Australia Parliament opened

Australia Parliament opened

May 9, 2009 04:00:00 am

On May 9, 1901, the Parliament of Australia convened for the first time in Melbourne. The Australian Parliament also held its first meeting in the new capital of Canberra 26 years later on the same day 1927. Finally, on this day in 1988 Australian opened its new Parliament House in Canberra.

Read the Constitution of Australia.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Czar Alexander II assassinated

On March 13, 1881, revolutionaries assassinated Russian Tsar Alexander II. The terrorist organization Narodnaya Volya (People's Will) hoped to spark a revolution by assassinating the monarch. Instead, Alexander II's assassination led to a repressive backlash from his successor, Alexander III. Read an account of the assassination of Tsar Alexander II by anarchist revolutionary Peter Kropotkin.

Tennessee banned the teaching of evolution

On March 13, 1925, Tennessee passed a law banning the teaching of evolution in schools. The violation of this law by a local schoolteacher resulted in the famous "Scopes Monkey Trial." Learn more about The State v. John Scopes.