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Archive: December 2017 (16 Posts)

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Murder in the Cathedral – Legal Dispute Turned Deadly

Posted by: Margaret Wood

We have written several “today in history posts” recently and this is another.  Today, December 29, is the 847th anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket in his cathedral in Canterbury, England.  This date is also his feast day in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints. I previously wrote about Thomas Becket and the origins …

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Today in History: Resignation of Vice President John C. Calhoun

Posted by: Jim Martin

On this day in 1832, John C. Calhoun submitted his resignation as the seventh Vice President of the United States.  First elected to the House of Representatives in 1810, he would spend almost all of the remainder of his life serving in either the executive or legislative branches.  He had a towering intellect, an overweening ambition, and a strong sense …

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The Congress.gov Top 17 in 2017

Posted by: Andrew Weber

This has been a great year for Congress.gov. In 2016 Congress.gov page views jumped more than 20% over 2015.  The jump in 2017 was even bigger, with over 90% more page views than the previous year!  We also saw our first day with more than a million page views.  Our @Congressdotgov Twitter account is closing in on 50,000 …

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Standardization and the Law

Posted by: Jenny Gesley

On December 22, 1917—100 years ago today—the German Institute for Standardization (Deutsches Institut für Normung, DIN) was founded. DIN develops the content of standards and coordinates the work of other bodies involved in the process. It is organized as a private non-profit organization and has entered into an agreement with the German government to be recognized …

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Christmastime in England: Prohibitions and Permissions

Posted by: Margaret Wood

The following is a guest post by Clare Feikert-Ahalt, a foreign law specialist at the Law Library of Congress covering the United Kingdom and several other jurisdictions.  Other recent posts by Clare include Regulating the Rag and Bone Man and Jediism in Not a Recognized Religion in England and Wales. It is the holiday season once more, when …

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Historical United States Code Now Available Online

Posted by: Jennifer González

The Library of Congress is making available the collection of historical volumes of the United States Code, both main volumes and supplements. The earliest volume was published in 1926 and covers the laws which were in force as of December 7, 1925. The collection continues through the supplements to the 1988 edition. The United States Code …

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Disappearance of a Prime Minister

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

On this day fifty years ago, December 19, 1967, it was announced that the then-Prime Minister of Australia, Harold Holt, was officially presumed dead. Mr. Holt, who had been Prime Minister for 22 months, from January 1966, had disappeared two days earlier while swimming in the ocean at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, in the state of …

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Congress.gov New, Tip, and Top for December 2017

Posted by: Robert Brammer

We are excited to bring you the latest Congress.gov updates for December! New Enhancements for December 2017 Enhancements – Committee Authority Project Phase 2 The Committee Authority Project is a multi-phase project to improve access to committee information. Full official names of Joint Committees display on committee profile pages and on the Committees of the U.S. Congress landing page. …