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.
During the Civil War, Congress passed a conscription act that produced the first wartime draft of U.S. citizens in American history. The act called for registration of all males between the ages of 20 and 45, including aliens with the intention of becoming citizens, by April 1. Exemptions from the draft could be bought for $300 or by finding a substitute draftee. This clause led to bloody draft riots in New York City, where protesters were outraged that exemptions were effectively granted only to the wealthiest citizens. Although the Civil War saw the first compulsory conscription of citizens for wartime service, a 1792 act by Congress required that all able-bodied male citizens purchase a gun and join their local state militia. There was no penalty for noncompliance with this act. During the Civil War, the government of the Confederate States of America also enacted a compulsory military draft. The U.S. enacted a military drafts again during World Wars I and II, during the Korean War and finally, during the Vietnam War.
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