Showstoppers

One Sunday in the spring of 1986, an elderly man went home for the first time in more than 60 years. Vladimir Horowitz, perhaps the most electrifying pianist of the 20th century, returned to his native Russia to perform in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

The Soviet government all but ignored the concert. There were no television reports or newspaper coverage. The calendar of cultural events in Moscow was blank for that day. But word had spread.

The great Horowitz, at age 81, had returned to a hero's welcome. It was a story that captured everyone's attention that Sunday Morning.

There would be other stories that took an entire broadcast to show and tell. Sometimes they were exotic places to visit, such as China, Cuba and Japan.

Sometimes, they were in America's own backyard. The stories that commanded our full attention often were not of our choosing.

There were the shocking deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy Jr., a prince of Camelot.

The quiet of a weekend shattered by news of explorers lost in the Columbia shuttle disaster, and coal miners rescued.

Of uprisings and assassinations and long-awaited liberty.

And one Sunday Morning in September 2001, we saw America rising -- five days after our view of the world had changed so dramatically.

They were stories of profound sadness, stories of great achievement and stories so notable, we had to listen.

Originally aired Jan. 25, 2004