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Devil’s Island

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On August 22, 1952, France closed its penal colony on Devil’s Island.

At first a leper colony, it had been transformed by the end of the 19th century into a prison tasked primarily with housing enemies of the French state.

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On November 5, 1781, the second session of the United States in Congress Assembled began, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This “Second Confederation Congress,” as it is popularly known, ended on November 2, 1782.

And on that Fifth of November, 1781, John Hanson of Maryland (pictured above) was elected to serve as president of the United States in Congress Assembled. He would become the first president of Congress to serve a full one-year term as specified under the Articles of Confederation, for the second session of the Confederation Congress. Of course, this presidency was nothing like the presidencies under the Constitution. Hanson merely presided over Congress.

On November 5, 1872, Susan B. Anthony defied the law to vote, and was later fined $100.