US House elects John Quincy Adams President

The US House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as President of the United States on February 9, 1825 after no candidate won a majority of electors in the 1824 presidential election. Adams prevailed by a 13-7-4 vote even though future President Andrew Jackson won more electors than him the previous November. The Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution requires the House to determine the president if nobody secures a majority of electors.

Learn more about the Election of 1824.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UK House of Lords becomes an elected body

On March 7, 2007, Britain's lower house of Parliament, the House of Commons, voted to change the upper chamber, the House of Lords, to an elected body. Previously, appointments to the House of Lords were based on noble birth.

Selma-Montgomery march began with 'Bloody Sunday'

On March 7, 1965, 525 civil rights activists began a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Just outside Selma, heavily armed police and deputies broke up the march with billy clubs and tear gas, injuring 65 people and hospitalizing 17 in a melee that became known as "Bloody Sunday." After federal court protection had been secured, 3,200 marchers started out again on March 21. By the time they reached Montgomery on March 25, their numbers had swelled to 25,000. Learn more about the Selma-to-Montgomery March from the US National Parks Service, which preserves the route as a National Historic Trail.