Student Commentary

On January 23, 1937, seventeen of Joseph Stalin's political enemies went on trial in Moscow during the Soviet leader's Great Purge. This trial of seventeen represented the second of the three "Moscow Trials" in which prominent Soviet leaders were accused and convicted of conspiring to overthrow the Soviet state under Article 58 of the RSFSR Penal Code. The defendants were sentenced to execution or deportation to work camps.

On January 23, 1964, the 24th Amendment to the US Constitution, eliminating the poll tax in federal elections, was ratified. Learn more about the 24th Amendment and poll taxes from the National Constitution Center.