Catalonia declares independence from Spain

The Parliament of Catalonia declared independence from Spain in a failed bid for sovereignty on October 27, 2017. The declaration followed an independence referendum, boycotted by pro-union residents, that saw 92% of voters choose independence. The declaration was subsequently declared illegal by Spain’s Supreme Court. Many Catalan independence figures such as then-Catalan President Carles Puigdemont were criminally charged as a result of their involvement in the independence attempt.

Read the Catalan Declaration of Independence.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US Supreme Court decided Dartmouth College case

On February 2, 1819, the US Supreme Court decided Dartmouth College v. Woodward, ruling that the charter of a college was a contract that a state could not alter arbitrarily.

New Amsterdam incorporated

On February 2, 1653, the City of New Amsterdam was incorporated by the Dutch Republic. After the British conquest, the city was renamed New York after the Duke of York.

Breviary of Alaric put into effect by Visigoth king

King Alaric II of the Visigoths put the Breviary of Alaric, a collection of Roman laws, into effect on February 2, 506. The breviary contains constitutions and laws of the newly fallen Roman Empire, including the Theodosian code, and parts of the Gregorian and Hermogenian Codes. The Breviary of Alaric predated the Byzantine Empire's Code of Justinian by 23 years.  Read an entry on the Breviary of Alaric from the Encyclopaedia Brittanica.