Twelfth Amendment Ratified

On June 15, 1804, the Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, creating separate votes in the electoral college for President and Vice-President. In prior elections, the country experienced problems with the original system in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution, which failed to adequately segregate votes for President and Vice-President. This led to a tie in the 1800 election between Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates of the same party.

Learn more about the history of the Twelfth Amendment from the University of Chicago.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Standard Oil incorporated

On January 10, 1870, John Davison Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil. Rockefeller's corporation would grow to achieve a virtual monopoly over oil production in the United States. Standard Oil's dominance lasted until the corporation was split into 34 separate companies in 1911 after the Supreme Court found the company in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The rise of Standard Oil made Rockefeller America's first billionaire and eventually the richest man in the world. Read the text of Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey vs. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1910).