THIS DAY IN HISTORY

[IceWizard]

Thurgood Marshall appointed to Supreme Court







President Lyndon B. Johnson appoints U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Thurgood Marshall
to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Associate Justice Tom C. Clark. On August 30,
after a heated debate, the Senate confirmed Marshall’s nomination by a vote of 69 to 11.
Two days later, he was sworn in by Chief Justice Earl Warren, making him the first
African American in history to sit on America’s highest court.

The great-grandson of slaves, Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1908. In 1933,
after studying under the tutelage of civil liberties lawyer Charles H. Houston, he received
his law degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1936, he joined the legal
division of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP),
of which Houston was director, and two years later succeeded his mentor in the organization’s
top legal post.

As the NAACP’s chief counsel from 1938 to 1961, he argued 32 cases before the
U.S. Supreme Court, successfully challenging racial segregation, most notably in public
education. He won 29 of these cases, including a groundbreaking victory in 1954’s
Brown v. Board of Education, in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregation violated
the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and was thus illegal. The decision served as a
great impetus for the African American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and
ultimately led to the abolishment of segregation in all public facilities and accommodations.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals, but his
nomination was opposed by many Southern senators, and he was not confirmed until the next
year. In June 1967, President Johnson nominated him to the Supreme Court, and in late August
he was confirmed. During his 24 years on the high court, Associate Justice Marshall consistently
challenged discrimination based on race or sex, opposed the death penalty, and supported the
rights of criminal defendants. He also defended affirmative action and women’s right to
reproductive freedom. As appointments by a largely Republican White House changed the
politics of the Court, Marshall found his liberal opinions increasingly in the minority.
He retired in 1991, and two years later passed away.




ALSO ON THIS DAY



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1983
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MIDDLE AGES
1381
Peasant army marches into London

During the Peasants’ Revolt, a large mob of English peasants led by Wat Tyler
marches into London and begins burning and looting the city. Several government
buildings were destroyed, prisoners were released, and a judge was beheaded
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ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST
323 B.C.
Alexander the Great dies

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US GOVERNMENT
1966
The Miranda rights are established

On June 13, 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in
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VIETNAM WAR
1971
The New York Times publishes
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U.S. PRESIDENTS
1807
Thomas Jefferson subpoenaed
in Aaron Burr’s treason trial

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of his former vice president, Aaron Burr, on June 13, 1807. In the subpoena,
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WESTWARD EXPANSION
1805
Meriwether Lewis reaches the Great Falls

Having hurried ahead of the main body of the expedition, Meriwether Lewis and
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ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1962
Stanley Kubrick’s “Lolita” released

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CRIME
2006
Jurors begin deliberations in Susan Polk trial

On June 13, 2006, jurors began deliberations in the trial of Susan Polk, 48,
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AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1777
Lafayette arrives in South Carolina to
serve alongside General Washington

On June 13, 1777, a 19-year-old French aristocrat,
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