1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
On this day in 1957, Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina began what is still the longest Senate filibuster in history by a single senator, in an attempt to stop the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Thurmond campaigned on his aversion to the bill and remained an opponent of civil rights legislation and desegregation efforts. He was the first person even elected to the Senate by write-in, and holds the title of oldest-serving senator in history due to reaching the age of 100 while in office. His filibuster lasted 24 hours and 18 minutes though was unsuccessful. The bill passed Congress the following day, and exactly six years later to the day of the filibuster, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have A Dream” speech to the March on Washington.
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