Gulf of Sidra off the Libyan coast overnight. Two Libyan MIG's were shot down in what was described by the Defense Department as an "act of self-defense". Libya was becoming a hot-button topic in recent weeks, between fingers being pointed for complicity in the Lockerbee disaster and reports filtering in of a chemical weapons plant being constructed in the Libyan desert. Gaddafi made furious denials and even the German Chemical manufacturer claimed no knowledge what was going on. All elements George Bush Sr. was going to have to look forward to when he took office in a few days.

Other pertinent topics regarded outgoing President Reagan and the incoming Congress, meeting first to confirm Bush's election and then quietly forgetting about the deficit, putting it off until after the Inauguration. Some mummies were just best left in the closet for now.

And so went the news of this particular January 4th day in 1989.