Thisdayinhistory - Blog Posts

@Regrann from @history - On #ThisDayinHistory 1967, Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American to be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. He would remain on the Supreme Court for 24 years before retiring for health reasons, leaving a legacy of upholding the rights of the individual as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. After graduating from Lincoln University in 1930, Marshall sought admission to the University of Maryland School of Law, but was turned away because of the school’s segregation policy, which effectively forbade blacks from studying with whites. Instead, Marshall attended Howard University Law School, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1933. (Marshall later successfully sued Maryland School of Law for their unfair admissions policy.) As a lawyer, Marshall distinguished himself as one of the country’s leading advocates for individual rights, winning 29 of the 32 cases he argued in front of the Supreme Court, all of which challenged in some way the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine that had been established by the 1896 landmark case Plessy v. Ferguson. The high-water mark of Marshall’s career as a litigator came in 1954 with his victory in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. In that case, Marshall argued that the ‘separate but equal’ principle was unconstitutional, and designed to keep blacks “as near [slavery] as possible.” In 1961, Marshall was appointed by then-President John F. Kennedy to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, a position he held until 1965, when Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, named him solicitor general. Following the retirement of Justice Tom Clark in 1967, President Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court, a decision confirmed by the Senate with a 69-11 vote. #ThurgoodMarshall #SCOTUS #history #legalhistory #ushistory

@Regrann from @history - On #ThisDayinHistory 1949, after three-year battle to win both players and fans, National Basketball Association (NBA) was formed by the merger of two previous leagues. Representatives from the two leagues met in New York’s Empire State Building to finalize the merger. Maurice Podoloff was elected head of the new league, made up of 17 teams that represented both small towns and large cities across the country. Through the 1950s, the number of teams dwindled, along with fan support, and by the 1954-55 season, only eight teams remained. That year, the league transformed the game with the creation of the 24-second clock, making play faster-paced and more fun to watch. Fans returned, and the league, now financially solvent, expanded throughout the 1960s and 70s. Today, the NBA has 30 franchises and attracts players—and millions of fans—from countries around the world. Pictured here is the last smarter appearance of Wilt Chamberlain. #NBA #basketball

@Regrann from @history - 63 years ago today Thurgood Marshall won the case of Brown v. Board of Education, ruling segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Pictured here are the attorneys who argued the case standing in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building after the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. Left to right is the late George E.C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall and James Nabrit, Jr. #ThisDayinHistory - #regrann