This Week in History

Feb. 4, 2013 -- intro: Does this week seem like any other week? Well, think again. Check out some of the most important political events that happened this week in history.

quicklist: 1title: Feb. 4text:1789: George Washington was unanimously elected as the first president of the United States. All 69 presidential electors voted for him. His vice president, John Adams of Massachusetts, was also elected, receiving 34 votes.

1945: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin met at the Yalta conference, which took place from Feb. 4-11. The three world leaders made important decisions regarding the progress and future of World War II.

2004: The Massachusetts Supreme Court declared full marriage rights for same-sex couples.

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quicklist: 2title: Feb. 5text:1900: The United States and the United Kingdom signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty as the first step in creating the Panama Canal

1917: Congress overrode President Woodrow Wilson's veto to pass the Immigration Act. The act, which by law required a literacy test for immigrants, was upheld by more than a two-thirds majority.

1937: President Franklin Roosevelt announced his plan to expand the U.S. Supreme Court. The expansion would propose to have as many as 15 sitting justices. Critics called it the "court packing" plan, because they claimed the president was trying to "pack" the court to neutralize the justices who did not support his New Deal legislation.

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quicklist: 3title: Feb. 6text: 1788: The state of Massachusetts became the sixth state to join the Union.

1911:President Ronald Reagan was born.

1974: The House Judiciary Committee begins to determine grounds for the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon.

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quicklist: 4title:Feb. 7text:1795: The 11th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. The amendment dealt with state's sovereign immunity. It was adopted to overrule the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Chisholm v. Georgia.

The language of the amendment stated that "The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state."

1973: The Senate voted to create a select committee to investigate the Nixon Watergate scandal. The resolution granted power to investigate the break-in as well as any subsequent cover-up of criminal activity, and "all other illegal, improper or unethical conduct occurring during the presidential campaign of 1972, including political espionage and campaign finance practices."

2001: Robert Pickett, 47, fired a handgun near the White House. Pickett was subdued after a Secret Service officer shot in the knee. No one else was harmed during the incident.

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quicklist: 5title:Feb. 8text: 1837: The United States Senate elected Richard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky as the nation's ninth vice president.

1922: President Warren G. Harding installed the first-ever radio in the White House signifying new and cutting-edge technology in America.

1999:The Senate listens to closing arguments in the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.

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