US Congress passed Gulf of Tonkin resolution

On August 7, 1964, in response to an alleged North Vietnamese attack on the USS Maddox three days earlier, the US Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, approving and supporting “the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.” The resolution marked a major escalation in the US role in the Vietnam War.

Review the text of the resolution and President Lyndon Johnson’s message to Congress.

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).