Paris Summit Marks End of Cold War - November 1990

A formal conclusion to the era of Cold War between East and West was formally celebrated at a summit conference in Paris. On his way to the summit, Pres. George Bush visited Czechoslovakia, addressing 100,000 in Wenceslas Square in Prague on November 17, before speaking again to the Federal Assembly. Bush met with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in Berlin, November 18. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev met with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican, November 18, and then signed a Soviet-Italian friendship treaty with Italian Premier Giulio Andreotti. The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe opened in Paris, November 19, with the United States, Canada, and all the nations of Europe represented (except Albania, which sent observers). On November 19, Bush and Gorbachev, as well as other leaders of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, signed the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which limited each military force in the region to 20,000 main battle tanks, 30,000 other armored combat vehicles, 20,000 pieces of artillery, and 6,800 combat aircraft. On November 21, the last day of the summit, the leaders signed the Charter of Paris for a New Europe, which declared an end to "the era of confrontation and division in Europe" and pledged a "new era of democracy, peace and unity."

"Junk-Bond" Expert Sentenced - November 1990

In New York District Court on November 21, Judge Kimba Wood sentenced Michael Milken, a former employee of Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., to 10 years in prison for securities fraud. Milken had helped facilitate the corporate takeover boom of the 1980s through the promotion of high-risk, high-yield securities known as "junk bonds." He pleaded guilty in April 1990 to fraud---6 felony counts---and agreed to pay fines and make restitution totalling $600M. In imposing a sentence that was longer than some had predicted, Judge Wood dismissed assertions by Milken's lawyers that the crimes were little more than technicalities. She said a prison term was necessary to deter others in the financial industry from engaging in similar practices.

Senate Finds New Way to Cut Deficits - October 1985

The U.S. Senate came up with a new plan for eliminating the federal budget deficits. The Republican leadership in the Senate and House endorsed a proposal aimed at forcing the government to balance the budget by 1991. The plan would direct the president and Congress to cut the deficit by $36B a year until it disappeared. In any year that the deficit exceeded the specified level by more than 5 percent, the president would have the authority to reduce spending across the board. Support grew for the plan although it appeared to require further cuts in defense and popular domestic programs and increases in taxes. The plan was offered as an amendment to a bill to raise the government's debt ceiling to more than $2T. Pres. Ronald Reagan formally endorsed the plan, October 4. The debate of the amendment delayed action on the debt ceiling, and the Treasury said, October 8, that it would run out of cash that night unless Congress acted on the ceiling. On October 9, the Treasury borrowed $5B to raise the case needed to cover checks already issued. The balance-budget amendment won Senate approval, October 9, as liberals and conservatives joined in the 75-24 majority. The House, October 11, endorsed the goals of the Senate bill; without voting on a specific bill, the House went directly to a conference with the Senate.

Chicago TV Flashback - July 1-2, 1988

WBBM channel 2 TV schedule for Friday, July 1, 1988

Morning

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5a - CBS News Nightwatch cont'd (1 hour)

6a - Business This Morning

6:30a - CBS Early Morning News with Faith Daniels and Charles Osgood

7a - CBS News This Morning with Kathleen Sullivan and Harry Smith (2 hours)

9a - The $25,000 Pyramid (Finale)

9:30a - Card Sharks

10a - The Price is Right (1 hour; 16th season finale)

11a - Photoplay

11:30a - Young and the Restless (1 hour)

Afternoon

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12:30p - Bold and the Beautiful

1p - As the World Turns (1 hour)

2p - Guiding Light (1 hour)

3p - Love Connection

3:30p - Superior Court

4p - The People's Court

4:30p - First Edition

5p - Channel 2 News at 5 (1 hour)

Evening

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6p - CBS Evening News with Dan Rather

6:30p - Entertainment Tonight

7p - Beauty and the Beast (1 hour)

8p - CBS Friday Night Movie: Camille (2 hours)

10p - Channel 2: The 10 O'Clock News

10:30p - CBS Late Movie: Death of a Soldier (2 hours)

12:30a - Channel 2: The 10 O'Clock News (Rebroadcast)

Early Saturday, July 2, 1988

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1a - Entertainment Tonight

1:30a - Fan Club

2a - The Late Show: The Best of the Safecrackers (2 hours)

4a - The Late Show: Ode to a Dying Love (2 hours)

After 15 years of being on daytime television on both CBS and ABC as The $10,000 Pyramid and The $20,000 Pyramid respectively, The $25,000 Pyramid signs off for the last time. Everyone from Rob Reiner, Judy Carne, Frank Gifford, Anson Williams, Robert Mandan, Michael J. Fox, and a giant parade of celebrities leading the contestants to winning a fortune in cash by guessing 6 subjects in 60 seconds or less. The most notable moment was Billy Crystal went up the pyramid in a record-setting time of 24 seconds on December 2, 1977. A record that still stands to this very day. The $100,000 Pyramid still be seen in syndication until the September 2, 1988 finale. Staring Monday, July 4th, the 2nd incarnation of Family Feud with Ray Combs as the new host takes over Pyramid's time slot.

The Price is Right ends its 16th year on daytime television by testing out its computerized on-screen chyron graphics. This practice would be used full-time in 1996 during its final few months of the show's 24th year.