On January 8, 1790, President George Washington delivered
the first State of the Union address to the assembled Congress
in the Senate Chamber of Federal Hall in New York City. New
York City.

Washington began by congratulating North Carolina’s recent
decision to join the federal republic.

Texas joined the Union as the 28th state, after its war of
independence against Mexico and 10 years as a Lone
Star republic, on this day in history, Dec. 29, 1845.

The vast state, larger in area than the nation of France,
joined the union but never lost its sense of independence.

"For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical
appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions,
and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps
stronger than any other section of America," famed author
John Steinbeck wrote in his 1962 travelogue, "Travels with
Charley: In Search of America." (Fox News)

On July 3, 1890, the Idaho Territory became the 43rd state
in the Union..

Exploration of the North American continent mostly proceeded
inward from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and northward from
Spanish Mexico. Therefore, the rugged territory that would
become Idaho long remained untouched by Spanish, French,
British and American trappers and explorers. Even as late as
1805, Idaho Native Americans like the Shoshone had never
encountered Europeans.

On January 4, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered the
first televised evening State of the Union Address.

Johnson laid out for Congress a laundry list of legislation needed
to achieve his plan for a Great Society.

As a result Congress enacted sweeping legislation in the areas of
civil rights, health care, education and the environment. 

The 1965 State of the Union address heralded the creation of Medicare/Medicaid, Head Start, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil
Rights Act, the Department of Housing and Urban Development
and the White House Conference on Natural Beauty.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs the Voting Rights
Act of 1965.

On January 4, 1965, in his State of the Union address, President Lyndon
Baines Johnson lays out for Congress a laundry list of legislation needed
to achieve his plan for a Great Society. On the heels of John F. Kennedy’s
tragic death, Americans had elected Johnson, his vice president, to the
presidency by the largest popular vote in the nation’s history. Johnson
used this mandate to push for improvements he believed would better
Americans’ quality of life.

Following Johnson’s lead, Congress enacted sweeping legislation in the
areas of civil rights, health care, education and the environment. The 1965
State of the Union address heralded the creation of Medicare/Medicaid,
Head Start, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, the Department of
Housing and Urban Development and the White House Conference on
Natural Beauty. Johnson also signed the National Foundation of the Arts
and Humanities Act, out of which emerged the National Endowment for
the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.