CATEGORY: HISTORY
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COINTELPRO
On March 8, 1971, four people broke into the FBI field office in Media, Pennsylvania and stole more than 1,000 classified documents. In the weeks that followed, documents were mailed anonymously to newspapers around the country from an organization calling itself the Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI, revealing a vast illegal surveillance operation.
The Fenian Raids on Canada
On June 1, 1866, over 1,000 Irish-Americans, known as the Fenians, invaded Canada from Buffalo, New York. It was part of an audacious scheme to seize Canada and use it as a bargaining chip for Irish independence.
The Thalidomide Tragedy
In the 1950s, thalidomide was a popular sedative marketed to pregnant women worldwide as an allegedly safe way to relieve morning sickness. In reality, it was far from harmless.
This Land Is Your Land-Grant University
What do Cornell University, Kansas State University, and Florida A&M University have in common? They are three of the hundreds of land-grant universities in the United States.
The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior
In 1985, a Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior exploded in Auckland Harbor. The arrest of two French intelligence officers for the crime sparked an international scandal.
The Black Sox Scandal and Sports Betting Today
In 1919, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the heavily favored Chicago White Sox in the baseball World Series. One year later, the news broke that the Sox had thrown the game to the Reds, in exchange for bribes from organized crimes Besmirched by the scandal, the 1919 White Sox were referred to ever after as “The Black Sox.”
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study
The exposure of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study in 1972 shocked the nation. More than fifty years later, its impact upon public health continues.
When the Government Shuts Down: How Law, Politics, and Policy Collide
See how a 19th-century spending law evolved into today’s government shutdowns, halting aid, closing agencies, and impacting millions of Americans.
Legal History of Washington, D.C.
The City of Washington, D.C. occupies a unique legal position, as both the seat of government to the United States, and the home of more than 700,000 residents, who are subject to a distinctive set of laws and restrictions.