Fortified with a good rest, a steam bath and a sirloin steak, Sen. Strom Thurmond (search) talked against a 1957 civil rights bill for 24 hours and 18 minutes — longer than anyone has ever talked about anything in Congress.
The South Carolina (search) senator, then a Democrat, opened his one-man filibuster on Aug. 28, 1957, at 8:54 p.m. against the bill, which he said was unconstitutional and "cruel and unusual punishment."
Republican leader Sen. William Knowland (search) of California retorted that Thurmond's endless speech was cruel and unusual punishment to his colleagues.
But Thurmond kept on.
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