On August 23, 1927, Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in the Massachusetts State Prison for a 1920 armored-car robbery. Learn more about their sensational trial. The two Italian immigrants were officially exonerated by Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in 1977.

On August 23, 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, affirming a policy of non-aggression between the two countries. In a secret addendum, the two nations also agreed on how they would conquer and divide Poland. The Pact ended when Germany invaded the USSR on June 21, 1941. Learn more about relations between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union from Yale University.