Congress has been in session for almost a month now, and to acknowledge the work of our neighbors down the road, this week’s fun facts will be dedicated to the history of our Senate. These facts are brought to you by Everest College:

• Because every state has two—and only two—senators, each senator represents a vastly different number of people. For example, each senator from Wyoming (our least populated state) represents 246,981 residents, whereas each senator from California (our largest state by population) represents 18,378,333 constituents
•  The word “senator” is an ancient Roman term derived from the Latin “senex,” meaning “old man”
•  The annual salary of a U.S. senator is $174,000
• The U.S. Senate first met in New York City on March 4, 1789. It moved to Philadelphia in April 1790, and finally to the newly established city of Washington, D.C. in November 1800
• As per the U.S. Constitution, senators were elected by each state legislature until the 17th Amendment, ratified in 1912, allowed for direct election by the voters in each state
• According to Senate rules, flowers are not permitted in the Senate chamber, except on the desk of a deceased sitting senator on the day of his eulogy
• The oldest senator ever was Strom Thurmond (Republican-SC) who was a ripe old 100 years old when he retired in December 2002. Thurmond was also the only Senator to have been elected as a write-in candidate (1954). Thurmond also holds the record for the longest speech given in the Senate in the 20th Century (In 1957, he spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes filibustering against the Civil Rights Act.)
• The longest serving senator ever was Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), who served in the Senate continuously from January 3, 1959 until his death in 2010
• The first female senator was Rebecca Felton (D-GA), who was appointed in 1922. The first woman elected to the Senate was Hattie W. Caraway (D-Ark.), who was elected in 1932
• The only First Lady to also serve as a Senator was Hillary Clinton (D-NY). Three states—California, Maine and Washington—currently have two female Senators. Of the 25 women who have ever been elected to the Senate, 17 are currently in office. Thirteen are Democrats and four are Republicans
• The first—and so far—only father and son to serve in the Senate simultaneously were Henry Dodge of Wisconsin who served from 1848 to 1857, and Augustus Dodge of Iowa, who served from 1855 to 1858