Weather, death, war: How history changed Inauguration Day (Photos)

Megan Cloherty, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – Death, weather, technology and religion: All have changed the course of presidential history on Inauguration Day.

From the first inaugural ball to the first live webcast of the president’s swearing -in, historians have catalogued the changes to how America has observed the change in leadership. The coldest inauguration, the warmest, the first where African Americans took part, the first to be photographed — from the first to the 57th, the ritual has changed nearly every four years.

Below is a look back at the photographs, lithographs, etchings, drawings and paintings that captured 29 presidential inaugurations where significant changes were made to Inauguration Day tradition.

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