Festive Daily Quiz: What Did Inauguration Originally Mean?

The word inauguration stems from the Latin augur –  the rituals of ancient Roman priests interpreting if it was the gods’ will for a public official to assume office.

American poet and activist Amanda Gorman was born in 1998, which means she was ten years old when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. At 22, she was the youngest poet ever (by far) to read at presidential inaugurations when appearing in the Jan. 20, 2021, inauguration of President Joe Biden. Watch Gorman’s awe-inspiring inauguration poet.

Maya Angelou is an American poet and civil rights activist who received the presidential medal of freedom from Barack Obama and the national award of arts from Bill Clinton. She also spoke at the latter’s inauguration.

Maya Angelou Barbie

Mattel issued a Maya Angelou barbie in 2021. The new Barbie, wearing a head-wrap, and floral print dress, joins Rosa Parks, Ella Fitzgerald, and Florence Nightingale in the “Inspiring Women” series of Barbie dolls.

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma appeared Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, in a 50-second video, congratulating teachers in an online ceremony of the annual Rural Teacher Initiative event, thus ending a two and a half month absence from public view. In October 2020, after billionaire Jack Ma criticized China’s banking rules, Chinese regulators began cracking down on Ma’s business empire. Ma has rarely been seen publicly since then.

In 2020 veteran gay icon Elton John played piano on Ozzy Osbourne’s “Ordinary Man,” released a duet with Lady Gaga, “Sine from Above,” and collaborated with virtual band Gorillaz and rapper 6lack in the song “The Pink Phantom.”