North and South Dakota were admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889, as the 39th and 40th states. President Harrison shuffled the statehood papers before signing them so that no one could tell which became a state first; consequently, the two states are officially numbered in alphabetical order.
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abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.
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