It's been four years and another inauguration is just around the corner. One week from today President-Elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office at noon, making him the 44th president of the United States of America. Huge crowds of people are expected in Washington, D.C. and people from all over the world will tune in to see the new president.
But why January 20th? And what else is going to happen that day? It's time to answer a few questions with some excellent websites.
Inauguration Day is an American tradition dating back to George Washington's inauguration on April 30th, 1789. It was then that President Washington added the words "so help me god" to the end of his oath, and kissed the Bible afterwards.
President Lincoln's 2nd inaugural (pictured here) gave the country one of the finest speeches and a time to heal after the Civil War.
The 20th amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1933, stipulated that the President would take office on January 20th. Before that, almost all inaugurations took place on March 4th. Imagine all that time between the election and the inauguration!
If you want to read more about the inauguration, check out the Library of Congress' special digital collection. It's filled with documents from Washington to Bush.
If you want to learn more about the schedule of events for inauguration day or more about the new first family, check out the government's USA.gov site. They have a one-stop-shop for everything you need to know, from all the musical acts, to when the speeches will be given.
We'll have more posts in the future on current events and library resources and/or websites that feature those topics.
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