The year was 1955. Ray Kroc opened his first McDonalds restaurant, a Swiss engineer patented Velcro, the U.S. added the words, "In God We Trust" to paper currency, and Michigan's 15th district elected Rep. John Dingell, a Democrat, to Congress. He was just 29 years old.

A lot has changed in the ensuing decades, but one thing hasn't: Dingell is still a member of the U.S. House, at least until November. Affectionately dubbed "the Dean," Dingell, 87, is officially Congress' longest-serving member. During his 58-year tenure on Capitol Hill, 11 presidents delivered 51 State of the Union addresses and 23 justices were named to the Supreme Court.

But Dingell, who cast more than 25,000 votes in the House Chamber, is finally calling it quits. He announced his intention to retire today in Michigan.

Here's a glimpse at how the world has changed since he first took office:

	1955	Now
Congress	84 th	113 th
House majority party	Democrats	Republicans
Cost of a gallon of milk	92 cents	$3.65
President	Dwight. D. Eisenhower	Barack Obama
Speaker of the House	Sam Rayburn, D-Texas	John Boehner, R- Ohio
Number of U.S. states	48	50
Number of bills passed during first session	390	58
Key pieces of legislation	Air Pollution Control Act, Formosa Resolution of 1955	Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013
Congressional salary	$22,500	$174,000
Number of Dingell staffers	1 (according to The New York Times)	18
House voting method	Roll call, teller votes	Primarily electronic voting (implemented 1973)
US population	165.93 million	316.99 million
TIME Person of the Year	GM Executive Harlow Herbert Curtice	Pope Francis
Most popular baby names	Michael, Mary	Jackson, Sophia
Most popular car	Chevrolet Bel Air	Ford F-series
FLSA minimum wage	75 cents (amended to $1 later that year)	$7.25
Major events	Warsaw pact, US Military Intervention in Iran, Hurricane Diane, Flight 629 explosion, UK National Rail Strike	Typhoon Haiyan, Syrian chemical weapons, U.S. government shutdown, Boston Marathon Bombing, Nelson Mandela death, Nairobi mall terror
Political issues	Civil rights, nuclear missiles, pollution	Healthcare, immigration reform, gun control, gay marriage, abortion