Today in History (1862) - The U.S. government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation. On the same day in 1865, the Confederate Congress voted to enlist 300,000 black troops, granting them freedom with the consent of their owners. Lee surrendered a few weeks later.
Today in SCOTUS History (2000) - Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe is argued; Erie v. Pap's A.M. is decided, with Justice O'Connor writing that "the dancers... are free to perform wearing pasties and G-strings."