U.K. repeals prohibition on non-conformists at its universities

On June 16, 1871, the United Kingdom passed the University Tests Act, repealing a prohibition on non-conformists at the British Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham. The Tests Acts were a series of laws that started in 1673 and eventually required officeholders, university students, civil servants and other persons associated with the government to swear allegiance to the Anglican Church. The Tests Act was repealed by the Catholic Relief Act of 1829, but the university policy lasted until 1871.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Mao Zedong widow sentenced to death in China

On January 25, 1981, Jiang Qing, the widow of Mao Zedong, was sentenced to death by a special court in China. The charges stemmed primarily from Jiang's role in the Cultural Revolution. Saying "I was Chairman Mao's dog. I bit whomever he asked me to bite," Qing unsuccessfully argued that she was merely acting at the direction of her late husband, who had died five years earlier. In 1983, Jiang's sentence was commuted to life in prison so that she would have "time to repent." Her official trial documents have still not been released.

Charles Manson and "family" convicted of Tate murders

On January 25, 1971, Charles Manson and three women of his "family" were convicted of murder and conspiracy for the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate. Learn more about the trial of Charles Manson from Professor Douglas Linder of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.