Count down to #Christmas with 12 Days of House History in our latest #HistoryBlog. https://loom.ly/0DpnbW0

Joel Roberts Poinsett: Rep, Foreign Minister... Botanist? #PoinsettiaDay #HistoryBlog Image: Library of Congress https://loom.ly/LuaKbPI

Reading Clerk Irving Swanson read #POTUS #FDR's war messages against Germany and Italy #OTD in 1941. #oralhistory https://loom.ly/RDGQ-i8

#OTD in 1824, the House of Representatives offered an aging Marquis de Lafayette a hero's welcome. The French hero of the Revolutionary War became the first of many House Receptions for foreign dignitaries and leaders. #HistoryBlog https://loom.ly/Gv6bHgg

Tip O'Neill's official portrait unveiled #OTD 1986. #HouseCollection https://history.house.gov/Collection/Listing/2005/2005-016-047/

“A date which will live in infamy.” You’ve read the quote, but have you watched the delivery? And what happened next? #OTD 1941. #PearlHarbor https://youtu.be/dep6GDBHTFY?si=Tu60JkEfLGEfZI8v

"Well, everybody was outraged. And that was a time where everybody remembers exactly what they were doing." Rep John Dingell, Jr., remembers #PearlHarbor. #OralHistory https://history.house.gov/Oral-History/Events/World-War-II/

#HistoryTeachers, design a #DBQ using #WWII documents like the tally sheet for the U.S. declaration of war against Japan. #sschat #HouseRecords https://history.house.gov/HouseRecord/Detail/15032449727#HistoryTeachers

By early 1933, the scales of Prohibition had started to tip—toward tippling. The 21st Amendment was ratified #OTD 1933. #RepealDay #HistoryBlog https://history.house.gov/Blog/2016/October/10-11-photo-prohibition/#OTD#RepealDay

"Dead states cannot restore their existence," declared Rep Thaddeus Stevens of #PA as he introduced a resolution creating a Joint Committee on Reconstruction #OTD in 1865. https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/36072?ret=True

It's getting #cold outside, but warm in the House. Reps Dyer, Zihlman & McLeod bask in the glow of "sunlights" in 1929. #HouseCollection https://history.house.gov/Collection/Detail/25769821832

A look at the #CapitolChristmasTree in years past, 1964 and 1974. #HappyHolidays

Samuel Randall of PA was elected Speaker when the 46th Congress convened #OTD 1879. The US Capitol had also been renovated to create what is now known as the Speaker’s Lobby and Members’ Retiring Room. https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/35952?ret=True

#HappyBirthday to the 1st African-American #WomenInCongress, Shirley Chisholm of #NY. https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/10918

This is your reminder to get your holiday cards mailed! #HouseCollection https://history.house.gov/Collection/Listing/2004/2004-086-001/#HouseCollection

Like #BlackFriday in the US Capitol Rotunda back in 1875. #HouseCollection

Best of luck with those #Thanksgiving leftovers! Might we suggest a carb-laden contest? #HistoryBlog https://history.house.gov/Blog/2015/November/11-16-photo-potato/

It's #Turkey Day, so dig in. #HouseCollection https://history.house.gov/Collection/Listing/2009/2009-202-000/

“The rather universal sentiment seems to be that we should return to the old custom of the last Thursday in November as #Thanksgiving Day,” Representative Joseph O’Hara declared on the House Floor. https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/36410#Thanksgiving

Tense #TurkeyDay 1937 in the House. (Luckily it ended in football.) #HistoryBlog 📷: @LibraryCongress https://history.house.gov/Blog/2014/November/11-26-Thanksgiving/

Best. #Thanksgiving card. Ever. #HouseCollection #YoureWelcome

Four former House staffers with more than 150 collective years of experience bring the #Thanksgiving spirit to the Hill in these #oralhistory videos. #HistoryBlog https://history.house.gov/Blog/2024/November/11-26-Thanks-OralHistory/

#OTD 1917, the Old-Time Printers' Assn. of Chicago wrote in support of Prohibition, asking Congress to, "remove the blighting curse of the liquor traffic, root and branch, from American Life." #RecordsSearch #HouseRecords https://history.house.gov/HouseRecord/Detail/15032448822

Need a lesson on carving your turkey? Speaker Bankhead has some tips. And fashion suggestions as well. Speaker William Bankhead carefully carved a 25-pound turkey for a staff luncheon in the Capitol in 1938. #Thanksgiving https://history.house.gov/Collection/Listing/PA2011/PA2011-08-0064f/#Thanksgiving

