April 7, 1980: Three Christian ministers from the American Iranian Crisis Resolution Committee hold Easter services for 50 hostages who had been held since Nov. 4, 1979, at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. On April 24, 1980, President Carter announced that eight American crewmen were killed when two planes collided after a rescue attempt was aborted.

After 444 days of captivity, the hostages’ “flight to freedom” began 33 minutes after Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president, The Times said.