copyright 2009, The Washington Post WASHINGTON -- Republican Rep. Joe Wilson is the latest in a long history of politicians from South Carolina who have an interesting way of expressing themselves. Sumner-Brooks Affair May 22, 1856 Rep. Preston S. Brooks, D-S.C., beat Sen. Charles Sumner, R-Mass., with a cane in the U.S. Senate chamber because of a speech Sumner had made criticizing Southerners who sympathized with pro-slavery violence in Kansas. Sumner was knocked out, and it took him three years to recover. Senate-Floor Brawl Feb. 22, 1902 During debate on a bill relating to the Philippines, Sen. Benjamin Tillman, D-S.C., charged that his fellow senator from South Carolina, Democrat John McLaurin, had succumbed to 'improper influences' in changing his position on the treaty to annex the islands. McLaurin denounced Tillman's statement and, in response, Tillman punched him in the jaw. The incident prompted members to change the Senate rules to provide stricter guidelines for the decorum of floor debate. Wrestling Match July 9, 1964 Sen. Strom Thurmond, D-S.C., wrestled Democratic Sen. Ralph Yarborough of Texas to the ground in an attempt to block a vote by the Senate Commerce Committee on the nomination of LeRoy Collins to head the Community Relations Service, an office created under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to mediate local racial disputes. Committee Chairman Warren Magnuson, D-Wash., ended the scuffle; the men did their best to compose themselves and entered the committee room. Thurmond won the match but lost that day's vote, 16 to 1. Capitol Steps Late '70s Rep. John W. Jenrette, D-S.C., and his then-wife Rita engaged in a late-night amorous moment behind a pillar on the steps of the Capitol. Jenrette was later convicted of accepting a $50,000 bribe from an FBI agent posing as an Arab sheik in the Abscam congressional sting operation and served 13 months in prison. Capitol Steps, the Washington D.C.-based satirical musical group, takes its name from the spot made famous by the Jenrettes. Hiking in Appalachia? June 24, 2009 After going missing for seven days, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford acknowledged that he had secretly flown to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he was having an affair. Sanford, who had been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2012, resigned as head of the Republican Governors Association but has fought calls to step down as governor. 