1. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter was inaugurated on January 20, but due to the fact that this fell on a Sunday, his official second inauguration was held on January 21 at the White House.

2. On January 21, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the first African American President of the United States. The inauguration took place on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and was witnessed by millions around the world.

3. In 1865, on January 21, abolitionist and civil rights activist Frederick Douglass met with President Abraham Lincoln in the White House. Douglass had been urging Lincoln to allow African Americans to fight in the Union Army, and Lincoln finally agreed to do so.

4. On January 21, 1793, Georgetown College (now known as Georgetown University) was founded in Washington, D.C. by Archbishop John Carroll, making it the oldest Catholic university in the United States.

5. In 1976, on January 21, Washington, D.C. became the first city in the United States to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday. The city held a parade and several events to honor the civil rights leader’s legacy, which helped lead to the national recognition of the holiday in 1986.