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United States Congress

bicameral legislature of the United States

65 dated entries naming United States Congress, drawn from 50 separate years between 1782 CE and 2021 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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18th century

  • 1782January 15 – Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the United States Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.source
  • 1783March 15 – Newburgh Conspiracy: A potential uprising in the Continental Army stationed at Newburgh, New York, is defused, when George Washington asks the officers to support the supremacy of the United States Congress.source
  • 1789September 25 – The United States Congress proposes a set of 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, for ratification by the states. Ratification for 10 of these proposals is completed on December 5, 1791, creating the United States Bill of Rights.source
  • 1790February 11 – Two Quaker delegates petition the United States Congress for the abolition of slavery.source
  • 1790July 26 – Alexander Hamilton's Assumption Bill, giving effect to his First Report on the Public Credit, is passed in the United States Congress, allowing the federal government to assume the consolidated debts of the U.S. states.source
  • 1798July 7 – Quasi-War: The United States Congress rescinds treaties with France, sparking the war.source
  • 1800November 17 – The United States Congress holds its first Washington, D.C., session.source

19th century

  • 1801February 27 – Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the United States Congress.source
  • 1807December 22 – The United States Congress passes the Embargo Act, a trade embargo on all foreign nations.source
  • 1807March 2 – The United States Congress passes the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves "into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States ... from any foreign kingdom, place, or country" (to take effect January 1, 1808).source
  • 1818April 4 – The United States Congress adopts the flag of the United States as having thirteen red and white stripes, and one star for each state (twenty), with additional stars to be added whenever a new state is added to the Union.source
  • 1830January 12–27 – Webster–Hayne debate: In the United States Congress, Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina debates against Daniel Webster of Massachusetts about the question of states' rights vs. federal authority.source
  • 1834March 28 – Andrew Jackson is censured by the United States Congress (expunged in 1837).source
  • 1845February 28 – The United States Congress approves the annexation of Texas.source
  • 1845January 23 – The United States Congress establishes a uniform date for federal elections, which will henceforth be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.source
  • 1845March 3 – Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state. On the same day, both houses of the U.S. Congress vote by a two-thirds majority, to override a presidential veto for the first time in history in order to pass legislation.source
  • 1845October 13 – A majority of voters in the Republic of Texas approve a proposed constitution that, if accepted by the United States Congress, will make Texas a U.S. state.source
  • 1848February 2 – Mexican–American War: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – Mexico cedes virtually all of what becomes the Southwestern United States to the U.S. The unincorporated California Territory becomes a provisional official possession; it is never organized by the United States Congress as a territory, but directly passes the requirements for statehood in 1850.source
  • 1849March 3 – The United States Congress passes the Gold Coinage Act allowing the minting of two additional denominations of gold coins, the gold dollar and the double eagle.source
  • 1850January 29 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the United States Congress.source
  • 1850September 18 – The Fugitive Slave Law is passed by the United States Congress.source
  • 1850September 9 – The New Mexico Territory is organized by order of the United States Congress.source
  • 1855March 3 – The United States Congress appropriates $30,000 to create the U.S. Camel Corps.source
  • 1861July 25 – The Crittenden–Johnson Resolution is passed by the U.S. Congress, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union, and not to end slavery.source
  • 1864April 22 – The United States Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864, which makes privately issued Civil War tokens illegal. An additional law is passed on June 8 to include all private coinage.source
  • 1865December 11 – The United States Congress creates the United States House Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Banking and Commerce, reducing the tasks of the House Committee on Ways and Means.source
  • 1865March 3 – The U.S. Congress authorizes formation of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands.source
  • 1866July 25 – The United States Congress passes legislation authorizing the four-star rank of General of the Army (later reestablished as a five-star rank); Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to have this rank.source
  • 1866March 13 – The United States Congress overwhelmingly passes the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the first federal legislation to protect the rights of African-Americans; U.S. President Andrew Johnson vetoes the bill on March 27, and Congress overrides the veto on April 9.source
  • 1866May 16 – The United States Congress approves the minting of a nickel 5-cent coin (nickel), eliminating its predecessor, the half dime.source
  • 1867February 28 – The United States Congress forbids taxpayer funding of diplomatic envoys to the Holy See (Vatican), begun in 1848, and breaks off relations. Funding resumes, along with relations, in 1984.source
  • 1869January 20 – Elizabeth Cady Stanton is the first woman to testify before the United States Congress.source
  • 1870February 25 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American to sit in the U.S. Congress.source
  • 1873March 3 – Censorship: The United States Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" books through the mail.source
  • 1875March 1 – The United States Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in public accommodations and jury duty.source
  • 1882August 3 – The United States Congress passes the Immigration Act of 1882, imposing a head tax on immigrants to the U.S. and excluding undesirables.source
  • 1882March 22 – Polygamy is made a felony by the Edmunds Act, passed by the United States Congress.source
  • 1888May 1 – Fort Belknap Indian Reservation is established by the United States Congress.source
  • 1898April 25 – Spanish–American War: The United States declares war on Spain; the U.S. Congress announces that a state of war has existed since April 21 (later backdating this one more day to April 20).source

