In 1819 Ogden sued Thomas Gibbons, who was operating steamboats in the same waters without the authority of Fulton and Livingston. Ogden won in 1820 in the New York Court of Chancery . Gibbons appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, contending that he was protected by terms of a federal license to engage in coasting trade.
Sponges were among the earliest animals. While chemical compounds from sponges are preserved in rocks as old as 700 million years, molecular evidence points to sponges developing even earlier.
