• March 4, 1789 - The House meets for the first time in Federal Hall in New York City.


• December 6, 1790 - The House began meeting in Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


• July 7, 1797 - The House first exercised its power to remove federal officials by impeaching Senator William Blount of Tennessee on the grounds that he had conspired to incite Native-American tribes to help the British conquer Spanish territory in then-West Florida.


• November 23, 1797 - William C.C. Claiborne becomes the youngest person ever to serve in the House at 22 years old.


• November 17, 1800 - The House moves to Washington D.C.


• October 26, 1807 - On the opening day of the 10th Congress (1807–1809), the House first met in its new chamber in the completed South Wing


• March 1, 1820 - The Missouri Compromise, stipulating that new states and territories north of the 36’30 boundary are slave-free, is passed.


• September 30, 1822 - Joseph Marion Hernandez, a Delegate from the Florida Territory, became the first Hispanic American to serve in Congress.


• December 16, 1857 - The House convened for the first time in its new chamber in the recently extended South Wing of the Capitol, the site of the present-day chamber.


• January 31, 1865 - The House passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery.


• June 13, 1866 - The House passed the 14th Amendment to protect the civil rights of freed slaves.  Ratified in 1868, it asserted that states could not deny the rights of any citizen without due process of law, providing the basis for future expansions of civil rights.


• December 12, 1870 - Joseph Rainey of South Carolina became the first African American sworn in as a House Member.


• April 2, 1917 - Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman sworn in as a Member of Congress.


• June 11, 1929 - The House passed the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, setting the number of Representatives at 435. After each decennial census since 1930, seats have been apportioned among the states using the formula established in that act.


• December 8, 1941 - Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana cast the sole vote against the declaration of war on Japan.  By her vote Rankin became the only Member of Congress to oppose U.S. participation in both world wars.


• May 18, 1944 - The House unanimously passed the GI Bill of Rights.


• March 1, 1954 - A group of armed Puerto Rican nationalists fired onto the House Chamber while in session, wounding five Members before being subdued by police and public visitors in the House Gallery.


• January 3, 1957 - Representative Dalip Singh Saund of California became the first Asian American to serve in Congress.


• July 2, 1964 - The House passed the final version of the Civil Rights Act, which expanded federal power to protect African-American voting rights and to penalize states that failed to desegregate public schools and accommodations.


• January 3, 1969 - Representative Shirley Chisholm of New York became the first African-American woman to serve in Congress.


• January 23, 1973 - The first electronic voting system was utilized.


• July 27, 1974 - The House Judiciary Committee approved the first of three articles of impeachment against President Richard M. Nixon. Nixon would resign two weeks later as a result of his involvement in the Watergate scandal.


• March 19, 1979 - The House begins live television coverage of its floor proceedings.


• January 4, 1995 - Republicans assume the majority in the House for the first time in 40 years.


• December 19, 1998 - The House impeaches President Bill Clinton for obstruction of justice and perjury. The Senate acquitted Clinton.


• January 4, 2005 - In response to the 2001 terrorist attacks, the House created a new permanent standing committee, the Committee on Homeland Security.


• January 4, 2007 - Nancy Pelosi is elected as the first female Speaker of the House.

Source: U.S. House of Representatives

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