US National Historic Preservation Act Enacted

The United States Congress enacted the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966, three years after the demolition of New York's Pennsylvania Station had galvanized public concern over the unchecked loss of historic buildings across the country. The Act created the National Register of Historic Places as the country's official list of historically significant sites, established State Historic Preservation Offices in every state, and required federal agencies to consider the impact of their actions on historic properties through what became known as the Section 106 review process. It gave the American preservation movement its first comprehensive federal legal framework and remains the foundational statute underpinning historic preservation law and practice in the United States.