On December 28, 1973, President Nixon signs the Endangered Species Act into law. The government had been involved in the preservation of threatened animal species since the early 1900's, but those efforts usually took the form of conservation and management of hunted animals. Working with the Department of Interior, the Endangered Species Act strives to preserve species threatened for any reason. A study last year found that of more than 1700 plant and animal species that would have gone extinct without ESA protection, all but 4 have been saved. Today the ESA is considered the most successful piece of environmental legislation ever enacted. On December 28, 1832, John C. Calhoun resigns as Vice President of the United States, citing differences with President Andrew Jackson and a desire to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat in his native South Carolina. Calhoun is the first nationally-elected U.S. official to resign from office. On December 28, 1065, Westminster Abbey in London is consecrated. Legend has it on this site a young fisherman named Aldrich had a vision of St. Peter; St. Peter's Abbey is built to commemorate the vision. Some time after 1042, Edward the Confessor ordered the new church built in anticipation of his eventual death and burial there. That burial will come less than a year after Westminster Abbey is consecrated, followed shortly after by the crowning of Harold II, and then William the Conqueror the same year. Westminster Abbey has been the site of every royal British coronation since, as well as the burial site of 16 monarchs, 8 prime ministers and numerous British subjects of both civilian and military note, including the Unknown Warrior. It has also been the site of 16 Royal Weddings.
