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It’s been said that there’s no time like the present. But where we are now is often the result of where we’ve been in the past. With that in mind, Briefly Legal invites you to travel back in time to take a look at what happened during this week in legal history:

Today marks the 28^th anniversary of America鈥檚 first female vice-presidential candidate, with Walter Mondale selecting Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate. Ferraro, a Democratic representative from New York, was well-regarded for her work to foster women鈥檚 rights. She and Mondale ultimately lost the election to Ronald Reagan and George Bush, who won every state except Mondale鈥檚 home state of Minnesota. Ferraro left Congress the following year, and became a permanent member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights during Bill Clinton鈥檚 presidency.

On July 16, 1790, Congress designated Washington, D.C., as the nation鈥檚 capital. Named for the country鈥檚 first president, the area at the time was a 鈥渟wampy, humid, muddy and mosquito-infested site on the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia,鈥� according to History.com. George Washington pointed out that the site鈥檚 proximity to the two rivers and accessibility increased its chances of economic success. The first cornerstones of the White House were laid in 1793 and it was completed in 1800 鈥� too late for Washington to live there. John and Abigail Adams lived there for just under a year before Thomas Jefferson took up residence in 1801.

Also on July 16 – 183 years later – the Senate Armed Forces Committee began investigating allegations that the U.S. Air Force was secretly conducting bombing missions in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The investigation found that President Richard Nixon had authorized the raids and that bombing records had been falsified, creating one of several cracks in the administration鈥檚 credibility.

On July 18, 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed a Presidential Succession Act that updated the original act signed by Washington. Truman had assumed the presidency two years earlier after Franklin Roosevelt died following a stroke. Truman鈥檚 updated version of the act made the Speaker of the House third in line for the presidency rather than Senate president pro tempore.

Our thanks to History.com for this week鈥檚 legal tidbits.