On February 12, 2002, the trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of Yugoslavia, began at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. Milošević was indicted on sixty-six counts of war crimes allegedly perpetrated during the Balkan civil wars of the 1990s, including allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity. [...]

On February 11, 1812, Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signed an electoral redistricting law that favored his party. The practice became known as “gerrymandering” in reference to Gerry and the unusual, allegedly salamander-like district that resulted. See the original 1812 political cartoon of The Gerry-mander in the Boston Gazette.

On February 11, 1889, the Meiji Constitution of Japan was promulgated by Emperor Meiji. Officially titled the “Constitution of the Empire of Japan,” the Meiji Constitution went into effect on November 29, 1890 and served as the country’s fundamental law through the rise of the Japanese Empire until the end of World War II. On [...]

On February 10, 1967, the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution, pertaining to Presidential disability and succession, took effect.

On February 10, 1947, the Honourable Louise Arbour was born in Montreal, Canada. Arbour became a distinguished Canadian and International Jurist, serving as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada, as Chief Prosecutor for War Crimes with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and as the United Nations High Commissioner for [...]

On February 9, 1909, Congress passed the first federal legislation prohibiting narcotics. The “Act to Prohibit Importation and Use Of Opium” barred the importation of opium at other than specified ports and for other than medicinal use.

On February 9, 1962, Jamaica left the Federation of the West Indies, becoming a fully-independent nation for the first time in its history. The country did, however, remain a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Read the Constitution of Jamaica from the Georgetown University archives.

On February 8, 1587, Mary I of Scotland was executed for involvement in a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England. Before execution, Mary denied three times assisting the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, and crown Mary as ruler of Great Britain. Mary’s guilt or innocence is debated to this day. [...]

On February 8, 1924, Gee Jon, a Chinese man convicted of murder, was executed by gas in Nevada and became the first person in the United States to be put to death in that manner. The Nevada state legislature had eliminated hanging and shooting as a method of execution in 1921, and had provided for [...]

On February 7, 1992, the Maastricht Treaty was signed by the members of the European Community, creating the European Union. Officially called the Treaty on the European Union, the original Maastricht Treaty went into force on November 1, 1993. The current Maastricht Treaty includes amendments from later EU treaties.