Written by: Beck
I missed this when it came on January 24,
but Antoine Clarke (a Brit no less) caught it. It was the anniversary of the day the Supreme Court ruled income tax unconstitutional.
The 16th amendment to the constitution followed as a result.
In 1909 progressives in Congress again attached a provision for an income tax to a tariff bill. Conservatives, hoping to kill the idea for good, proposed a constitutional amendment enacting such a tax; they believed an amendment would never received ratification by three-fourths of the states. Much to their surprise, the amendment was ratified by one state legislature after another, and on February 25, 1913, with the certification by Secretary of State Philander C. Knox, the 16th amendment took effect.
(Hat tip:
Samizdata)
