December 19, 1981 and the news was almost entirely about the Solidarity protests in Warsaw and spreading throughout the country, prompting the Moscow backed government of Wojciech Jaruzelski to crack down on the dissidents and declare a state of martial law. Solidarity leader Lech Walesa was arrested and scores of protesters were killed in clashes with Polish troops.
The protests brought about outrage from many corners of the world, including the Vatican where Pope John Paul II sent emissaries to the strike torn country in an attempt at negotiation.
Here are three sets of newscasts all via CBS Radio's News On The Hour - 3,4 and 5:00 am (PST).
As an additional historic aside, there is a commercial for the diet pill Ayds which, needless to say, was pulled off the market by the mid-1980's.
Times have changed. Protests, not so much.
