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1900: The cornerstone for the new state capitol is laid on November 27 on the former grounds of the state penitentiary overlooking downtown Little Rock. By the end of this year, forty-two Arkansas counties will have banned liquor sales.
1915: Arkansas’ General Assembly passes a statewide prohibition of liquor sales and manufacture. The state Capitol is completed.
1932: Mrs. Hattie Caraway, named in 1931 to fill out the Senate term of her deceased husband, wins a term on her own in November, the first woman elected to the United States Senate. 1936: The Waterbury Clock Company opens a facility in Little Rock; later renamed US Time and, finally, Timex, the facility will be the last remaining American manufactory of wrist watches by the time it closes in 2001.
1944: J. William Fulbright is elected to the United States Senate.
1948: Sid McMath is elected governor on a reform platform. Although hampered in some efforts, McMath places African-Americans on state boards for the first time since Reconstruction, promotes highway construction and encourages industrial siting in Arkansas.
1955: Orval Faubus is elected governor. Winthrop Rockefeller, veteran and grandson of John D. Rockefeller, is tapped to head the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission.
1957: The Little Rock school desegregation brings international attention to the American civil rights movement and to the divided community of Little Rock.
1958: Little Rock high schools are closed for the academic year while political and social controversy over desegregation continues. 1964: Winthrop Rockefeller is the Republican gubernatorial nominee but loses to Orval Faubus. Rockefeller promises to try again.
1966: Winthrop Rockefeller is elected governor. He becomes Arkansas’ first Republican governor elected since 1874.
1968: In a special session in February, the General Assembly passes 67 bills, including a freedom of information act and the state’s first general minimum-wage act. In November, Arkansans ratify Amendment 53, authorizing kindergartens in the state’s free public schools.
1970: Dale Bumpers of Charleston is elected governor, promising to rid Arkansas of “the old machine and the money machine.” In February, a federal judge declares the Arkansas prison system unconstitutional.
1974: Dale Bumpers successfully challenges J. William Fulbright in the Democratic primary and wins election to the U.S. Senate. David Pryor of Camden is elected Governor. University of Arkansas Law School professor William J. Clinton loses his race for the Third District Congressional seat.
1976: Professor Clinton is elected attorney-general, advocating victim compensation, the rights of the elderly, tough ethics laws for public officials, tighter oversight of utilities and opposing the twenty-five-cent pay phone call.
1978: Attorney-General Bill Clinton is elected governor. 1980: Arkansas is ranked in the top five states in percentage of population over the age of 65, due to the “Retiree Movement.” In May, the Federal government informs Governor Clinton that Camp Chaffee will house 120,000 Cuban “Freedom flotilla” refugees. Bill Clinton is defeated by Frank White, once a Democrat, in his bid for a second term as governor.
1983: The Quality Education Act is passed by the General Assembly; education once again becomes a widely-discussed issue within Arkansas.
1984: Voters approve Amendment 63 giving statewide officials four-year, rather than two-year, terms.
Clinton is re-elected governor.
1997: Ceremonies at Little Rock Central High School mark the fortieth anniversary of the desegregation crisis. 1998: Mike Huckabee is elected Governor. 2000: Arkansas returns a Republican majority in the Presidential vote.
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