Commentaries by J. Wells Dixon

On April 6, 1793, the Committee of Public Safety took power as the executive agency of France during the French Revolution, starting the Reign of Terror. During this period, the Committee sought to eliminate "enemies of the Revolution" by summary trials of noblemen, clergy, merchants, and peasants alike. The Reign of Terror ended with the overthrow the Committee's last and most prominent member, Maximilien Robespierre. By this time, 20,000 to 40,000 Frenchmen and women had been executed by guillotine. Learn more about the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.

On April 6, 1931, the nine "Scottsboro boys" were put on trial in Alabama on false charges of raping two white women during a freight train trip from Tennessee. Learn more about the trial of the Scottsboro boys.