The Forty-sixth Congress of the United States opened in Washington, D.C. Of the 293 representatives in the House, 141 were Democrats, and 132 were Republicans. Thirteen others sat as National Greenback Party members and seven others as Independent Democrats. On this opening day, Samuel J. Randall, Democrat of Pennsylvania and Speaker in the two previous Congresses, was once again elected Speaker of the House but in a close fought contest. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, "House History." http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/index.html
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Lawmaking/Litigating