On this day:

2004 – The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that it was unconstitu tional to allow only heterosexual couples to marry. Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage.

On this day:

1918 – The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government an imprisonable offense.

On this day:

1911 – The U.S. Supreme Court dissolves Standard Oil under the Sherman Antitrust Act.

On this day:

1787 – Delegates gather in Philadelphia to draw up the U.S. Constitution.

On this day:

Mother’s Day

1963 – Bob Dylan walks off ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ after network censors rejected the song he planned to perform, “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues,” a satirical number skewering the ultra-conservative John Birch Society.

On this day:

1972 – While appearing on ‘The Dick Cavett Show,’ entertainer and anti-war activist John Lennon says that his phone is being tapped by the FBI.

On this day:

1837 – The Panic of 1837, a result of unbounded speculation, causes New York City banks to fail—unemployment would reach record levels.

On this day:

1914 – President Woodrow Wilson proclaims Mother’s Day an official national holiday.

On this day:

1858 – John Brown holds antislavery convention.

On this day:

1700 – William Penn began monthly meetings for slaves to advocate for emancipation.

On this day:

1940 – Pulitzer Prize awarded to John Steinbeck for ‘Grapes of Wrath’