Atlantic City: Invasion Of The One-Armed Bandits – First Casino To Open East Of Las Vegas – May 26, 1978 –

– May 26, 1978 – CBS World News Roundup – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –

May 26, 1978 – a memorable day, especially if you lived on the East Coast, around Atlantic City New Jersey.

Because this was the day Gambling became legal in New Jersey and Atlantic City in particular was destined to become Las Vegas Of The East. Despite much hemming and hawing and waiting until the very last minute, Atlantic City’s first (and at the time only) gambling casino was poised to fling open its doors to the cash-tossing devotees of Craps, Blackjack, Roulette, Poker and One-Arm Bandits. And at midnight on May 26, 1978, with ribbons cut and crowds lined-up, the circus came to town.

But there was other news this day. Washington reported another increase in the overall Trade Deficit; up to $2.9 billion from $2.8 billion in March, largely because of a big jump in petroleum imports. President Carter opened fire on the Washington Insiders, the influence peddlers and special interest groups which formed an Iron Triangle of Bureaucracies, Congressional Committees and well organized Special Interests who could organize strong opposition to much needed reforms. In the advanced text of a speech Carter was deliver to the Illinois Legislature in Springfield, Carter added “in one end of our country to the other, our people are tired; tired of the waste, inefficiency, complexity and secrecy of the government. They’re mad and they’re looking to us to do something about it”. Mr. Carter was also going to urge the Illinois Legislature to add the Equal Rights Amendment to its constitution. He was busy doing all this on a sweep through Illinois, partly to mend fences but partly to extend support to candidates running in mid-term elections.

And today it was Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko’s turn to address the UN General Assembly on the subject of disarmament. He was expected to deliver a sharp rebuke to vice-President Mondale’s criticism of the Soviet Union and their violation of the cause of disarmament with the buildup of conventional and nuclear weapons in Europe. The Iron Curtain was annoyed.

And that’s just a small sample of what went on, this May 26, 1978 as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.

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