A US senator spoke for over 24 hours straight to block a civil rights law
On 28–29 August 1957, Senator Strom Thurmond held the Senate floor for 24 hours and 18 minutes, reading out state election laws and the Declaration of Independence, to delay the Civil Rights Act of 1957. It remains the longest solo filibuster speech in Senate history, and it failed: the act passed anyway. The filibuster lets a determined minority stall legislation, which both parties have used and criticised.