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1789 At Federal Hall
in New York City
, the United States House of Representatives holds its first quorum and elects Frederick Muhlenberg
of Pennsylvania
as its first House Speaker.
1793 The Giles resolutions are introduced to the United States House of Representatives asking the House to condemn Alexander Hamilton
's handling of loans.
1801 An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson
and Aaron Burr
is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States
and Burr Vice President
by the United States House of Representatives.
1819 The United States House of Representatives agrees to the Tallmadge Amendment barring slaves from the new state of Missouri, the opening vote in a controversy that leads to the Missouri Compromise
1825 After no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams
President of the United States
.
1846 The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom
.
1856 Congressman
Preston Brooks of South Carolina
beats Senator
Charles Sumner with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate
for a speech Sumner had made attacking Southerners who sympathized with the pro-slavery
violence in Kansas
("Bleeding Kansas
"). Sumner was unable to return to duty for three years while he recovered. Brooks became a hero across the South.
1868 After Andrew Johnson
tried to dismiss United States Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, he becomes the first President of the United States
to be impeached
by the United States House of Representatives. Johnson would later be acquitted by the United States Senate
.
1874 Democrats
regain the U.S. House of Representatives
for the first time since 1860.
1901 US President Theodore Roosevelt
delivers a 20,000-word speech to the House of Representatives
asking Congress curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits".
1911 Public Law 62-5 sets the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435. The law will take effect in 1913.
1915 United States House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the right to vote.
1916 Republican
Jeannette Rankin
of Montana
becomes the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives.
1917 Jeannette Rankin
of Montana
becomes the first woman member of the United States House of Representatives.
1947 Percival Prattis becomes the first black news correspondent allowed in the United States House of Representatives and Senate
press gallery.
1947 The United States Senate
follows the United States House of Representatives in overriding U.S. President Harry S. Truman
's veto
of the Taft-Hartley Act.
1947 Red Scare
: The United States House of Representatives votes 346 to 17 to approve citations of contempt of U.S. Congress against the so-called Hollywood 10 after the 10 had refused to co-operate with the House Un-American Activities Committee
concerning allegations of Communist
influence in the movie
industry, (the 10 were blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios the next day).
1954 Four Puerto Ricans
open fire on United States House of Representatives and wound five. Security guards apprehend them.
1973 The United States House of Representatives votes 387-35 to confirm Gerald Ford
as Vice President of the United States; he is sworn in the same day.
1974 The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment
hearings against U.S. President Richard M. Nixon.
1988 The United States House of Representatives, controlled by the Democratic Party
, rejects U.S. President Ronald Reagan
's request for $36.25 million to support the Nicaraguan Contras.
1994 Georgia
Representative Newt Gingrich
leads the United States Republican Party in taking control of both the House of Representatives
and the Senate
in midterm congressional elections, the first time in 40 years the Republicans secured control of both houses of U.S. Congress. George W. Bush
is elected Governor of Texas.
1998 Lewinsky scandal
: Bill Clinton
is impeached
by the House of Representatives
.
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Timeline
