In Custodia Legis had a terrific January! We had the most page views ever in a month for the blog. We have now posted over 400 times (have you read them all?). The month was led by a trio of posts. Last year’s post on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day tops the list. People were also …
The following is a guest post by Megan Lulofs, a Legal Information Analyst in the Public Services Division. It’s almost Super Bowl Sunday, a quasi-national holiday when hundreds of millions of Americans (111 million last year) watch the NFL’s championship game. This year’s big game between the New York Giants and New England Patriots in …
First there was the Congressional Record iPad app, now there is a new home to watch committee hearings of the U.S. House of Representatives: THOMAS. 2012 has been busy! Just like with the iPad app, this was an initiative of the House leadership under the guidance of the Committee on House Administration. When I previously posted on …
This is an interview with Rong Xiang, currently an intern in the Global Legal Research Center of the Law Library of Congress. I hope you enjoy her interview as much as I did. Describe your background. I was born and raised by a loving family in Shenyang, the largest city in northeast China and famous …
Slavery in the Ethiopian region is of “great antiquity.” (Pankhurst, 1964, p. 202.) Historical inscriptions going as far back as 1495 B.C. point to the subjugation of people from the Land of Punt into slavery. (Encyclopedia Aethiopica, p. 673.) There are also sources indicating the export of slaves from the Aksumite Kingdom (100–940 AD), a …
Today’s Pic of the Week is the title page from Black’s Law Dictionary, 1st edition 1891. This page is from the 1991 centenary reprint of Black’s 1st edition and is available for use by patrons in the Law Library Reading Room. As a bonus picture, I included Bewared, a term in the 1st that does not appear in the …
The annual State of the Union address by the President of the United States to a joint session of the U.S. Congress has become a modern ritual that generates considerable discussion among newspaper and broadcast commentators, bloggers, and the Twitterverse. This commentary covers a broad array of topics, including political analysis, comments on special guests, …
Because many of my ancestors were jewelers, I have always had a special interest in gemology and jewelry. This month, since garnet is the official birthstone of January, I felt that it was apropos to dedicate some time to this semiprecious stone and mineral. It seems that the American National Association of Jewelers (Jewelers of …
The United Kingdom is renowned as a nation of animal lovers. Our laws protecting animals are extensive, and range from prohibiting sheep from riding in the backseat of cars (even if they are the family pet) to the controversial ban on hunting with hounds that outlawed fox hunting across the nation. Animals are an integral part …
Sunday (January 22) was the 451st birthday of the English philosopher and politician, Francis Bacon (1561-1626). Francis Bacon is usually remembered as the father of modern science and the founder of the empirical method of inquiry. Opinions vary on how important he was for any particular science, but he is generally held to have been …