80th to 89th Congresses (1947–1967)
January 3, 1947 to October 22, 1966
| Congress and Year | Session | Beginning Date | Adjournment Date1 | Calendar Days2 | Legislative Days | House Recesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80th* (1947–1949) | 1 | Jan. 3, 1947 | Dec. 19, 1947 | 145 | 144 | Jul. 28-Nov. 16, 1947 |
| 2 | Jan. 6, 1948 | Dec. 31, 1948 | 109 | 107 | Jun. 21-July 25, 1948** Aug. 8-Dec. 30, 1948** | |
| 81st (1949–1951) | 1 | Jan. 3, 1949 | Oct. 19, 1949 | 166 | 166 | Apr. 15-24, 1949 |
| 2 | Jan. 3, 1950 | Jan. 2, 1951 | 175 | 175 | Apr. 7-Apr. 17, 1950; Sept. 24-Nov. 26, 1950 | |
| 82nd (1951–1953) | 1 | Jan. 3, 1951 | Oct. 20, 1951 | 163 | 163 | Mar. 23-Apr. 1, 1951 Aug. 24,-Sept. 11, 1951 |
| 2 | Jan. 8, 1952 | July 7, 1952 | 111 | 111 | Apr. 11-Apr. 21, 1952 | |
| 83rd (1953–1955) | 1 | Jan. 3, 1953 | Aug. 3, 1953 | 116 | 116 | Apr. 3-Apr. 12, 1953 |
| 2 | Jan. 6, 1954 | Dec. 2, 1954 | 128 | 128 |
Apr. 16-25, 1954 Adjourned sine die Aug. 20, 1954 | |
| 84th (1955–1957) | 1 | Jan. 5, 1955 | Aug. 2, 1955 | 110 | 110 | Apr. 5-12, 1955 |
| 2 | Jan. 3, 1956 | July 27, 1956 | 118 | 118 | Mar. 30-Apr. 8, 1956 | |
| 85th (1957–1959) | 1 | Jan. 3, 1957 | Aug. 30, 1957 | 141 | 141 | Apr. 19-Apr. 28, 1957 |
| 2 | Jan. 7, 1958 | Aug. 24, 1958 | 135 | 134 | Apr. 4-13, 1958 | |
| 86th (1959–1961) | 1 | Jan. 7, 1959 | Sep. 15, 1959 | 146 | 146 | Mar. 27-Apr. 6, 1959 |
| 2 | Jan. 6, 1960 | Sep. 1, 1960 | 125 | 123 | July 4-Aug. 14 1960 | |
| 87th (1961–1963) | 1 | Jan. 3, 1961 | Sep. 27, 1961 | 147 | 147 | Mar. 31-Apr. 9, 1961 |
| 2 | Jan. 10, 1962 | Oct. 13, 1962 | 158 | 158 | Apr. 20-29, 1962 | |
| 88th (1963–1965) | 1 | Jan. 9, 1963 | Dec. 30, 1963 | 186 | 186 | Apr. 11-21, 1963 |
| 2 | Jan. 7, 1964 | Oct. 3, 1964 | 148 | 148 |
Mar. 27-Apr. 5, 1964 July 3-19, 1964 Aug. 22-30, 1964 | |
| 89th (1965–1967) | 1 | Jan. 4, 1965 | Oct. 23, 1965 | 174 | 173 | |
| 2 | Jan. 10, 1966 | Oct. 22, 1966 | 163 | 163 |
Apr. 8-17, 1966 June 1-10, 1966 |
*Indicates that a special session of the House and/or Senate was convened during a Congress. Article II, Section 3 of the constitution provides that the President "may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them." This procedure occurs only if the Congress is convened by presidential proclamation. Extraordinary sessions have been called by the Chief Executive to urge the Congress to focus on important national issues. These are separate sessions of Congress, unless otherwise noted. Source: Congressional Directory; House Journal.
** President Harry S. Truman called the Congress into extraordinary session twice, both times during the 80th Congress. Each time Congress had essentially wrapped up its business for the year, but for technical reasons had not adjourned sine die, so in each case the extraordinary session is considered an extension of the regularly numbered session rather than a separately numbered one. The dates of these extraordinary sessions were Nov. 17 to Dec. 19. 1947, and July 26 to Aug. 7, 1948.
Footnotes
1The adjournment date is consistently referred to as the last calendar date of the session, regardless of the legislative day.
2"Calendar days" is defined as the total number of calendar days from the convening date to adjournment date that Congress met during that session. “Legislative days” indicates the total days Congress recorded as a working parliamentary day.