US Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, author of the decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, was born in Calvert County, Maryland, on March 17, 1777.
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On March 16, 2006, the United Nations General Assembly established the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to replace the UN Council on Human Rights. The UNHRC was created by the overwhelming passage of Resolution A/RES/60/251ly.
James Madison, a leading framer of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, an author of the Federalist Papers, and the fourth President of the United States was born in Port Conway, Virginia, on March 16, 1751. Review Madison’s speech in Congress introducing his proposed amendments to the Constitution, and his contributions to the Federalist Papers.
Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated at the Roman Forum by a number of his own senators led by Marcus Brutus on March 15, 44 BC over concerns that he was becoming too powerful. The assassination wound up being a political failure as the Roman citizenry ended up becoming incensed at the conspirators and a [...]
US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born on March 15, 1933. Learn more about Justice Ginsburg from Oyez, the Supreme Court multimedia project at Northwestern University.
On March 15, 1803, the Code Napoleon (French Civil Code) was promulgated in France. The Code is considered the first successful legal code in Europe and is still used today as the basis for the modern French Civil Code. Napoleon’s conquests spread his Code across the European Continent, influencing modern legal codes in Portugal, Austria, [...]
On March 14, 2005, the Cedar Revolution began in Lebanon after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Led by the March Fourteenth Movement, street protests in the Cedar Revolution led to the resignation of the generally pro-Syrian government of Lebanon and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country.
On March 14, 1964, nightclub owner Jack Ruby was convicted of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, who had presumably assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Ruby was sentenced to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Ruby’s conviction in October 1966 and ordered a new trial citing improperly admitted testimony [...]
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.
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.
