On this day 170 years ago, the first federal law governing purity in food or drugs was enacted in the US. Initiated because of the Mexican–American War, the statute banned the importation of “adulterated drugs”. (1848)
(Photo by Gatis Gribusts, CC)
MORE Good News from this Day:
- The bicycle was patented (1819)
- The Saint Lawrence Seaway was opened by Queen Elizabeth and U.S. President Eisenhower, which connected the Great Lakes of North America to ocean-going ships (1959)
- Madagascar gained its independence from France (1960)
- The first installment of the Harry Potter book series – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – was first published in the UK (1997)
- The first rough map of the human genome was unveiled, an international effort proposed and funded by the US government, proving the DNA of any two individuals is 99.9% identical (2000)
- The US Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act declaring that same-sex couples deserve equal rights to the benefits under federal law that go to all other couples who are legally married in any state (2013)
- The US Supreme Court agreed 5-4 that the Constitution protects the rights of same-sex couples to marry no matter where in the US they reside (2015)
And, on this day in 1945, the inspirational United Nations Charter was signed by 50 countries in San Francisco: “WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED
* to save succeeding generations from the scourge…
