On June 19, 1970, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, created a system of international patent registration procedures between contracting states. Learn more about the Patent Cooperation Treaty from the World Intellectual Property Organization.
On June 19, 1953, the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in the electric chair at Sing Sing ended one of the most sensational cases of the McCarthy era. It was the first execution of civilians for espionage in US history. Learn more about the trial of the Rosenbergs.
On June 18, 1979, the United States and Soviet Union signed the SALT II nuclear arms limitation treaty. The treaty was part of a series of nuclear arms reduction treaties signed between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. SALT II was preceded by SALT I and followed by the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and START II. [...]
On June 18, 1878, Congress passed the Posse Comitatus Act. This law made it a felony to willfully use “any part of the Army … to execute the laws” except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or by an act of Congress. Learn more about the origins of the Posse Comitatus.
On June 17, 1991, South Africa repealed the Population Registration Act. Since its passage in 1950, the Act had required every South African to be racially classified at birth. These classifications, in turn, would determined the child’s social and political rights for the rest of his or her life in South Africa. Learn more about [...]
On June 17, 1972, James McCord, security director of President Richard Nixon’s re-election committee, and four Cuban-Americans are arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, DC. Learn more about the Watergate scandal.
On June 16, 1871, the United Kingdom passed the University Tests Act, repealing a prohibition on non-conformists at the British Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham. The Tests Acts were a series of laws that started in 1673 and eventually required officeholders, university students, civil servants and other persons associated with the government to swear [...]
On June 16, 1935, Congress passed President Roosevelt’s “New Deal” legislation to start a recovery program from Great Depression. Learn more about FDR and the New Deal from the US Library of Congress.
On June 15, 1804, the Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, creating separate votes in the electoral college for President and Vice-President. In prior elections, the country experienced problems with the original system in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution, which failed to adequately segregate votes for President and Vice-President. [...]
