November 7, 1916
Jeannette Rankin, a Republican from Missoula, Montana, became the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Just after her term began, on April 6, 1917, the House held a vote on whether to enter World War I. Rankin cast one of fifty votes against the resolution, later saying, “I felt the first time the first woman had a chance to say no to war she should say it.”
