Video: 'NBC News Special Reports: October 25, 1983'

(Tuesday, October 25, 1983, 5:00 a.m. Atlantic Standard Time; during United States invasion of Grenada, part of the Cold War) — U.S. troops, supported by six Caribbean nations, invaded the tiny, leftist-ruled island of Grenada today, rescuing 1,000 American students and restoring order to the country, 100 miles north of Venezuela.

Video: 'Newswatch 16 for October 25, 1983 | From the WNEP Archives'

Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, it resulted in military occupation within a few days.

Video: '45 85 Part 15' (Oct. 25, 1983, at 3:35)

It was triggered by the strife within the People’s Revolutionary Government, which resulted in the house arrest and execution of the previous leader and second Prime Minister of Grenada, Maurice Bishop, and the establishment of the Revolutionary Military Council, with Hudson Austin as chairman.

The invasion resulted in the appointment of an interim government, followed by elections in 1984.