On March 4, 1982, Bertha Wilson became the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

On March 4, 1909, the Copyright Act of 1909 became law, making infringement of a copyright a federal crime for the first time. Review a brief history of copyright in the United States.

On March 3, 1879, Belva Lockwood became the first woman admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.

On March 3, 1918, the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire) signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the communist government of Russia, ending Russian involvement in World War I. The treaty furthermore opened independence for Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Read the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and other documents related to the [...]

Lord Mansfield (William Murray), Chief Justice of the King’s Bench and developer of English commercial law, was born in Scone, Scotland, on March 2, 1702. Learn more about Lord Mansfield.

On March 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act, granting Puerto Rico status as a United States territory and granting all of its residents US citizenship. The Bill furthermore constructed a government and a bill of rights for the island and allowed its residents to serve in the US military. In 1952, the [...]

On March 1, 1875, the Civil Rights Act of 1875 became law. It declared that all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters, and other places of public amusement, [...]

On March 1, 1950, German-British atomic scientist Klaus Fuchs was sentenced to 14 years in prison by a UK court for passing British and American nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. Read a biography of Fuchs from PBS.

On February 28, 1877, the US Congress ratified the Manypenny Agreement with the Lakota Sioux, under which the United States took control of 900,000 acres of the Black Hills. Read the ratification act, which includes the terms of the Agreement. The Lakota argue to this day that the agreement is illegal, was obtained by coercion [...]

On February 28, 1933, German President Paul von Hindenburg issued the Presidential Decree for the Protection of People and State in response to the burning of the Reichstag (the German Parliament building) on the previous day. More commonly known as the Reichstag Fire Decree, the law suspended many key civil liberties, such as free press, [...]