Alger Hiss

On January 21, 1950, in the conclusion to one of the most spectacular trials in U.S. history, former State Department official Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury. He was convicted of having perjured himself in regards to testimony about his alleged involvement in a Soviet spy ring before and during World War II. Hiss served nearly four years in jail, but steadfastly protested his innocence during and after his incarceration.

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May 21

Cold War

Gorbachev consolidates power, 1988

In an attempt to consolidate his own power and ease political and ethnic tensions in the Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian leader…

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