Legends of the Mall: Test your inauguration knowledge

President-elect Barack Obama already has sealed his place in our nation's history. But if the past is an indication, his inauguration also will find a place in the trivia books. Test your friends with these factoids:

Cold reception

Inauguration Day temperatures typically top out in the low 40s, but Ronald Reagan's swearing-in ceremonies show how variable it can be. After a balmy 55-degree 1981 ceremony, Reagan had to move indoors and the parade was canceled in 1985, when the noon temperature was 7 degrees.

Unwanted exposure

Cold inauguration days might have figured in the deaths of two presidential family members. In 1841, President William Henry Harrison, 68, died of pneumonia on April 4, exactly one month after his inauguration, where he spoke - coatless and hatless - for an hour and 40 minutes. Abigail Fillmore, wife of departing President Millard Fillmore, caught a cold during the frigid, snowy swearing-in of Franklin Pierce in 1853. It turned into pneumonia and she died within a month.

Lacking a quorum

George Washington's first inauguration, on April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City, was delayed for almost two months. Not enough members of Congress had arrived in New York by the original March 4 date to confirm Washington's unanimous Electoral College victory.

Lame duck limit

The 12th Amendment to the Constitution, approved in 1804, set March 4 as inauguration day. The 20th Amendment, approved in 1933, changed inauguration day to Jan. 20 in order to speed up the transition between presidents.

Going my way?

In 1837, President Andrew Jackson rode to the Capitol with newly elected President Martin Van Buren. It was the first time the outgoing and incoming presidents rode to an inauguration together. Jackson and Van Buren were old friends and Van Buren had managed Jackson's presidential campaign in 1828. When outgoing President James K. Polk rode with Zachary Taylor in 1847 things were not as friendly. In his diary Polk described Taylor as "uneducated, exceedingly ignorant of public affairs, and, I should judge, of very ordinary capacity."

Turnabout

In 1981, the inauguration ceremony was held for the first time on the west side of the Capitol (facing the National Mall), rather than the east side (facing the Supreme Court). President Ronald Reagan planned to mention Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln in his inaugural address, and by facing the National Mall Reagan could see the monuments to each of these former presidents while he was speaking.

Give and take

William Howard Taft is the only president to take the oath of office and give the oath of office to two future presidents. Taft served one term as president (1909-1913) and was named Chief Justice of the United States in 1921. As chief justice, Taft gave the oath of office to presidents Calvin Coolidge in 1925 and Herbert Hoover in 1929.

They fit in a book?

John Quincy Adams, sworn in in 1825, is the only president not to use a Bible in the ceremony. A religious man, Adams did not believe the Bible should be used outside of a religious setting. He swore his oath with his left hand on a book containing the laws of the United States.

No swearing

In 1853, Franklin Pierce was the first, and so far the only, president to affirm his loyalty to the Constitution, rather than swear. The Constitution allows a president to do either.

Long and short of it

George Washington's second inaugural address, in 1793, was the shortest ever - 135 words. But John Adams' 1797 address contained a single sentence that was 727 words long. William Henry Harrison, record-holder for the longest speech at 8,445 words, also had the record for saying "I" 45 times.

A real blessing

Cardinal Richard Cushing of Boston dragged out his opening prayer at John F. Kennedy's 1961 inauguration because he feared smoke coming from under the podium was a bomb and he wanted to spare the president-elect. After the 20-minute prayer, firefighters traced the smoke to an electric motor used to raise and lower the height of the lectern.

Will it be Twittered?

William McKinley's 1897 inauguration was the first to be filmed for motion pictures. Calvin Coolidge's 1925 inaugural address was the first broadcast by radio. In 1949, Harry Truman's inauguration was the first to be broadcast on television.

Sources: Presidential Inaugurations by Paul F. Boller, Jr. (2001) The Book of Political Lists by the editors of George Magazine (1998).