Inauguration and MLK Day overlap for the third time ever; When has this happened before?
For the third time in U.S. history, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Inauguration Day will both be held collectively.
The overlap is set for Monday when former president Donald Trump will return to the White House for a second term as President Joe Biden leaves office. Due to calendar quirks, the two significant US days will not coincide again for another 28 years.
MLK Day, the federal holiday that honors civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King Jr., is annually set for the third Monday in January near his Jan. 15 birthday.
Meanwhile, presidential inaugurations have been scheduled for Jan. 20 since 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office back in 1937. Inauguration Days were previously set in early March before technology accelerated vote certification and travel to Washington.
Here's what to know about the rare overlap.
When did Inauguration Day and MLK Day crossover?
MLK Day and Inauguration Day have only coincided twice in U.S. history, including the 1997 second inauguration of Bill Clinton and the 2013 second inauguration of Barack Obama.
When will Inauguration Day and MLK Day overlap again?
Following President-elect Donald Trump's ceremony on Monday, Inauguration Day and MLK Day aren't slated to coincide again until January 2053.
When is Inauguration Day? When is MLK Day?
Trump's inauguration is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. This also happens to fall on Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year.
What is a presidential inauguration?
The primary purpose of the presidential inauguration is to swear in the next president and vice president of the U.S.
As outlined by the National Archives, the U.S. Constitution has specific guidelines for electing and appointing a new president.
"The Constitution requires that ... the president-elect, before taking charge of the office, swear an oath of office to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,'" details the archives.
When was MLK Day established?
MLK Day became a federal holiday back in 1983, set for the third Monday of every January, and has been recognized across all 50 states since 2000.
When were inaugurations held in March?
Inauguration Day took place on March 4 or 5 (if the 4th fell on a weekend) of each year until the 20th Amendment was passed in 1937, changing it to Jan. 20.
According to the White House Historical Association, the 20th Amendment is also sometimes called the “lame duck" amendment, as its author, Nebraska Sen. George Norris, sought to tackle the issue of the "lame duck" period that occurred in the time between a president winning or losing an election and actually taking power. With the March inauguration date, a president who lost the election could continue to govern for months without having much responsibility to voters.
Norris also argued in the legislation, originally written in 1922, that the progress of technology allowed for communication and travel to be much quicker and more efficient, meaning members of Congress no longer needed the long lead time to arrive in town for ceremonies.
Norris had to introduce the legislation five times before it was finally accepted on the sixth try in 1932 and ratified in January 1933.