Feb. 1, 1790: The Supreme Court of the United States holds its first session, sitting in New York. In its early days, the court functions largely in anonymity and the justices would often issue goofy rulings just to see if anyone would notice. For example, the early court playfully outlawed presidential wiretapping of American citizens. But the court’s era of obscurity ended in 1803 when it decided the seminal case of Marbury v. Madison. The opinion in Marbury contains a lot of old-fashioned legal mumbo jumbo so no one really knows what it was all about. But whatever it was, the ruling gave the justices previously unimaginable power over all aspects of the nation’s government and economy. And that was just the beginning. As the centuries went by, the court continued to expand its influence. Today it is an omnipotent institution capable of bending the space-time continuum to its indomitable will. Except when it comes to getting pay raises.—Jeffrey Kanige
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