Swiss banks agreed to compensate Holocaust victims for holding assets

Swiss banks agreed to compensate Holocaust victims for holding assets

August 12, 2009 04:00:00 am

On August 12, 1998, Swiss banks agreed to pay $1.25 billion to settle lawsuits brought by Holocaust survivors and their heirs. The plaintiffs had alleged that the banks had kept millions of dollars deposited by Holocaust victims before and during World War II. Read CNN’s original report of the story.

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).

League of Nations established

On January 10, 1920, the League of Nations was formally established as the Treaty of Versailles entered into force. Review the Covenant of the League of Nations and a full League of Nations timeline.