By: History.com Editors

1993

Ruth Bader Ginsburg sworn in as Supreme Court justice

History.com Editors

Published: March 05, 2024

Last Updated: January 24, 2025

On August 10, 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg becomes the second woman—and first Jewish woman—to serve on the Supreme Court. Already a champion for women’s rights, Ginsburg becomes a pop culture icon during her 27 years on the court.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Brooklyn's Own Supreme Court Justice

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has achieved legendary status as the second woman ever appointed to the United States Supreme Court. But her path to Associate Justice was not an easy one, filled with obstacles faced by countless 20th century women looking to break into male-dominated professions.

When President Bill Clinton nominated Ginsburg to the Supreme Court in June, 1993, she was already a familiar figure at the court. A child of immigrants born in Brooklyn, she graduated from Cornell University and Columbia Law School while raising two children with her husband, Marty Ginsburg. After her law school graduation, Ginsburg clerked for federal district judge Edmund L. Palmieri, studied the Swedish legal system and began working for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where she founded the women's civil rights project. As an ACLU attorney, she argued six cases before the Supreme Court between 1973 and 1978. Of these six cases, she won five.

Ginsburg was the second female professor at Rutgers University and the first female tenured professor at Columbia, before President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit in 1980. After her nomination by Bill Clinton, she was confirmed in a 96-3 vote by the Senate, and took her seat on the Supreme Court on August 10, 1993.

Ginsburg's career as a lawyer and judge led to dramatic changes in American law and advancements for women's rights. As an attorney with the ACLU in the 1970s, she worked to convince the all-male U.S. Supreme Court that civil rights legislation—and the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment—should apply to women in addition to racial and ethnic minorities. In 1971, she successfully litigated the case Reed v Reed, in which the court invalidated a state law on the basis of unlawful gender discrimination. This was the first time that discrimination on the basis of sex was considered a topic relevant to constitutional law. Ginsburg's work in the 1970s ushered in sweeping changes to American tax and family law, striking down many existing statutes as discriminatory. The goal, as one of Ginsburg's former clerks described it, was "equal citizenship stature" for men and women under U.S. law.

When Ginsburg first joined the Supreme Court in 1993, some feminists and liberals worried she would be too centrist as a justice. Ginsburg had been critical of the legal reasoning behind Roe v. Wade, and Bill Clinton praised her as a "force for consensus-building" on the circuit court. However, as the court became more conservative in the 2000s, Ginsburg gained notoriety for her fiery dissenting opinions. "Some of my favorite opinions are dissenting opinions," Ginsburg told NPR. "I will not live to see what becomes of them, but I remain hopeful."

Ginsburg died on September 18, 2020, and was replaced on the court by Trump appointee Amy Coney Barrett.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on August 10th

30 bc

Cleopatra dies by suicide

On August 10, 30 B.C. (some scholars say August 12), Cleopatra, queen of Egypt and lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, takes her life following the defeat of her forces against Octavian, the future first emperor of Rome. Cleopatra, born in 69 B.C., was made Cleopatra VII, queen of Egypt, upon the death of […]

The Death of Cleopatra, by Gerard de Lairesse

1776

London learns of American independence

On August 10, 1776, news reaches London that the Americans had drafted the Declaration of Independence. Until the Declaration of Independence formally transformed the 13 British colonies into states, both Americans and the British saw the conflict centered in Massachusetts as a local uprising within the British empire. To King George III, it was a […]

1793

Louvre Museum opens

After more than two centuries as a royal palace, the Louvre is opened as a public museum in Paris by the French revolutionary government. Today, the Louvre’s collection is one of the richest in the world, with artwork and artifacts representative of 11,000 years of human civilization and culture. The Louvre palace was begun by […]

1846

Smithsonian Institution created

After a decade of debate about how best to spend a bequest left to America from an obscure English scientist, President James K. Polk signs the Smithsonian Institution Act into law on August 10, 1846. In 1829, James Smithson died in Italy, leaving behind a will with a peculiar footnote. In the event that his […]

1912

Virginia and Leonard Woolf marry

On August 10, 1912, Virginia Stephen, 30, marries Leonard Woolf, 31, at a registry office in London. Virginia Woolf, born in 1882, grew up surrounded by intellectuals. Her father was a writer and philosopher, and her mother was a British aristocrat. In 1902, Virginia’s father died, and Virginia took a house with her sister and […]

