With the signing of the Electoral Bill by Governor Lord Glasgow, New Zealand becomes the first country in the world to grant national voting rights to women. The bill was the outcome of years of suffragette meetings in towns and cities across the country, with women often traveling considerable distances to hear lectures and speeches, pass resolutions, and sign petitions. New Zealand women first went to the polls in the national elections of November 1893.

The United States granted women the right to vote in 1920, and Great Britain guaranteed full voting rights for women in 1928.

Source: history.com

1356 – The Battle of Poitiers was fought between England and France. Edward “the Black Prince” captured France’s King John.

1777 – The Battle of Saratoga was won by American soldiers during the Revolutionary War.

1796 – U.S. President Washington’s farewell address was published.

1819 – John Keats wrote “Ode to Autumn.”

1876 – Melville R. Bissell patented the carpet sweeper.

1891 – “The Merchant of Venice” was performed for the first time at Manchester.

1893 – In New Zealand, the Electoral Act 1893 was consented to giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.

1942 – The first advertisement to announce Little Golden Books appeared in Publishers Weekly.

1955 – Eva Marie Saint, Frank Sinatra and Paul Newman starred in the “Producer’s Showcase” presentation of “Our Town” on NBC-TV.

1955 – Argentina President Juan Peron was ousted after a revolt by the army and navy.

1957 – The U.S. conducted its first underground nuclear test. The test took place in the Nevada desert. 

1959 – Nikita Khruschev was not allowed to visit Disneyland due to security reasons. Khrushchev reacted angrily.

1960 – Cuban leader Fidel Castro, in New York to visit the United Nations, checked out of the Shelburne Hotel angrily after a dispute with the management.

1982 – Scott Fahlman became the first person to use 🙂 in an online message.

1983 – Lebanese army units defending Souk el-Gharb were supported in their effort by two U.S. Navy ships off Beirut.

1984 – China and Britain completed a draft agreement transferring Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule by 1997.

1986 – U.S. health officials announced that AZT, though an experimental drug, would be made available to AIDS patients.

1988 – Israel successfully launched the Horizon-I test satellite.

1990 – Iraq began confiscating foreign assets of countries that were imposing sanctions against the Iraqi government.

1992 – The U.N. Security Council recommended suspending Yugoslavia due to its role in the Bosnian civil war.

1994 – U.S. troops entered Haiti peacefully to enforce the return of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

1995 – The U.S. Senate passed a welfare overhaul bill. 

1995 – The commander of American forces in Japan and the U.S. ambassador apologized for the rape of a schoolgirl committed by three U.S. servicemen.

1996 – The government of Guatemala and leftist rebels signed a peace treaty to end their long war.

2002 – In Ivory Coast, around 750 rebel soldiers attempted to overthrow the government. U.S. troops landed on September 25th to help move foreigners, including Americans, to safer areas.

2003 – It was reported that AOL Time Warner was going to drop “AOL” from its name and be known as Time Warner Inc. The company had announced its merger and name change on January 10, 2000.

On 1/29/1850 – Henry Clay introduced in the Senate a * Compromise of 1850 Bill* on slavery that included the admission of California into the Union as a free state. 1850 Senator Henry Clay drafted the Compromise of 1850 to defuse tensions between slave states and free states over territories won during the Mexican–American War

Passed on September 18, 1850 by Congress, The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was part of the Compromise of 1850. The act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. The act also made the federal government responsible for finding, returning, and trying escaped slaves.

Sources: battlefields.org , on-this-day.com

The American Civil War devastated much of the country between 1861 and 1865, but the conflict could have actually happened much sooner. In 1850, a major dispute between slave states and free states arose regarding the status of lands acquired after the Mexican-American War (1846-48).

Many Southern states wanted to expand slavery into these new territories, which was opposed by the Northerners. These disputes, and others relating to the territorial expansion of the state of Texas. In early 1850, senator Henry Clay drafted a compromise that included the admission of California as a free state, the cession by Texas of some of its northern and western territorial claims in return for debt relief, the establishment of New Mexico and Utah territories, a ban on the importation of slaves into the District of Columbia for sale, and a more stringent fugitive slave law.

The compromise initially failed to gain wide support, but after President Zachary Taylor died, his successor Millard Fillmore and Democratic senator Stephen Douglas took the lead in passing Clay’s compromise through Congress as a series of five bills. The tensions were diffused, and the risk of conflict in the immediate term ended, but the debate over slavery did not end. Many years of controversy and debate eventually led to the secession of the Southern states and the Civil War in 1861.

Document Info

Author(s): Henry Clay
Location signed: USA

Source: National Archives

Related Events

• 1850-01-29 Senator Henry Clay drafts the Compromise of 1850 to defuse tensions between slave states and free states over territories won during the Mexican–American War
• 1850-03-07 Daniel Webster endorses the Compromise of 1850
• 1850-09-18 US Congress passes Fugitive Slave Law as part of Compromise of 1850

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