On August 15, 1824, a group of freed slaves from the United States founded Liberia. South Korea was also established on August 15 in 1948. Read the constitutions of South Korea and Liberia.
On August 15, 1876, two months after the Battle of Little Big Horn, the US Congress passed a “starve or sell” bill providing that no further appropriations would be made for the subsistence of the Sioux nation unless they gave up the Black Hills, where General George C. Custer had found gold in 1874.
On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, creating unemployment insurance, pension plans for the elderly and “Aid to Dependent Children” (now Aid to Families with Dependent Children – AFDC). Learn more about the origins of social security and view a photo of President Roosevelt signing the legislation.
On August 14, 1967, the Marine Broadcasting (Offences) Act went into effect in the UK. The Act barred British citizens from participating in so-called “pirate radio” stations that broadcast from outside UK territory.
On August 13, 1961, the government of East Germany closed off the border between East and West Berlin. Soon thereafter, construction began on the Berlin Wall, which would stand until 1989. Learn more about the history of the Berlin Wall.
On August 13, 1894, the Chinese Exclusion Treaty, in which China agreed to the exclusion of Chinese laborers from the United States, was ratified by the US Senate.
On August 12, 1983, the former Prime Minister of Japan, Tanaka Kakuei was convicted of accepting bribes while in office and sentenced to 4 years in jail. He came to be described as “the paragon of post war corruption” for taking money from the defense contractor Boeing in exchange for favorable contracts. Also on this [...]
On August 12, 1833, the City of Chicago was founded. The city was later formally incorporated with a town charter on March 4, 1837.Learn more about the history of Chicago’s charter from the Encyclopedia of Chicago.
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.
On August 11, 1792, the US Supreme Court delivered its first reported decision, Georgia v. Brailsford. Learn more about Justice Thomas Johnson, who wrote the Court’s opinion in the case.