On February 2, 1819, the US Supreme Court decided Dartmouth College v. Woodward, ruling that the charter of a college was a contract that a state could not alter arbitrarily.
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Sir Edward Coke, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench and author of law reports and commentaries (including, most famously, Coke on Littleton), was born on February 1, 1552. Learn more about Sir Edward Coke.
On February 1, 1790, the Supreme Court of the United States convened for the first time. The meeting was held at the Merchants’ Exchange Building in New York City, then the national capital. Chief Justice John Jay presided over the first Court with five Associate Justices: James Wilson, John Blair, James Iredell, William Cushing, and [...]
On January 31, 1946, the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was adopted, creating six internal republics. The constitution, modeled on that of the Soviet Union, would serve as the supreme law of Yugoslavia throughout the Cold War before the union dissolved in 1990.
On January 31, 1865, Congress passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery in the United States.
On January 30, 1973, former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr. were convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping in connection with a politically-motivated break-in at the Watergate hotel. Read more about Liddy and McCord from the Washington Post.
On January 30, 2003, British-born Richard Reid was sentenced to life in a US prison for attempting to destroy an American passenger plane using a bomb hidden in his shoe. Reid attempted to ignite the explosive device on a flight leaving Miami International Airport bound for Paris on December 21, 2001. Before he could light [...]
On January 29, 1979, kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst’s seven-year prison sentence for bank robbery as a member of the Symbianese Liberation Army was commuted by President Jimmy Carter. Hearst was later pardoned by President Bill Clinton.
On January 29, 1978, Sweden became the first country to outlaw aerosol sprays. The ban was enacted to address the harmful effects of aerosols on the Earth’s ozone layer. Read about aerosol sprays and the ozone layer of Earth’s atmosphere from NASA.
On January 28, 1573, the Warsaw Confederation was signed, opening religious freedom in Lithuania and Poland. The Confederation document statutized the Polish practice of tolerating different religions. Read the Articles of the Warsaw Confederation in the original Polish.
