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.
But in the Senate, 60 is the most important number. It takes 60 votes in the Senate to block a filibuster, or an unlimited debate. Senate rules allow any member or group of senators to speak as long as necessary on an issue. The only way to end the debate is to evoke  cloture , or win a vote of 60 members. Without the 60 votes needed, the filibuster can go on forever.