Thomas Jefferson elected president on this day in history, Feb 17, 1801.

Now you may be saying to yourself, "Self, isn't the US Presidential election supposed to take place in November, four years after the last one?  Well, self, I thought so, so how can this be true?"  Both you and yourself are correct; Title 3, Section 1 of the US Code states that the presidential electors "shall be appointed, in each State, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in every fourth year succeeding every election of a President and Vice President."  However, that wasn't codified in the US Code until 1948, which was 100 years after election law very similar was passed.  Prior to 1848, though, US law stated, "electors shall be appointed in each State for the election of a President and Vice-President of the United States, withint thirty-four days preceding the first Wednesday in December, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, and within thirty-four days preceding the first Wednesday in December in every fourth year succeeding the last election."  So, the presidential election of 1800 took place from April to October, with the deadline for selection of electors being October 31, 1800.  It seems almost comical by today's standards, because with the rate at which information travel, one state's election returns would surely affect other states' elections happening on a later date, but that's how it happened.

But wait!  Didn't I just say that Jefferson was elected President on Feb 17, 1801?  Isn't that after October 31???  Why yes it is; I'm glad you were paying attention!  You see, the presidential election happened before the 12th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified.  Presently, when you or I vote for the president, we choose between separate candidates for President and Vice President.  Prior to the 12th Amendment, all candidates were lumped together, and the #1 vote-getter became President, and the runner-up was the new Vice President.  The founding fathers thought of a lot of things, but they didn't consider how political parties would affect elections.  When Jefferson was elected, he and his running mate, Aaron Burr, both received the same amount of electoral votes - and therefore were tied, so the choice for President was thrown into the US House of Representatives.  A lot of Federalist representatives (the opposing party of Jefferson & Burr) considered Burr to be the lesser of two evils, and so the House of Representatives took 36 ballots to eventually decide on Jefferson.  And so, today marks the 210th anniversary of President Thomas Jefferson's first election!