13th Amendment Passes the House: Slavery's End Is Coming
The Senate and House cleared the path for the Thirteenth Amendment in 1864 and early 1865, prompting Secretary of State William H. Seward to proclaim its adoption on December 18. This action permanently abolished slavery across the United States, transforming the legal status of millions while granting Congress unique power to outlaw private acts of peonage and modern trafficking that later amendments could not reach.
January 31, 1865
161 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on January 31
Silvester I ascended to the papacy, inheriting a church newly empowered by Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan. His long tenure oversaw the construction of the…
A whisper of divine authority in a world still trembling from Constantine's recent Christian revolution. Sylvester didn't just inherit a church—he stepped into …
Blood splattered the frozen Swedish landscape. King Sverker thought he'd crush his young rival decisively—instead, Prince Eric's forces decimated his army in a …
mariage de la comtesse Béatrice de Provence avec Charles Ier d'Anjou, frère de Saint Louis.
The Mudéjar fighters knew their end was near. Cornered in Murcia after two years of resistance, they'd held out against impossible odds—defending a city where t…
Der Rat der Stadt Bern und Schultheiß Adrian I. von Bubenberg erteilen an Diebold Schilling den Älteren den Auftrag für eine Berner Chronik.
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