74th United States Congress - Major Events

Major Events

• April 14, 1935: Dust Bowl: The great dust storm hit eastern New Mexico, Colorado, and western Oklahoma
• May 6, 1935: Executive Order 7034 created the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
• May 27, 1935: Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States: the U.S. Supreme Court declared the National Industrial Recovery Act unconstitutional
• June 12, 1935 – June 13, 1935: Senator Huey Long gave the second longest filibuster speech in Senate history up to that time, 15 hours and 30 minutes to retain a provision, opposed by President Franklin Roosevelt, requiring Senate confirmation for the National Recovery Administration's senior employees.
• July 1, 1935: Charles Watkins was appointed as the first officially recognized Parliamentarian.
• September 10, 1935: Senator Huey Long of Louisiana died, as the result of being shot by an assassin on September 8.
• March 1, 1936: Construction of Hoover Dam was completed.
• November 3, 1936: General elections
  • U.S. presidential election, 1936: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) was reelected with 60.8% of the vote over Alf Landon (R).
  • United States Senate elections, 1936: Democrats gained 5 net seats during the election, and in combination with Democratic and Farmer-Labor interim appointments and the defection of George W. Norris from the Republican Party to become independent, the Republicans were reduced to 16 seats, the most lopsided Senate since Reconstruction.
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1936: Democrats gained twelve more net seats from the Republicans, bringing them above a three-fourths majority. This was the largest majority since Reconstruction. The last time a party won so decisively was in 1866.
• November 25, 1936: Abraham Lincoln Brigade sailed from New York City on its way to the Spanish Civil War