The trial for eight antiwar activists charged with inciting violent demonstrations at the August 1968 Democratic National Convention opens in Chicago before Judge Julius Hoffman. Initially there were eight defendants, but one, Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers, denounced Hoffman as a racist and demanded a separate trial. The seven other defendants, including David Dellinger of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (MOBE); Rennie Davis and Tom Hayden of MOBE and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); and Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman of the Youth International Party (Yippies), were accused of conspiring to incite a riot.

At the height of the antiwar and civil rights movements, these young leftists had organized protest marches and rock concerts at the Democratic National Convention. During the event, clashes broke out between the protesters and the police and eventually turned into full-scale rioting, complete with tear gas and police beatings. The press, already there to cover the Democratic convention, denounced the overreaction by police and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s handling of the situation.

The Chicago Seven were indicted for violating the Rap Brown law, which had been tagged onto the Civil Rights Bill earlier that year by conservative senators. The law made it illegal to cross state lines in order to riot or to conspire to use interstate commerce to incite rioting. President Johnson’s attorney general, Ramsey Clark, refused to prosecute the case.

Source: history.com

The Judiciary Act of 1789 is passed by Congress and signed by President George Washington, establishing the Supreme Court of the United States as a tribunal made up of six justices who were to serve on the court until death or retirement. That day, President Washington nominated John Jay to preside as chief justice, and John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair, Robert Harrison and James Wilson to be associate justices. On September 26, all six appointments were confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

READ MORE: Why Do 9 Justices Serve on the Supreme Court?

The U.S. Supreme Court was established by Article 3 of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution granted the Supreme Court ultimate jurisdiction over all laws, especially those in which their constitutionality was at issue. The high court was also designated to oversee cases concerning treaties of the United States, foreign diplomats, admiralty practice and maritime jurisdiction. On February 1, 1790, the first session of the U.S. Supreme Court was held in New York City’s Royal Exchange Building.

For the complete article: history.com

READ MORE: 7 Things You Might Not Know About the U.S. Supreme Court

Citation Information

Article Title

The first Supreme Court is established

AuthorHistory.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-first-supreme-court

Access Date

September 24, 2022

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

September 21, 2021

Original Published Date

November 24, 2009

1789 – The U.S. Congress passed the First Judiciary Act. The act provided for an Attorney General and a lower federal courts.

1869 – Thousands of businessmen were financially ruined after a panic on Wall Street. The panic was caused by an attempt to corner the gold market by Jay Gould and James Fisk.

1915 – “The Lamb,” Douglas Fairbanks first film, was shown at the Knickerbocker Theater in New York City, NY.

1929 – The first all-instrument flight took place in New York when Lt. James H. Doolittle guided a Consolidated NY2 Biplane over Mitchell Field.

1933 – “Roses and Drums” was heard on WABC in New York City. It was the first dramatic presentation for radio.

1934 – Babe Ruth played his last game as a New York Yankee player.

1938 – Don Budge became the first tennis player to win all four of the major titles when he won the U.S. Tennis Open. He had already won the Australian Open, the French Open and the British Open.

1957 – The Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field.

1957 – U.S. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock, AR, to enforce school integration.

1960 – The first nuclear powered aircraft carrier was launched. The USS Enterprise set out from Newport News, VA.

1961 – “The Bullwinkle Show” premiered in prime time on NBC-TV. The show was originally on ABC in the afternoon as “Rocky and His Friends.”

1963 – The U.S. Senate ratified a treaty that limited nuclear testing. The treaty was between the U.S., Britain, and the Soviet Union.

1968 – “60 Minutes” premiered on CBS-TV.

1968 – “The Mod Squad” premiered on ABC-TV.

1977 – “The Love Boat” debuted on ABC-TV. The theme song was sung by Jack Jones and was written by Paul Williams and Charles Fox.

1995 – Three decades of Israeli occupation of West Bank cities ended with the signing of a pact by Israel and the PLO.

1996 – The United States, represented by President Clinton, and the world’s other major nuclear powers signed a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to end all testing and development of nuclear weapons.

1998 – The U.S. Federal Reserve released into circulation $2 billion in new harder-to-counterfeit $20 bills.

2001 – U.S. President George W. Bush froze the assets of 27 suspected terrorists and terrorist groups.

2003 – Anthony Hopkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Written By:Bob Smerbeck and Brian Thompson, Meteorologists

Will our sweaters get more use this fall? The Old Farmer’s Almanac has the Fall 2026 weather predictions ready. See what temperatures and precipitation look like across the U.S. and Canada—with highlights for every region.

alamanac.com for the complete article

“. . . on the first day of January . . . all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” President Abraham Lincoln, preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, September 22, 1862

President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in the midst of the Civil War, announcing on September 22, 1862, that if the rebels did not end the fighting and rejoin the Union by January 1, 1863, all slaves in the rebellious states would be free.

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