From historic presidential inaugurations that reshaped American leadership to international crises that tested diplomatic resolve, January 20th has repeatedly emerged as a pivotal date for transfers of power and new beginnings. The date marks not only multiple presidential transitions - including groundbreaking firsts for Barack Obama and Kamala Harris - but also the dramatic conclusion of the Iran hostage crisis in 1981 and, in a lighter historical note, the birth of basketball as we know it with its first official game in 1892.