Benjamin Cardozo, future US Supreme Court Justice, was born on May 24, 1870. Learn more about Justice Benjamin Cardozo from the Oyez project at Northwestern University.
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On May 23, 1788, South Carolina ratified the US Constitution, becoming the eighth American state. Learn more about the history of South Carolina.
On May 23, 1701, Captain William Kidd, convicted of piracy and murder, was hanged in London. His body was later tarred and hung up in a gibbet – an iron cage – at the mouth of the River Thames as a warning to others. Learn more about Captain Kidd.
On May 22, 1972, the former British colony of Ceylon ratified a new constitution, becoming the Republic of Sri Lanka.
On May 22, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the General Amnesty Act, allowing all but about 500 Southern male voters denied voting rights as a punishment for rebellion under the XIVth Amendment to regain their right to vote and hold office. General amnesty was finally made universal on June 6, 1898.
On May 21, 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. Read the Congressional Charter of the American Red Cross and learn more about the history of the organization.
English prison reformer Elizabeth Fry was born on May 21, 1780. Learn more about Elizabeth Fry.
On May 20, 1940, the United States Supreme Court held that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment applied to state governments in Cantwell v. Connecticut under the incorporation doctrine, which applied the protections of the Bill of Rights to state governments through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Learn more about [...]
On May 20, 1867, the British Parliament rejected by 196-73 an amendment to the 1867 Reform Act presented by John Stuart Mill that would have permitted women to vote. Review Mill’s 1869 work The Subjection of Women.
On May 19, 1948, Mexico ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The treaty ended the Mexican-American War and ceded roughly half of Mexico’s territory to the United States. Learn more about the Mexican-American War from the US Library of Congress.
