The Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders were a series of trials
held from 1949 to 1958 in which leaders of the Communist Party of the
United States (CPUSA) were accused of violating the Smith Act, a 1940
statute that set penalties for advocating the violent overthrow of the
government. The prosecution argued that the CPUSA's policies promoted
violent revolution; the defendants countered that they advocated a
peaceful transition to socialism, and that the First Amendment's
guarantee of free speech and association protected their membership in a
political party. The first trial in 1949 prosecuted the top leaders of
the party and was featured in the national headlines. After a ten month
trial, all defendants were found guilty and sentenced to five year
prison terms. The judge also sent all five defense attorneys to jail for
contempt of court. Prosecutors then tried over 100 additional CPUSA
officers for violating the Smith Act. Some were tried solely because
they were members of the CPUSA. Many defendants had difficulty finding
attorneys to represent them. Prosecutions came to an end following the
US Supreme Court's 1957 Yates v. United States decision, which held that
defendants could be prosecuted only for their actions, not for their
beliefs. Membership in the CPUSA plummeted due to the trials, and never
recovered.
Read more:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Act_trials_of_Communist_Party_leaders>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
636:
Rashidun forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid took control of Syria
and Palestine in the Battle of Yarmouk, marking the first great wave of
Muslim conquests after the death of Muhammad.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yarmouk>
1710:
War of the Spanish Succession: The Spanish-Bourbon army
commanded by the Marquis de Bay was soundly defeated by a multinational
army led by the Austrian commander Guido Starhemberg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saragossa>
1882:
The 1812 Overture by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
was first performed at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812_Overture>
1988:
Fires in the United States' Yellowstone National Park destroyed
more than 150,000 acres (610 km2), the single-worst day of the
conflagration.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_fires_of_1988>
1989:
The final stage of the O-Bahn Busway in Adelaide, South
Australia, was completed, becoming the world's longest and fastest
guided busway with buses travelling a total of 12 km (7.5 mi) at
maximum speeds up to 100 km/h (62 mph) (example pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-Bahn_Busway>
2008:
Spanair Flight 5022 crashed just after take off from Madrid's
Barajas Airport, killing 154 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanair_Flight_5022>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
disembogue:
1. To come out into the open sea from a river etc.
2. (of a river or waters) To pour out, to debouch; to flow out through a
narrow opening into a larger space.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disembogue>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Futurists and common sense concur that a substantial change, worldwide,
in life style and moral guidelines will soon become an absolute
necessity.
--Roger Wolcott Sperry
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Wolcott_Sperry>