1937

First-ever electric guitar patent awarded to the Electro String Corporation

On August 10, 1937, the United States Patent Office recognizes the electric guitar—the instrument that revolutionized jazz, blues and country music and made the later rise of rock and roll possible—with the award of Patent #2,089.171. It went to George D. Beauchamp, a musician-turned-inventor for an electrified instrument known as the Rickenbacker Frying Pan. Versatile, […]

1939

“The Wizard of Oz” movie premieres in Green Bay, Wisconsin

On August 10, 1939, The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland and featuring words and music by E.Y. “Yip” Harburg and Harold Arlen, receives its world premiere in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It would open widely in U.S. theaters some two weeks later. The beloved characters and familiar plot points were mostly all there in the […]

1945

Japan accepts Potsdam terms, agrees to unconditional surrender

On August 10, 1945, just a day after the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan submits its acquiescence to the Potsdam Conference terms of unconditional surrender, as President Harry S. Truman orders a halt to atomic bombing. Emperor Hirohito, having remained aloof from the daily decisions of prosecuting the war, rubber-stamping the decisions of his War Council, […]

1977

Son of Sam serial killer is arrested

On August 10, 1977, police arrest 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz and charged him with being the “Son of Sam,” the serial killer who terrorized New York City for more than a year, killing six young people and wounding seven others with a .44-caliber revolver. Because Berkowitz generally targeted attractive young women with long brown […]

Son of Sam

1978

Fatal Ford Pinto crash in Indiana

On August 10, 1978, three teenage girls die after their 1973 Ford Pinto is rammed from behind by a van and bursts into flames on an Indiana highway. The fatal crash was one of a series of Pinto accidents that caused a national scandal during the 1970s. The small and economical Pinto, which debuted in […]

1981

Pete Rose sets National League hits record

On August 10, 1981, Pete Rose of the Philadelphia Phillies gets the 3,631st hit of his baseball career, breaking Stan Musial’s record for most hits by a National Leaguer. The record-breaking hit came in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, the team with whom Musial had spent his entire career, and the former hits […]

1984

“Red Dawn,” first PG-13 movie, is released

On August 10, 1984, the action thriller Red Dawn, starring Patrick Swayze, opens in theaters as the first movie to be released with a PG-13 rating. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which oversees the movie rating system, had announced the new PG-13 category in July of that same year. Founded in 1922 as […]

2003

Temperatures in U.K. top 100 F for first time during European heat wave

On August 10, 2003, the United Kingdom records its first-ever temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Throughout the month, an intense heat wave scorched the European continent, claiming more than 35,000 lives. August 2003 was the hottest August ever recorded in the northern hemisphere and broke all previous records for heat-related deaths. France was the worst […]

Related Articles

See All Articles
A photo of Madam C.J. Walker, the first woman to become a self-made millionaire in the United States, driving a car, circa 1911. From the New York Public Library.
Women’s History

Gilded Age Women Who Made Their Mark in the Business World

While male business titans dominated in the late 1800s, these women also made their mark, from opening their own banks to amassing millions on Wall Street.

How World War I Helped Women Shed the Corset
Women’s History

How World War I Helped Women Ditch the Corset

A combination of cultural shifts and metal rationing spelled the demise of the stiff undergarment.

Generic IVF clinic, stem cell research, health, test tube, r&d, microscope, testing, 1995
Women’s History

9 Groundbreaking Women Inventors

Women inventors are behind a wide range of key innovations, from Kevlar to dishwashers to better life rafts.

Nellie Bly (1867-1922), an American journalist and around the world traveler.
Women’s History

9 Intrepid Women Explorers

From a Viking 'far traveler' to a Soviet cosmonaut, these fearless women blazed daring new trails.

See All Articles

About the author

History.com Editors

HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan, Matt Mullen and Christian Zapata.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

Citation Information

Article title
Ruth Bader Ginsburg sworn in as Supreme Court justice
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 25, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
January 24, 2025
Original Published Date
March 05, 2024

History Every Day

Sign Up for "This Day in History"

Uncover fascinating moments from the past every day! Learn something new with key events in history, from the American Revolution to pop culture, crime and more.

By submitting your information, you agree to receive emails from HISTORY and A+E Global Media. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States.

More details: Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact Us