Top of page
Posted by: Jim Martin
Wednesday is Veterans Day in the United States, a day dedicated to remembering and honoring the men and women who have served in the nation’s uniformed services. The holiday was established by an act of Congress in 1954 and was selected to replace Armistice Day, which marked the anniversary of the day when the fighting …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
The following post is written by Dante Figueroa, a senior legal information analyst at the Law Library of Congress. He has recently written for In Custodia Legis on the Italian Parliamentary Library; Spanish Legal Documents (15th to 19th Century); Recent Legislation Enacted by Italy to Tackle COVID-19; and Italy: A New Silk Road Between Italy …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
On this day in 1945, the most destructive war in human history came to an end when representatives of the Japanese government signed the instrument of surrender on board the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Overseeing the event was General of the Army and Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers Douglas MacArthur. Representatives of …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
On this day in 1790, the United States government issued a patent to Samuel Hopkins for an improvement in the means of making potash and pearl ash. Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution of the United States of America provides the Congress the power to pass laws to protect intellectual property. However, …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
Article I, Section 5, Clause 3 of the Constitution requires that both chambers of Congress keep journals of their proceedings and that the journals be periodically published. Unlike the debates of the early congresses, which were not compiled and published until some years later, the journals have always been published after the end of each …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
Today, January 29, marks the 101st anniversary of the certification by Acting Secretary of State Frank Polk of the ratification by three-quarters of the states of the proposed 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, which prohibited in the United States ”the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors.” The adoption of …
Posted in: Law Library