| Year | Event
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| 1916 | Jeannette Rankin becomes first woman to be elected to US Congress.
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| 1917 | The Bolshevik Revolution, a.k.a. The October Revolution: U.S.S.R. Socialist Revolution (Oct 25, 1917 on old calendar), Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin seize power in Russia, overthrowing the Russian Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky.
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| 1932 | In Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45, the Supreme Court rules that poor defendants have a right to an appointed lawyer when tried for crimes that may result in the death penalty.
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| 1967 | President Johnson (D) signs a bill establishing Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Some history.
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| 1973 | Congress finally (after 9 attempts) passes War Powers Act, over Nixon's veto - limits the President's power to commit armed forces to hostilities abroad without Congressional approval. [So, why is it still going on?]
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| 1986 | The "Simpson-Mazzoli" Immigration Act is signed into law by President Reagan (R). It permits millions of illegal immigrants to remain in the country legally.
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| 1997 | Today's Example of a Most Interesting Government Purchase (from the CBD): From the U.S. Postal Service: "MANAGEMENT OF THE USPS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION MEASUREMENT (CSM) SYSTEM", AMT $7,404,366, TO The Gallup Organization. [See what happens when you complain! Now we got this huge bill to pay! BTW, you might now wonder about the integrity of any Gallop polls involving government.]
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| 2000 | The US presidential election ends with the count for the two primary candidates, Gore (D) and Bush (R), being so close as to make the results a statistical tie. Due to the manner of counting electoral votes, the election will be determined by the state of Florida where Bush and Gore have totals that are within a few hundred votes. What follows is one of the strangest episodes of politics, technical problems, and judicial decisions that the country will ever see or is likely ever to see again!
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