20th century

  • 1901March 2 – The United States Congress passes the Platt Amendment, limiting the autonomy of Cuba as a condition for the withdrawal of American troops.source
  • 1909April 9 – The Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act is passed in the United States Congress.source
  • 1915January 26 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the United States Congress.source
  • 1917May 18 – WWI: The Selective Service Act passes the United States Congress, giving the President the power of conscription.source
  • 1918March 19 – The United States Congress establishes time zones, and approves daylight saving time (DST goes into effect on March 31).source
  • 1919February 26 – Grand Canyon National Park: An act of the United States Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park.source
  • 1919June 4 – Women's rights: The United States Congress approves the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would guarantee suffrage to women, and sends it to the states for ratification.source
  • 1919October 28 – Prohibition in the United States: The United States Congress passes the Volstead Act, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto. Prohibition goes into effect on January 17, 1920, under the provisions of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.source
  • 1925October 1 – The United States Congress grants permission for Gutzon Borglum to begin constructing Mount Rushmore National Memorial on federal land in South Dakota.source
  • 1926May 20 – The United States Congress passes the Air Commerce Act, licensing pilots and planes.source
  • 1928December 21 – The United States Congress approves the construction of Boulder Dam, later renamed Hoover Dam.source
  • 1929February 26 – Grand Teton National Park is established by the United States Congress.source
  • 1933January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wishes of U.S. President Herbert Hoover.source
  • 1940May 16 – President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt, addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress, asks for an extraordinary credit of approximately $900,000,000 to finance construction of at least 50,000 airplanes per year.source
  • 1941January 10 – The Lend-Lease Act is introduced into the United States Congress.source
  • 1941January 23 – Aviator Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress, and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.source
  • 1948May 26 – The United States Congress passes Public Law 557 which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as the auxiliary of the United States Air Force.source
  • 1956July 30 – A joint resolution of Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing "In God we trust" as the U.S. national motto.source
  • 1967Gunsmoke, after 12 seasons and with declining ratings, almost gets cancelled, but protests from viewers, network affiliates and even members of Congress and especially William S. Paley, the head of the network, lead the network to move the series from its longtime late Saturday time slot to early Mondays for the fall—displacing Gilligan's Island, which initially had been renewed for a fourth season but is cancelled instead. Gunsmoke would remain on CBS until 1975.source
  • 1968March 18 – Gold standard: The United States Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back U.S. currency.source
  • 1975January 2 – The Federal Rules of Evidence are approved by the United States Congress.source
  • 1975November 19 – The United States Congress approves the Clark Amendment, ending aid to the FNLA and UNITA.source
  • 1991May 16 – Elizabeth II becomes the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress during a 13-day royal visit in Washington, D.C.source

21st century

  • 2001September 20 – In an address to a joint session of Congress, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a war on terror, officially the global war on terrorism.source
  • 2002October 11 – The United States Congress approves military action in Iraq should it fail to comply with United Nations requirements for weapons of mass destruction.source
  • 2021January 6 – Supporters of US President Donald Trump attack the US Capitol, disrupting certification of the 2020 presidential election, and forcing both houses of Congress to evacuate. Five people die during the ensuing riot. The event is classified as a domestic terrorist attack, and draws international condemnation.source

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