Several significant family events took place during Lincoln's youth in Indiana. On October 5, 1818, Nancy Lincoln died of milk sickness, leaving eleven-year-old Sarah in charge of a household that included her father, nine-year-old Abraham, and Dennis Hanks, Nancy's nineteen-year-old orphaned cousin.
In 1977, Meier set the world record for longest filibuster. From the floor of the Texas Senate, Meier spoke mostly uninterrupted for 43 hours to fight a bill he viewed as an attack on the state's open records laws. The achievement was recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records for well over a decade.
She plans to finish out her current term but not run for another one. Mikulski, 78, is the longest serving female senator in the history of the country, and was also the first woman to chair the influential Senate Appropriations Committee. Mikulski served five terms in office. She was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976 and has served in the Senate since 1987. This post has been updated.