Justinian I issues Corpus Juris Civilis

On April 7, 529 Byzantine Emperor Justinian I issued the first draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law). The Justinian Code represented a revival of Roman Law and a compilation of laws for the Byzantine Empire. It became the foundation of Canon Law in the Catholic Church and Civil Law in modern Europe.

Learn more about the Corpus Juris Civilis.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US signed peace treaty with Germany ending World War I

On August 25, 1921, the United States, which never ratified the Versailles Treaty ending World War I, finally signed its own peace treaties with Germany, Austria and Hungary.

Former East Germany leader convicted of manslaughter for Berlin Wall policy

On August 25, 1997, Egon Krenz, the former of East Germany was convicted of manslaughter for promulgating a policy of shooting any East Germans who attempted to cross the Berlin Wall. Krenz was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison, of which he served four before being released into retirement from political life.