This Day In History — O’Connor Sworn in as First Female Supreme Court Justice

September 25

1775
Ethan Allen was captured by the British.

1789
The first Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. The first ten became the Bill of Rights.

1890
Wilford Woodruff, president of the Mormon church, renounced the practice of polygamy. This paved the way for Utah’s acceptance as a state in 1896.

1957
Nine black children were escorted to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, under heavily armed guard, because of racial violence.

1981
Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the Supreme Court.

2003
It was reported that more than 14,000 had lost their lives in France in a summer heat wave.

2011
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia grants women the right to vote and run for office in future elections.

Birthdays

William Faulkner

1897–1962, American novelist, born in New Albany, Miss., one of the great American writers of the 20th century.

Claude Perrault

architect, scientist, and physician (1613)

Mark Rothko

painter (1903)

Dmitri Shostakovich

composer (1906)

Sir Colin Davis

conductor (1927)

Barbara Walters

TV commentator (1931)

Glenn Gould

pianist and composer (1932)

Michael Douglas

actor (1944)

Christopher Reeve

actor, director (1952)

Heather Locklear

actress (1961)

Catherine Zeta-Jones

actress (1969)

Sound Off!

Top