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A Three Stooges skit on the House floor…

“The New York Times” of February 6, 1858 [1] reports a brawl on the floor of the House of Representatives the day before. Although perhaps not as infamous as the Charles Sumner/Preston Brooks attack, this one between Lawrence Keitt and Galusha Grow was more raucous.

The photo below reports some of the exchange of words between the two, but the better report is found in the Wikipedia account of the affair:  “A large brawl involving approximately 50 representatives erupted on the House floor, ending only when a missed punch from Rep. Cadwallader Washburn of Wisconsin upended the hairpiece of Rep. William Barksdale of Mississippi. The embarrassed Barksdale accidentally replaced the wig backwards, causing both sides to erupt in spontaneous laughter.” The entire NY Times coverage may be viewed at:  “The New York Times” of February 6, 1858 [1] [2]

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1 Comment To "A Three Stooges skit on the House floor…"

#1 Comment By gregory lee On 01/24/2014 @ 10:06 pm

I wish the congress of the day had the passion to have a brawl. Instead they are the deficiencies in performance are well matched to their intellect.