This traction on the retina, which is painless, sends a sensation of light to the brain that we see as flashers. People typically describe these as non-colored sparkles of light in one corner of the field of vision, usually affecting one eye.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond celebrated his 100th birthday in the U.S. Senate in December 2002; New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg is the oldest current U.S. senator; he is to turn 89 next month.
The first woman in the Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton who served for only one day in 1922. Hattie Caraway of Arkansas became the first woman to win election to the Senate, in 1932. No women served from 1922 to 1931, 1945 to 1947, and 1973 to 1978.