You know what sounds good right about now? Perfect sledding @USCapitol #OTD in 1938. #HouseCollection https://history.house.gov/Collection/Listing/PA2015/PA2015-01-0052/

"The only thing you could hear was people crying." #JFK's funeral remembered in #oralhistory. #HistoryBlog https://history.house.gov/Blog/2014/November/11-21-Kennedy/

The youngest Member ever elected to the House, Rep William Charles Cole Claiborne of #TN, died #OTD in 1817. https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/36144?ret=True

Prepping sides for #Thanksgiving? Try a recipe from a 1920s Congressional Cookbook in the #HouseCollection. https://history.house.gov/Collection/Detail/15032440084#Thanksgiving

Welcome to the Capitol Christmas Tree! On December 24, 1913, thousands of people flocked to the U.S. Capitol to celebrate Washington’s first “community Christmas.” https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/37010 📷: Library of Congress

#HappyBirthday to Josiah Bartlett of #NH, a delegate to the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence, born #OTD 1729. https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/25769807361

Ten unpopular trumpets in the House #OTD in 1922. What did it take to be heard in the House of Representatives? Getting from “wait, what?” to “loud and clear” required three tries, ten trumpets, and a flying coffin. #HistoryBlog https://history.house.gov/Blog/2016/April/04_18_Art_Post/#OTD

John Conyers juggled phones on the cover of #JetMagazine #OTD in 1964. #HouseCollection https://history.house.gov/Collection/Listing/2007/2007-274-000/#JetMagazine#OTD

You can now download images from Collections Search! Currently, more than 750 historical objects from the #HouseCollection have hi-res downloadable images. Find them all here & check back as we continue to add more. https://bit.ly/DownloadHouseCollection#HouseCollection

#OTD 1800, the House of Representatives convened in the US Capitol in Washington for the first time. https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/35773#OTD

Want to know more about campaign buttons? #ButtonDay #HistoryBlog https://history.house.gov/Blog/2013/May/5-16-Campaign_Buttons/#ButtonDay#HistoryBlog

#OTD in 1777, the Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation and prepared to send them to the states for ratification. https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/35332#OTD

Rep. J. J. Pickle had a unique campaign button for his elections. #PickleDay https://history.house.gov/Collection/Detail/15032392002

Integrate historic images, documents, or oral histories into your lessons using our tools (like this one for photographs). Visit our Tools for Teaching with Primary Sources page for more. #TeachingWithPrimarySourceshttps://history.house.gov/Education/Primary-Sources/Primary-Source-Analysis/

This month’s Edition for Educators highlights the congressional career of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, the first Hispanic woman elected to Congress. #HistoryBlog https://history.house.gov/Blog/2025/September/9-30-Education-Ros-Lehtinen/

Rep Roybal of #CA's campaign pin was out of this world. #HispanicHeritageMonth https://history.house.gov/Collection/Listing/2007/2007-285-000/

Learn the background for both the Hispanic Caucus & Conference #HispanicHeritageMonth http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/HAIC/Historical-Essays/Strength-Numbers/Caucus-Conference/

He played pro baseball and danced the Charleston on the Cannon steps. Rep Thomas McMillan of #SC died #OTD 1939. https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/35705?ret=True

Rep Patsy Mink of #HI, the first woman of color elected to Congress, died #OTD 2002. #WomeninCongress https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/15032398307

Rep Eben Martin of #SD asked Speaker Joe Cannon for a "lesser" committee assignment #OTD 1905. #RecordsSearch #HouseRecords https://history.house.gov/HouseRecord/Detail/15032436124

#OTD 1962, the House unveiled a portrait of Banking Committee Chairman Brent Spence of #KY. #HouseCollection https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/15032398476

Planning your National History Day project? Learn all about the materials available in our latest #HistoryBlog. https://history.house.gov/Blog/2025/September/9-25-NHD/

Taken from the Goodyear Blimp, this photograph showed the Capitol and House office buildings, in September 1941. #HouseCollection https://history.house.gov/Collection/Detail/15032450563

#OTD 1789, the First Congress sent 12 Constitutional amendments to the states for ratification. 10 of them became the #BillofRights, but one took +200 years to be ratified. The 27th Amendment wasn't approved until 1992. https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/35665?ret=True#OTD

Robert Smalls of #SC: Real life AND Comic Book Superhero. #ComicBookDay https://history.house.gov/Blog/2021/February/2-26-goldenlegacy/

The 2026 National History Day theme is Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History. To help students prepare contest entries, the Office of the Historian has prepared several collections using material from across this website. https://history.house.gov/NHD/