November 4, 1979 - Hostages taken
April 24, 1980 - Failed rescue attempt
January 20, 1981 - Reagan takes oath of office, minutes later, hostages released.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0120.html
I remember watching that on a split screen television; Reagan being sworn in on the left screen, the plane load of hostages on the tarmac on the right side. As soon as Reagan completed the swearing in, the Iranian guards stepped out of the path of the plane and signaled it to take off.
Walter Cronkite was practically in tears as he prattled on about how poor Jimmy had done all the heavy work of negotiation and had to leave office before it came to fruition.
Ronald Reagan was such a class act that he asked Jimbo to go greet the plane when it arrived on U.S. soil a few days later. As I recall, there was a few day's stop at our airbase in Germany to medically examine and debrief the hostages.