Marie Antoinette convicted of treason and guillotened

French Queen consort Marie Antoinette was convicted of treason by a Revolutionary court and then guillotined on October 16, 1793. The queen consort was convicted of conspiring with foreign powers, depleting the treasury, and high treason only four days after her initial arrest on October 12. Her husband Louis XVI was executed nine months prior.

Learn more about the trial and execution of Marie Antoinette.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Dreyfus convicted of treason

On December 22, 1894, Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial trial that prompted worldwide allegations of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was later cleared. Learn more about the case of Alfred Dreyfus and read an English translation of the famous public letter J'Accuse...! by novelist and Dreyfus partisan Emile Zola.

US passed Embargo Act, banning foreign trade

On December 22, 1807, the Embargo Act was passed at the urging of US President Thomas Jefferson. The act barred trade with any foreign nations in an effort to avoid American entry into the Napoleonic Wars of Europe. However, the act proved unenforceable and was replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act, which barred trade with France and Great Britain. Learn more about the Embargo Act of 1807 from Monticello.org