For the first time since adopting its cloture rule in 1917, the Senate voted to shut off debate on a measure. Then, four days later, the Senate went on to defeat the resolution that provided for U.S. participation in the League of Nations. Between 1919 and 1962, the Senate successfully invoked cloture on only five occasions.

In violation of the Constitution's requirement that senators be at least thirty years old, the Senate agreed to seat Tennessee's John H. Eaton. By this action, the Senate made Eaton the youngest person ever to serve, at age twenty-eight years, four months, and twenty-nine days. This was the third instance in twelve years of such under-age seating. In 1806, the Senate had admitted Henry Clay, who was twenty-nine years and eight months. Virginia's Armistead Mason followed in 1816 at the age of twenty-eight years and five months. Since 1818, the Senate has carefully followed the Constitution's legal age requirement. In 1935, the Senate determined that a senator-elect must have reached his or her thirtieth birthday before taking the oath of office rather than by the date of election.

From the Senate's earliest years, its presiding officers have used a small, handle-less piece of solid ivory as a gavel. In 1947, as the gavel began to deteriorate, craftsmen added small silver disks to aid in its preservation. In 1954, during a heated late-night debate, Vice President Richard Nixon rapped the ancient gavel for the last time. He discovered that the silver disks had come loose and the aging yellowed ivory had splintered. The government of India provided a suitable replacement, which its vice president transferred to Mr. Nixon on this date. Today, when the Senate is in session, the two gavels rest in a special box on the presiding officer's desk.

Completed in 1826, the Capitol's west front subsequently developed severe structural problems because of deteriorating foundations, inferior sandstone facing material, fires, and a gas explosion. In 1983, ending a twenty-year-long dispute over the best method of preservation, Congress funded a project to strengthen, renovate, and preserve this last original exterior facade. More than thirty layers of paint were removed and the damaged stonework was repaired or replaced. One thousand stainless steel rods were set into the building's masonry to strengthen the structure. On this day in 1987, the project was officially completed, well ahead of schedule and under budget.

The Senate dealt President Woodrow Wilson a stinging blow by refusing to agree to the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I and provided for U.S. participation in the League of Nations. Several months later, the Senate again rejected the pact.