DECEMBER 12, 2000 - By a vote of 5-4 the United States Supreme Court ruled on the case of Bush v. Gore and brought the controversial Presidential election of 2000 to an end. The Supreme Court decision permanently halted the manual recounts of election ballots that were taking place in four counties in Florida. As a result the state's 25 electoral votes went to George W. Bush, giving him a total of 271 electoral votes (one more than the 270 needed to win the White House). Although Al Gore won the national popular election by over 500,000 votes, only a few hundred votes separated the candidates in Florida. Gore challenged the initial election results and requested manual recounts in counties which traditionally vote Democratic, hoping to find enough votes to put him in the lead. But the recounts were stopped by the Supreme Court's decision, and Bush was affirmed as the winner of Florida. Some Gore supporters claim that Bush stole the election by using conservative Justices on the Supreme Court to stop the recount. However a subsequent ballot recount conducted by several media outlets, which used standards most-favorable to Gore, still showed that Bush won Florida by 493 votes.

DECEMBER 14, 1836 - The Toledo War, a boundary dispute between the state of Ohio and the territory of Michigan, came to an end when the Michigan legislature voted to adopt a boundary proposal by the U.S. Congress. The dispute originated as a result of conflicting state and federal legislation which led the governments of both Ohio and Michigan to claim sovereignty over a 468-square-mile region along the border, now known as the Toledo Strip. When Michigan petitioned for statehood in 1835 it included the disputed territory within its borders. Representatives from Ohio blocked Michigan's petition, and soon both states mobilized militias and sent them to the region to stake their claim. Although tensions remained high during the two-year-long dispute, no shots were exchanged. The dispute finally concluded when Michigan agreed to cede the territory to Ohio in exchange for a portion of the Upper Peninsula and statehood.

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