From its very beginnings the U.S. government had vigorous debates over contentious issues, although it rarely led to a government shutdown, let alone one that lasted three weeks. But when President Bill Clinton and the Congress of the United States could not come to an agreement on the spending bill for the next fiscal year, the government had no choice but to shut down until a compromise was reached.

On this day, January 5th, in 1996, after three full weeks of operating only emergency services, the U.S. government resumed full operations. An interim spending measure was finally passed to fund government operations, pending a fully-ratified spending bill for the next fiscal year. It was and remains the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

During the strike all U.S. National Park Service sites were closed, leaving many tourists hoping to visit one over the holidays stranded and angry. Major health services were affected as well: the disease hotline of the Centers for Disease Control went unmanned, and the National Institutes of Health had to suspend accepting patients for clinical trials.