On the 11th of April, 1789, just ten days after forming a quorum and convening its first session under the new Constitution, the U.S. House of Representatives ordered a committee to prepare the first legislation for collecting federal revenue.
On This Day…
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On February 28, 1823, President James Monroe approved an act of Congress granting Ohio 120 feet of land on either side of a proposed road through ceded Indian land, connecting that state with the Michigan Territory.
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On 14 February 1913, President William Howard Taft returned, unsigned, an immigration bill that would have implemented, for the first time, a literacy requirement.
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On January 31, 1801, John Marshall (1755-1835) received his commission as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Senate having given its “advice and consent” four days earlier.
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After the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, the U.S. military distributed decks of cards to soldiers stationed in Iraq. The 55-card decks – all face cards – were designed to help identify the country’s “most wanted.” Saddam Hussein’s photo adorned the Ace of Spades.
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When the Second Continental Congress convened in 1775, the Revolutionary War was underway, with American soldiers disorganized, outnumbered and outgunned.
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Elections are the cornerstone of a democracy, giving citizens an important voice in our future. In 1864, the Civil War’s fourth year, President Lincoln won 55 percent of the vote – with 212 electoral votes to Democratic challenger George B. McCellan’s 21.