On June 15, 1917, some two months after America’s formal entrance into World War I against Germany, the United States Congress passes the Espionage Act.

Enforced largely by A. Mitchell Palmer, the United States attorney general under President Woodrow Wilson, the Espionage Act essentially made it a crime for any person to convey information intended to interfere with the U.S. armed forces prosecution of the war effort or to promote the success of the country’s enemies. Anyone found guilty of such acts would be subject to a fine of $10,000 and a prison sentence of 20 years.

The Espionage Act was reinforced by the Sedition Act of the following year, which imposed similarly harsh penalties on anyone found guilty of making false statements that interfered with the prosecution of the war; insulting or abusing the U.S. government, the flag, the Constitution or the military; agitating against the production of necessary war materials; or advocating, teaching or defending any of these acts.

Both pieces of legislation were aimed at socialists, pacifists and other anti-war activists during World War I and were used to punishing effect in the years immediately following the war, during a period characterized by the fear of communist influence and communist infiltration into American society that became known as the first Red Scare (a second would occur later, during the 1940s and 1950s, associated largely with Senator Joseph McCarthy). Palmer—a former pacifist whose views on civil rights radically changed once he assumed the attorney general’s office during the Red Scare—and his right-hand man, J. Edgar Hoover, liberally employed the Espionage and Sedition Acts to persecute left-wing political figures.

Source: history.com for the complete article

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reinforced by the Sedition Act

1775 – The Continental Army was founded by the Second Continental Congress for purposes of common defense. This event is considered to be the birth of the United States Army. On June 15, George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief.

1777 – The Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the “Stars and Stripes” as the national flag of the United States. The Flag Resolution stated “Resolved: that the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” On May 20, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed June 14 “Flag Day” as a commemoration of the “Stars and Stripes.”

1789 – Captain William Bligh of the HMS Bounty arrived in Timor in a small boat.

1834 – Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine.

1834 – Isaac Fischer Jr. patented sandpaper.

1841 – The first Canadian parliament opened in Kingston.

1846 – A group of U.S. settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the Republic of California.

1893 – Philadelphia observed the first Flag Day.

1900 – Hawaii became a U.S. territory.

1907 – Women in Norway won the right to vote.

1917 – General John Pershing arrived in Paris during World War I.

1919 – The first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight began. Captain John Alcot and Lt. Arthur Brown flew from Newfoundland to Ireland.

1922 – Warren G. Harding became the first U.S. president to be heard on radio. The event was the dedication of the Francis Scott Key memorial at Fort McHenry.

1927 – Nicaraguan President Adolfo Diaz signed a treaty with the U.S. allowing American intervention in his country.

1940 – The Nazis opened their concentration camp at Auschwitz in German-occupied Poland.

1940 – German troops entered Paris. As Paris became occupied loud speakers announced the implementation of a curfew being imposed for 8 p.m.

1943 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schoolchildren could not be made to salute the U.S. flag if doing so conflicted with their religious beliefs.

1944 – Sixty U.S. B-29 Superfortress’ attacked an iron and steel works factory on Honshu Island.

1945 – Burma was liberated by Britain.

1949 – The state of Vietnam was formed.

1951 – “Univac I” was unveiled. It was a computer designed for the U.S. Census Bureau and billed as the world’s first commercial computer.

1952 – The Nautilus was dedicated. It was the first nuclear powered submarine.

1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an order adding the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.

1954 – Americans took part in the first nation-wide civil defense test against atomic attack.

1965 – A military triumvirate took control in Saigon, South Vietnam.

1967 – Mariner 5 was launched from Cape Kennedy, FL. The space probe’s flight took it past Venus.

1982 – Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the Falkland Islands.

1987 – The Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA title by defeating the defending Boston Celtics.

1989 – Former U.S. President Reagan received an honorary knighthood from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

1990 – The U.S. Supreme Court upheld police checkpoints that are used to examine drivers for signs of intoxication.

1994 – The New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup by defeating the Vancouver Canucks. It was the first time the Rangers had won the cup in 54 years.

2002 – Actor Kirk Douglas received the UCLA Medal. The award is presented to people for cultural, political and humanitarian achievements.

The public is invited to attend the upcoming “celebration of the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope born and raised in the Chicago area.” The event is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. on June 14 with Mass at 4 p.m. Gates open at 12:30 p.m., according to the archdiocese.

1866 – The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Congress. It was ratified on July 9, 1868. The amendment was designed to grant citizenship to and protect the civil liberties of recently freed slaves. It did this by prohibiting states from denying or abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, depriving any person of his life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or denying to any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.