Category: Today

On May 24, 1689, the English Parliament passed the Act of Toleration, protecting dissenting Protestants.

Pointedly, Roman Catholics were excluded from this official tolerance.

On May 23, 1813, South American independence leader Simón Bolívar entered Mérida, where he was proclaimed El Libertador (“The Liberator”), leading the invasion of Venezuela.

Other May 23 events include:

1788: South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1900: Sergeant William Harvey Carney became the first African American to be awarded the Medal of Honor, for his heroism in a Civil War battle fought 37 years prior, in 1863.

1958: Birthday of American comedian and game show host Drew Carey.

On May 22, 1807, a grand jury indicted former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason.

At issue in the trial was Burr’s dealings in Louisiana, including leasing 40,000 acres and forming “an army.” President Thomas Jefferson issued an order for Burr’s arrest, and, after a chase, Burr was captured and charged with treason, though the case was always shaky. His defense lawyers included Edmund Randolph, John Wickham, Luther Martin, and Benjamin Gaines Botts. Jefferson’s distant cousin, Chief Justice John Marshall — who hated Jefferson — presided over the trial, which began on August 3. Article 3, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution requires that treason either be admitted in open court or proven by an overt act witnessed by two people. No witnesses came forward; Burr was acquitted on the first of September. He was then immediately tried on a misdemeanor charge and was again acquitted.

Other May 22 events include:

• 1848: Slavery was abolished in Martinique.
• 1856: South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks savagely beat Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner in the halls of Congress as tensions rise over the expansion of slavery. Sumner did not return to the Senate for the three years of his recovery period.
• 1995: In U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Arkansas’s congressional term limits law, 5-4, overturning the congressional term limits then the law in 23 states: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

On May 21, 1851, the Colombian Congress passed a law to free the country’s slaves as of January 1, 1852, compensating slave masters with bonds. The decree itself was insufficient to abolish the practice, however, with masters refusing, in many locales, to let the slaves go in a peaceful way. This led to the Civil War of 1851, which began with an insurrection in Cauca and Pasto headed by Manuel Ibáñez and Julio Arboleda — with the support of the Ecuadorian government. In Antioquia the rebellion broke out led by Eusebio Berrero. The war would end in four months with a liberal victory and the final liberation of the slaves.

On May 20, A.D. 325, the First Council of Nicaea commenced, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church.

On May 19, 1897, Irish author, playwright, and poet Oscar Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was released from Reading Prison, where he had finished, in ill health, his hard labor sentence for “gross indecency.” His “Ballad of Reading Gaol,” first published pseudonymously in a periodical with wide circulation amongst criminals, quickly achieved the status of a classic.

He died less than three years later, in exile in Europe. His most famous works include the play The Importance of Being Earnest, the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the fascinating essay “The Soul of Man Under Socialism.”

On May 18, 1593, playwright Thomas Kyd’s accusations of heresy led to an arrest warrant for fellow playwright Christopher (“Kit”) Marlowe.

Kyd was the famed author of The Spanish Tragedy, and Kit Marlowe was known for a number of plays, including The Jew of Malta and The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus.

Marlowe died a few weeks later, on May 30, without having been arrested. The circumstances of his death were bizarre, suspicious — as if written by a playwright.

---

On May 18, 1652, Rhode Island passed the first law in English-speaking North America making slavery illegal.

Fifty-three years ago, on May 17, 1973, televised hearings regarding the Watergate scandal began in the United States Senate, Sen. Sam Ervin presiding.

On May 16, 1843, one thousand pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri, set off for the Pacific Northwest, blazing what became known as the “Oregon Trail.”

On May 15, 1776, the Virginia Convention instructed its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States’ Declaration of Independence.