Happy birthday, Magna Carta

Today marks the 794th anniversary of a monumental event in Western history. It was on this date in 1215 that King John I, under pressure from English barons, affixed his great seal to a document titled "Magna Carta" in the meadow at Runnymede. Large parts of it were actually copied word for word from the Charter of Liberties issued by King Henry I in 1100.

The Magna Carta marked the beginning of the English Parliament with the creation of a council to serve as a check on the monarch. Its influence can be seen in the U.S. Bill of Rights.

Perhaps the most important right to come out of the Magna Carta was the right of habeas corpus, which is receiving a battering in the United States these days as part of the so-called war on terror - er, excuse me, the overseas contingency operation.