South Carolina's legendary Republican Senator Strom Thurmond holds a dubious distinction in the U.S. Senate: He once spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes -- the longest filibuster on record -- in order to oppose the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (extending the vote to disenfranchised minorities).

To prepare himself for his marathon effort, Thurmond visited a sauna to dehydrate himself -- so that he would not have to interrupt his speech to relieve his bladder.

[In December 2003, Thurmond's family said that they "acknowledge Ms Essie Mae Washington-Williams's claim to her heritage." Essie Mae was born in 1925 to a 16-year-old black maid, Carrie Butler, who worked in the Thurmond family's home in strictly segregated Edgefield, South Carolina. The father? Strom Thurmond. (His black daughter was not mentioned in his will.)]