Conspiracy theories still swirl around Huey Long's assassination. There were no ballistic tests on the bullets that killed him and no autopsy; the inquest held afterward was closed to all but a few avid Long supporters. Lots of people think that Carl Weiss didn't fire the fatal shots, that Long was accidentally killed by his own bodyguards in the volley of gunfire at Weiss. There's also some speculation that Long didn't get the best surgical care in the world because the doctors were his political opponents. So far, no one's suggested alien abduction. (Source)

After Huey Long's death, his widow was appointed to serve out the rest of his term in the U.S. Senate. We've got to admit that's pretty progressive for the time. It helped that his term was set to expire in three months. (Source)

Elections didn't bother Huey Long one bit. He sent armed supporters into polling places to cross names off voter lists and when he ran for the senate, the voter lists included the names of Babe Ruth, Charlie Chaplin, and movie star Clara Bow. Last we checked, none of them lived in Louisiana. (Source)

Huey Long was directly responsible for the election of the first female member of U.S. Senate in American history. During his time in the senate he funded her campaign and formed a close working relationship. The partnership didn't last long, however, on account of Long developing a severe case of a belly full of bullets. (Source)

In 1935, Long spent 15½ hours filibustering the Senate against a bill that would have given jobs to some political opponents. The speech included quotes from Shakespeare and the Constitution, plus some recipes for oysters. Wondering who holds the record? That would be Strom Thurmond's 24-plus-hour filibuster (unsuccessful, fortunately) against Eisenhower's 1957 Civil Rights Act. (Source)

Long was known for a down-home sense of humor that he never hesitated to use during campaigns. When Riley Joe Wilson, a candidate for the 1928 Democratic gubernatorial primary, mentioned in a speech that he was so poor that he went barefoot as a child, Long couldn't let that one stand. In one of his own speeches he retorted, "I can go Mr. Wilson one better. I was born barefoot!" (Source)