Subjects –
Legislation
The 27th Amendment
September 25, 1789
On this date, the First Congress (1789–1791) submitted the original 12 amendments to the Constitution, crafted by Representative James Madison of Virginia, to the states for ratification.
The Sedition Act of 1798
July 10, 1798
In one of the first tests of freedom of speech, the House passed the Sedition Act, permitting the deportation, fine, or imprisonment of anyone deemed a threat or publishing “false, scandalous, or malicious writing” against the government of the United States.
The Committee on Public Lands
December 17, 1805
On this date, the House of Representatives created the Committee on Public Lands, to help Congress manage the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase Territory.
The Tariff of Abominations
April 22, 1828
On this day, the Tariff of 1828—better known as the Tariff of Abominations—passed the House of Representatives, 105 to 94.
The work of the 29th Congress
December 01, 1845
On this date, the 29th Congress (1845–1847) convened for a momentous two years dominated by war in the southwest
The Kansas–Nebraska Act
May 22, 1854
By a narrow vote of 113 to 100, the House of Representatives approved the Kansas–Nebraska Act on this date.
The Opening of the 34th Congress
December 03, 1855
On this date, Representatives badly divided over the slavery issue convened in the Old House Chamber (present-day Statuary Hall) to commence the 34th Congress (1855–1857).
The most infamous floor brawl in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives
February 06, 1858
The most infamous floor brawl in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives erupted as Members debated Kansas’s pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution late into the night of February 5-6. Shortly after 1 a.m., Pennsylvania Republican Galusha Grow and South Carolina Democrat Laurence Keitt exchanged insults, then blows.
The 13th Amendment
January 31, 1865
On this date, the House passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery in the United States.
The Civil Rights Bill of 1866
April 09, 1866
On this date, the House overrode President Andrew Johnson’s veto of the Civil Rights Bill of 1866 with near unanimous Republican support, 122 to 41, marking the first time Congress legislated upon civil rights.
The Committee on Education and Labor
March 21, 1867
On this day the House established the Committee on Education and Labor, with Representative John Baker of Illinois serving as its first chairman.
The annual Easter egg roll at the Capitol
April 21, 1876
On this date, the House of Representatives passed the Turf Protection Law, which effectively ended the traditional Easter Monday egg roll at the Capitol. Local schools closed each year on the day after Easter to allow children “to ramble at will on the fresh green grass” at the Capitol.
The McKinley Tariff of 1890
October 01, 1890
On this date, the McKinley Tariff of 1890 became law—boosting protective tariff rates of nearly 50, percent on average, for many American products.
The first Labor Day
June 28, 1894
On this date, President Grover Cleveland signed S. 730 into law declaring Labor Day as a national holiday. Since 1883, Labor Day had been celebrated at the local and state level.
The 1911 House reapportionment
August 08, 1911
On this date, President William H. Taft signed legislation increasing the membership of the House from 391 to 433, with provisions to add two more Members when New Mexico and Arizona became states.
The ratification of the 16th Amendment
February 03, 1913
On this date, the states of Delaware, Wyoming, and New Mexico approved the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratifying it into law.
Funding the expansion of rural post roads
July 11, 1916
President Woodrow Wilson signed into law a measure “to provide that the United States shall aid the States in the construction of rural post roads,” otherwise known as the Rural Post Roads Act of 1916.
The convening of the 66th Congress
May 19, 1919
On this date, 435 Members (plus 2 Delegates and 2 Resident Commissioners) gathered in the House Chamber for the opening of the 66th Congress (1919–1921).
The Volstead Act
October 28, 1919
On this date, the 66th Congress (1919–1921) overrode President Woodrow Wilson’s veto of the National Prohibition Act.
The 19th Amendment
August 26, 1920
On this date, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby proclaimed the 19th Amendment—extending the vote to women—ratified as part of the Constitution.
A bonus for World War I veterans
May 02, 1922
On this date, a Hearst newspaper truck from New York City delivered a petition to the Capitol bearing more than one million signatures in support of a bonus for World War I veterans.
The Immigration Act of 1924
April 12, 1924
On this date, the House passed the 1924 Immigration Act—a measure which was a legislative expression of the xenophobia, particularly towards eastern and southern European immigrants, that swept America in the decade of the 1920s.
World War I veterans bonus bill
June 15, 1932
On this date, by a vote of 211 to 176, the House passed a $2.4 billion World War I veterans bonus bill sponsored by Wright Patman of Texas.
The Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act of 1934
March 29, 1934
After hours of debate, the House passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act by a vote of 274 to 111 (with 47 Members not voting)—for the first time granting the President its traditional power to levy tariffs.
The 20th Amendment
January 03, 1935
On this date, the 74th Congress (1935–1937) became the first to convene for opening day in fulfillment of the requirements of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.
Soil Conservation in the New Deal Congress
April 27, 1935
As blistering heat sapped the American West of much-needed moisture, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act.
The Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937
September 02, 1937
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Wildlife Restoration Act, also known as the Pittman–Robertson Act of 1937.
The Fair Labor Standards Act
June 25, 1938
The House passed the Fair Labor Standards Act—widely considered the final major piece of New Deal legislation.
The Lend-Lease Act of 1941
March 11, 1941
On this date, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Lend-Lease Act—authorizing the President to sell, lease, or lend military hardware to any country he designated as vital to American national security.
The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) Act
May 14, 1942
The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) Act, which authorized a voluntary enrollment program for up to 150,000 women to join the U.S. Army in a noncombat capacity, was signed into law.
The National Security Act of 1947
July 26, 1947
Signed into law on this date, the National Security Act of 1947 incorporated disparate defense agencies under a comprehensive bureaucratic structure.
The Civil Rights Act of 1957
June 18, 1957
On this date, the House of Representatives passed the initial version of what eventually became the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
The 24th Amendment
August 27, 1962
On this date in 1962, the House passed the 24th Amendment, outlawing the poll tax as a voting requirement in federal elections, by a vote of 295 to 86.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
July 02, 1964
On this date, the House of Representatives passed the final version of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
August 03, 1965
On this date, by a vote of 328 to 74, the House approved the Voting Rights Act (VRA)—a landmark in the long civil rights movement.
The first Earth Day
April 22, 1970
Celebrations marking the inaugural Earth Day altered the House legislative calendar.
The Equal Rights Amendment
August 10, 1970
Representative Martha Griffiths of Michigan successfully released the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) from the Judiciary Committee and brought the legislation to the House Floor for a vote on this date.
Crime Control Act of 1970
October 15, 1970
On this date, President Richard M. Nixon signed the Crime Control Act of 1970 (also known as the Organized Crime Act), a measure aimed at the mafia and other crime syndicates.
The 26th Amendment
July 01, 1971
The 26th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on this date.
The first electronic vote
January 23, 1973
On this date, at the start of the 93rd Congress (1973–1975), the House held its first electronic vote.
The War Powers Resolution
October 24, 1973
Labeling the bill “unconstitutional and dangerous,” President Richard M. Nixon vetoed the War Powers Resolution on this date.
The Hansen and Bolling Report
October 08, 1974
On this date, by a vote of 203 to 165, the House of Representatives passed the Hansen Committee report, one of the chamber’s significant internal reforms of the 1970s.
The Freedom of Information Act
November 21, 1974
On this date, the House overwhelmingly overrode President Gerald R. Ford’s veto of an expansion of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 371 to 31.