COMILLE BOHANNON

Film director Martin Charles Scorsese is 80 years old today.

The first Congress of the United States approved 12 amendments
to the U.S. Constitution, and sent them to the states for ratification.

The amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were designed to
protect the basic rights of U.S. citizens, guaranteeing the freedom
of speech, press, assembly, and exercise of religion; the right to
fair legal procedure, to bear arms; and that powers not delegated
to the federal government were reserved for the states and the
people.

The Judiciary Act of 1789 was passed by Congress and signed
by President George Washington, establishing the Supreme
Court of the United States as a tribunal made up of six justices
who were to serve on the court until death or retirement.

That day, President Washington nominated John Jay to preside
as chief justice, and John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair,
Robert Harrison and James Wilson to be associate justices. On September 26, all six appointments were confirmed by the U.S.
Senate.

(E pluribus unum, a Latin phrase meaning “Out of Many One.”)

On June 20, 1782, Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United 
States after six years of discussion.

Late on the afternoon of July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams
"to bring in a device for a seal for the United States of America."

Betsy Ross and General George Washington

June 14, 1777: During the American Revolution, the
Continental Congress adopts a resolution stating that
“the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate
stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen
stars, white in a blue field, representing a new
Constellation.” The national flag, which became
known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the
“Grand Union” flag, a banner carried by the Continental
Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white
stripes. According to legend.

Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross designed the new
canton for the Stars and Stripes, which consisted of a
circle of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request
of General George Washington. Historians have been
unable to conclusively prove or disprove this legend.