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That Was the Year - 1931

Broadcast Date:  October 18, 1937

"That Was the Year" is a fascinating radio show that dramatizes the major historical events between the years 1896 and 1934. The show was produced from the viewpoint of the show's creators in 1937, adding unique interest to modern listeners. Every episode ends with a performance of a popular song from that year. Just over 1-minute of choral music at the beginning has been removed. It was there for stations to add local commercials.
Length:  13:28
Program Producer:  Transcription Company of America, recorded at KHJ in LA

President Nixon Fires Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox

Broadcast Date:  October 20, 1973
Series:  CBS First Line Report
Speaker(s):  Dan Rather, Anchor


Dan Rather reports on the firing of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. He reports the firing was met with outrage, the Congress was stunned, the public is negative, and the calls for impeachment are loud.
Length:  5:54
Program Producer:  CBS Radio News

I'd Rather Be Right

Broadcast Date:  October 21, 1937
Series:  The March of Time

Sponsored by Time Magazine and Life Magazine. "I'd Rather Be Right" opens in Boston with George M. Cohan. A Cohan imitator sings, "We're Going To Balance The Budget" (making Roosevelt the first living president to be the subject of a musical.) U.S. Steel leads the stock market downward. "Wall Street spirits [are] the lowest since 1929." In "The Tampa Flogging Case," five policemen have been released due to "insufficient evidence." A frozen mammoth has been found near Siberia (the sound effects of the dying mammoth are chillingly realistic.) The bodies of seven hundred dead German soldiers have been brought back from Spain. The Cathedral of Rheims, severely damaged during the war, is consecrated after reconstruction.
Length:  30:10
Program Producer:  ABC Blue Network

Build a People's Front and the American Workers Party

Broadcast Date:  October 22, 1937
Speaker(s):  Ben Davis Jr., introduced by Timothy Holmes


Ben Davis Jr. was an African-American attorney and a writer for the Daily and Sunday Worker, a progressive newspaper. Davis spoke on behalf of equal rights for Black citizens.
Length:  14:18
Program Producer:  The New York State Committee of the Communist Party

Eliot Richardson Explains his Decision to Resign

Broadcast Date:  October 22, 1973
Series:  The World at 6:00

Evening news from the CBC in Toronto: President Nixon turns over the Watergate tapes, and Eliot Richardson explains his decision to resign as Attorney-General.
Length:  29:22
Program Producer:  CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Commission)

JFK's Cuban Missile Crisis Speech to the Nation

Broadcast Date:  October 22, 1962
Speaker(s):  President John F. Kennedy


On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a nation-wide radio and TV address about the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba and the U.S. plan of action during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The confrontation ended six days later, on October 28, 1962, when Kennedy and United Nations Secretary-General U Thant reached a public and secret agreement with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
Length:  17:36

Nixon Agrees to Turn Over Watergate Tapes

Broadcast Date:  October 22, 1973
Series:  World News Roundup
Speaker(s):  Richard C. Hottelet (anchor) and reporters


President Nixon will comply with a federal judge's orders to turn over the Watergate tapes. The House starts to move toward impeachment.
Length:  8:45
Program Producer:  CBS Radio News

Indictments in the Nuremberg War Trials

Broadcast Date:  October 23, 1945
Series:  Quoting America

In this series called "Quoting America" this is a roundup of stories about the indictment of 24 high-raking Nazis for the upcoming Nuremberg War Trials. These were a series of military tribunals held after World War II by the Allied forces under international law and the laws of war. The trials were most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, judicial, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany, who planned, carried out, or otherwise participated in the Holocaust and other war crimes. The trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany, and their decisions marked a turning point between classical and contemporary international law.
Length:  13:17

The Cuban Missile Crisis

Broadcast Date:  October 24, 1962

Russian nuclear missiles were stationed on the island of Cuba. A possible nuclear confrontation had the world on edge. This hotline report came from the meeting at the United Nations.
Length:  24:32
Program Producer:  NBC Radio Network