Precedents

Nov. 18, 1883: US railroads enact standard time zones

The Providence & Worcester Railroad wreck was one of 11 major railroad accidents that killed 121 people in 1853. For decades after the P&W disaster, notions of time and timetables remained local and, for the most part, chaotic. By 1883, railroads were using 56 different time standards to schedule trains nationwide. A new system, designed on a time set by the U.S. Naval Observatory, took effect Nov. 18, 1883.

Nov 1, 2019 12:10 AM CDT

Oct. 2, 1780: John Andre executed

John Andre, a British army major during the American Revolution, was held in esteem as an officer and a gentleman, though he would be sentenced to death—with great regret—as a spy.

Sep 1, 2019 12:10 AM CDT

Aug. 6, 1890: First execution by electric chair

As an opponent of capital punishment, Thomas Edison had no interest in pursuing capital electrocution. Still, Edison found a way to benefit.

Jul 1, 2019 1:00 AM CDT

June 18, 1923: Marcus Garvey convicted of mail fraud

Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. was certainly a radical—but one of his own peculiar brand. Neither anarchist nor Bolshevik, Garvey was drawn to Booker T. Washington’s self-reliance philosophy, which he sought to merge with Pan-Africanism and the “Back to Africa” movement.

Jun 1, 2019 12:10 AM CDT

May 9, 1960: FDA approves first birth control pill

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was asked to approve Enovid for contraception, the “birth control pill” had already proved highly effective. But with legal and moral objections, a regulatory storm was gathering.

May 1, 2019 1:10 AM CDT

April 6, 1841: John Tyler inaugurates precedential succession

On the death of President William Henry Harrison, Vice President John Tyler set a precedent when he made it clear that he planned to fully assume the office.

Apr 1, 2019 12:35 AM CDT

March 28, 1978: Supreme Court weighs in on judicial immunity, reluctantly

Linda Sparkman learned years later that she had been sterilized at age 15. The U.S. Supreme Court faced a constitutional question in hearing the case against the judge that authorized the procedure.

Mar 1, 2019 12:35 AM CST

A tale of two silver markets—and two disasters

Rivalry between gold and silver touched off the Panic of 1893. Speculation roared back in 1980, when the billionaire Hunt brothers nearly cornered the silver market.

Jan 1, 2019 3:10 AM CST

Dec. 2, 1892: Grand jury indicts Lizzie Borden

In November 1892, Fall River, Massachusetts, was an unremarkable New England mill town with a very remarkable problem: What to do with Lizzie Borden?

Dec 1, 2018 12:45 AM CST

Nov. 22, 1926: The first Teapot Dome criminal trial begins

Albert B. Fall, secretary of the Interior under Warren G. Harding, was acquitted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government, along with oilman Edward Doheny and his son, Edward Doheny Jr.

Nov 1, 2018 12:45 AM CDT

Oct. 6, 1949: ‘Tokyo Rose’ convicted of treason

Wartime radio propagandist Iva D’Aquino was pardoned by President Gerald Ford in 1977. She died in 2006 at age 90.

Oct 1, 2018 12:20 AM CDT

Sept. 19, 1952: US pushes Charlie Chaplin into exile

Charlie Chaplin was the subject of intense FBI scrutiny, public attacks by influential politicians, defamatory press accounts, national boycotts by citizenship groups, and criminal charges tied to his relationship with a young actress.

Sep 1, 2018 1:15 AM CDT

Aug. 22, 1984: Flag Burning Tests the Law

Justice Antonin Scalia joined Justice William Brennan’s majority opinion in a case that probed tensions between free speech and patriotism.

Aug 1, 2018 1:00 AM CDT

July 13, 1863: Draft lottery sparks NYC riots

The Enrollment Act of 1863 required male citizens between ages 20 and 45 to register for conscription. In New York, 119 died after a mob halted a conscription lottery that exempted black men and wealthy whites.

Jul 1, 2018 12:35 AM CDT

June 19, 1972: Curt Flood loses ‘reserve clause’ challenge

Baseball’s reserve clause allowed total team control of a player’s career. Baseball’s hold on the American imagination and control of player contracts allowed it to survive the 1919 Black Sox scandal, the Great Depression, segregation, franchise relocations and two major U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Jun 1, 2018 12:35 AM CDT