1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
On this day in 1913 the states ratified the 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which says, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.” Article I, Section 2 and Section of the Constitution had created the “rule of apportionment,” which required Congress to tax each state based on the state’s population rather than taxing individuals based on personal wealth or property. And in 1895 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Pollock v. Farmer’s Loan & Trust Co. that a federal income tax law was unconstitutional because it would violate the rule of apportionment. Although a direct income tax had previously been imposed during the Civil War — when a precursor to the IRS was established — the Court’s ruling spurred Congress to pass the 16th Amendment. The provision gives Congress the power to impose a uniform, direct income tax without being subject to the apportionment rule.
(National Constitution Center)
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