January 20, 2021: Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is inaugurated as the 46th President of United States, ending the 4-year tyranny of Donald Trump.
There really was some question as to whether Trump and his family would refuse to accept the Inauguration, and have to be escorted out of the White House by the Secret Service at 12:01 PM. They eliminated that possibility by getting out of Washington early. Trump became the 1st outgoing President since 1869, and only the 5th overall, to refuse to welcome his successor to the White House, ride with him to the ceremony, and then attend the President-elect's Inauguration.
The others:
* 1801: Despite their former, and eventually restored, friendship, John Adams left town before Thomas Jefferson could be sworn in.
* 1829: John Quincy Adams followed his father's example, and left town before Andrew Jackson could be sworn in.
* 1841: Martin Van Buren refused to welcome William Henry Harrison.
* 1869: Andrew Johnson refused to welcome Ulysses S. Grant.
This, of course, does not count Presidents who didn't attend their successors' swearing-in because they died in office: Harrison for John Tyler in 1841, Zachary Taylor for Millard Fillmore in 1850, Abraham Lincoln for Johnson in 1865, James Garfield for Chester Arthur in 1881, William McKinley for Theodore Roosevelt in 1901, Warren Harding for Calvin Coolidge in 1923, Franklin Roosevelt for Harry Truman in 1945, and John F. Kennedy for Lyndon Johnson in 1963.
Nor does it count Richard Nixon for Gerald Ford upon his resignation in 1974. Gerald and Betty Ford did escort Richard and Pat Nixon to the waiting helicopter before Gerald's swearing-in.
Outgoing Vice President Mike Pence did attend the ceremony. So did former Presidents Barack Obama (Democratic, to whom Biden had been Vice President), George W. Bush (Republican), and Bill Clinton (Democratic). The only former President still living who did not attend was Jimmy Carter (Democratic), who was 96 years old and, given the continued COVID situation and security concerns, thought it best to decline the invitation.
Those "security concerns" were about a possible 2nd attempt by Trump supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol Building, after the insurrection 2 weeks earlier delayed, but did not prevent, the certification of the Electoral Votes that confirmed Biden as President-elect.
Lady Gaga (Stefani Germanotta) sang the National Anthem. Her fellow New Yorker, Jennifer Lopez, sang Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" and "America the Beautiful." Garth Brooks sang "Amazing Grace." Amanda Gorman, just short of turning 23 years old and looking even younger, recited her poem "The Hill We Climb."
At 11:40 AM, outgoing Senator Kamala Harris of California was sworn in as Vice President, the 1st woman and the 1st nonwhite person to hold the post, by U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. And at 11:48 -- 12 minutes before the official start of his term -- Biden was sworn into office by the Supreme Court's Chief Justice, John Roberts.
Biden's Inaugural Address lasted 21 minutes, about average. He pledged to "fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did."
At the end of the Inaugural Ceremonies, Biden, the 3 former Presidents in attendance, their wives, the new Vice President, and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, were driven across the Potomac River, to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, to participate in a gesture of unity, a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
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January 20, 2021 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was in the middle of its Playoffs. There were 9 games played in the NBA:
* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 147-135 in double overtime at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. Kevin Durant scored 38 points for the Nets, and Kyrie Irving added 37. But Collin Sexton scored 42 for the Cavs, and Cedi Osman 25.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics, 117-109 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia. Joel Embiid scored 42 points.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons, 123-115 in overtime at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Trae Young scored 38 points.
* The Miami Heat beat the Toronto Raptors, 111-102 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa. The Raptors played all their 2020-21 season "home games" there because COVID restrictions prevented the league's only Canada-based team from entering Canada.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Houston Rockets, 109-103 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Indiana Pacers, 124-112 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
* The Orlando Magic beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 97-96 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sacramento Kings, 115-96 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Kawhi Leonard scored 32.
* And the Golden State Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs, 121-99 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
There were 5 games played in the NHL:
* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 at the Scotiabank Arena. Under the League's COVID restrictions, all 7 Canada-based teams were placed in the same Division, and all 31 teams played regular season games only within the Division assigned to them for this one season. Oddly, this was the easternmost game played in the NHL that day.
* The San Jose Sharks beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 in a shootout at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
* The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Arizona Coyotes, 5-2 at the T-Mobile Center in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. Is this going to become a geographic rivalry? Maybe, but it depends on the Coyotes staying put. I suppose it could still be a rivalry, if the Coyotes move to Salt Lake City or San Diego.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-5 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
