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After being appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt to the bench of the Northern District of IllinoisIllinois is a state in the United States named after the Illiniwek Indian tribe, which used to live there. The capital of Illinois is Springfield and the U. postal abbreviation for the state is IL . Illinois is pronounced ill-len-NOY, or jokingly, ill-len in 1905, Landis dealt with several cases of historical significance during his career as a US federal judge. In 1907Events January events January 6 Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome Casa dei Bambini in San Lorenzo). January 14 An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica kills more than a 1,000 January 23 Charles Curtis, he presided over a Standard OilStandard Oil was an oil refining company founded by John D. Rockefeller and partners in 1863. Borrowing heavily to expand his business, he drew five big refineries including the business concern of Henry Morrison Flagler into one firm, Rockefeller, Andrew antitrustAntitrust is also the name for a movie, see Antitrust. Antitrust or Competition laws legislate against trade practices which undermine competitiveness or are considered to be unfair. The term antitrust derives from the US law which was originally formulat trial fining them $29 million for accepting rail freight rebates, although the verdict was later set aside. In 1918Events January January 8 President Woodrow Wilson announces his " Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I. February February 3 The Twin Peaks Tunnel begins service in San Francisco as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world (11,920 feet long)., he held the trial of a number of union leaders of the Industrial Workers of the WorldThe Industrial Workers of the World IWW or the Wobblies is a nominally international, but effectively American, union movement headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, having much in common with anarcho-syndicalist unions, but also many differences. for violating the Espionage ActThe Espionage Act was passed by the 65th United States Congress on June 15, 1917, during World War I. This act made it a crime, punishable by a $10,000 fine and 20 years in jail, for a person to convey false reports or false statements with intent to inte.

While serving as a federal judge, Landis was selected in 1920 to become the first Commissioner of Major League BaseballBusch Stadium in Saint Louis, Missouri. Baseball is a team sport in which a small hand-sized ball is thrown and hit with a bat. Scoring involves running and touching markers on the ground called bases, hence the name. The ball itself is also called a base, serving from 1920 until his death in 1944. He is credited with restoring public confidence in the integrity of baseball following the 1919 Black Sox scandal by permanently banishing eight players from the sport for their involvement.

Also while commissioner, Landis suspended Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, prohibited baseball in Montreal, created the 40-man major league roster, fined teams and made free agents out of players for being "hidden" in farm systems, and oversaw the regular roster expanding from 23 to 25.

His detractors claim he perpetuated the color line and prolonged the segregation of organized baseball. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1944, in a special election held one month after his death.