HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL~JUN 21

1788  U.S. Constitution Ratified

New Hampshire becomes the ninth and last necessary state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, thereby making the document the law of the land.

 

1947  A Ford Marries a Firestone

William Clay Ford married Martha Firestone, uniting two of the greatest fortunes in the American automotive industry. Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone had been close friends and allies during their lives after Firestone received the exclusive contract to supply tires for Ford's Model T. Neither man lived to see the union of their families.

 

  1982  Hinckley Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity

John W. Hinckley, Jr., who on March 30, 1981, shot President Ronald Reagan and three others outside a Washington, D.C., hotel, was found not guilty of attempted murder by reason of insanity. In the trial, Hinckley's defense attorneys argued that their client was ill with narcissistic personality disorder, citing medical evidence, and had a pathological obsession with the 1976 film Taxi Driver, in which the main character attempts to assassinate a fictional senator. His lawyers claimed that Hinckley had watched the movie more than a dozen times, was obsessed with the lead actress, Jodie Foster, and had attempted to reenact the events of the film in his own life. The movie, not Hinckley, they successfully argued, was the actual planning force behind the events that occurred on March 30, 1981.

 

aoljaolPictureAdd, aoljaolPictureAdd_2