JUNE 17, 2002—U.S. Supreme Court reaffirms decisions it handed down in the 1940’s that granted constitutional protection to the public ministry of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton)

AUGUST 1998—Number of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States exceeds one million

APRIL 15, 1992—In Pater v. Pater, the Ohio Supreme Court, agreeing with previous high court decisions, rules that a lower court had no right to restrict custody rights because of a parent’s religion

OCTOBER 30, 1985—Mississippi Supreme Court rules that an individual’s right to nonblood medical management is protected by the right to privacy and to the free exercise of religion (In re Brown)

AUGUST 31, 1972—District of Columbia Court of Appeals rules that a state is required to take into account a competent adult’s refusal of a blood transfusion (In re Osborne)

NOVEMBER 30, 1953—U.S. Supreme Court rules that one of Jehovah’s Witnesses serving as a full-time minister is not disqualified from military service exemption because of his secular employment (Dickinson v. United States)

1944—Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses abates

JUNE 14, 1943—U.S. Supreme Court overrules Gobitis and holds that the compulsory flag salute and pledge of allegiance violate Witness students’ constitutional rights of freedom of speech and religion (West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette)

MAY 3, 1943—U.S. Supreme Court invalidates an ordinance applied to Jehovah’s Witnesses that required purchase of a license as a condition for distributing religious literature (Murdock v. Pennsylvania)

JUNE 3, 1940—U.S. Supreme Court upholds a regulation mandating the flag salute for public school students (Minersville School District v. Gobitis); a wave of persecution against Witnesses follows

MAY 20, 1940—For the first time, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the protections of the First Amendment regarding free exercise of religion apply to state and local authorities. Additionally, the Court rules that the ministry of Jehovah’s Witnesses does not incite breach of the peace (Cantwell v. Connecticut)

MARCH 28, 1938—U.S. Supreme Court invalidates an ordinance requiring Jehovah’s Witnesses to obtain a permit as a precondition to distributing literature (Lovell v. City of Griffin)

JULY 26, 1931—Bible Students adopt the name Jehovah’s Witnesses

MAY 14, 1919—Criminal convictions of principal members of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania are reversed; charges are later dropped

JUNE 20, 1918—Principal members of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania are convicted and imprisoned for publishing material that allegedly goes contrary to the war effort

MARCH 4, 1909—Peoples Pulpit Association, later renamed Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., is incorporated

JANUARY 31, 1909—Bible Students move their headquarters to Brooklyn, New York

DECEMBER 15, 1884—A legal entity, later known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, is incorporated

1880’s—Bible Students establish a headquarters office in Allegheny, Pennsylvania

JULY 1879—First issue of the journal now known as The Watchtower is published

1870—Charles Taze Russell and his associates form a Bible study group in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and become known as Bible Students