A closer look
C-SPAN would be infinitely more entertaining if modern politicians handled disputes like they did in 1858. Tensions over slavery were boiling over when a massive, chaotic brawl erupted in the U.S. House of Representatives. Over 30 congressmen abandoned all decorum and just started violently punching each other in the aisles. The absolute peak of the absurdity occurred when a stray punch knocked the toupee right off the head of a Mississippi representative. Another congressman snatched it out of the air, and the sheer ridiculousness of the moment caused both sides to burst into laughter, temporarily pausing the political violence.
