hot on the heels of a number of violent clashes in 1956 - the Suez Canal crisis, the Algerian conflict and the anti-communist riots in Poland. It also came at a time when Russia, under the leadership of Nikita Khruschev, was denouncing the Stalin regime and the hope was the new leadership would reflect a moderation on the hardline policies of the past.

No such luck.

Oh . . .the fabulous fifties.