1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
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In the conclusion to one of the most spectacular trials in US history, after two years of deliberations, former State Department official Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury on Jan. 21, 1950. His conviction was 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 always denied the charges. The case began when Whittaker Chambers, an admitted ex-communist and an editor with Time magazine, testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee and charged that Hiss was a communist in the 1930s and 1940s. Chambers also declared that Hiss, during his work in the State Department in the 1930s, had passed him top secret reports. Hiss appeared before the committee and denied knowing Chambers, but upon confronting him later Hiss admitted that he know the former editor — Chambers had been using another name at the time. In short order, Chambers produced the “Pumpkin Papers”— copies of the documents he said Hiss passed him during the 1930s. Secretary of State Dean Acheson and President Harry S. Truman said the committee was using “red herrings” to defame Hiss, while opponents said officials were “coddling” communists. Because the statute of limitations had run out, he was not tried for treason. The first trial for perjury ended in a deadlocked jury while the second trial ended with a guilty verdict on both counts.
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