RONALD REAGAN

Did you know Ulysses S. Grant’s inauguration was so cold that the champagne froze? Or that Richard Nixon accidentally poisoned all the pigeons along his parade route? These are just a few of the weirdest moments in inauguration history. And because ice cream is a favorite treat of President-elect Joe Biden, we’re telling these stories through sundaes.

As much of the country prepares for the unexpected on Inauguration Day, here are a few of the umm… weirder and lesser known facts about that special day that may have escaped your attention.

Dick Thornburgh served as Governor of Pennsylvania from 1979-1987 and later served as U.S. Attorney General in Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush’s administrations.

John Hinckley is seeking an “unconditional release” from court supervision just months before the 40th anniversary of his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. In a court hearing Wednesday, an attorney for Hinckley asked a D.C. federal judge to promptly schedule a hearing on whether to remove restrictions on Hinckley.

President Donald Trump awarded Edwin Meese III with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his leadership within the conservative movement. In his acceptance speech, Meese showed his support for the current Attorney General William Barr saying, “I understand what you’re going through now.”

A Florida middle school teacher has been reassigned after a quiz given to students referred to President Donald Trump as an “idiot.”

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is seeking to raise $1 million in 24 hours to make an impact on the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities on Monday. The Chicago-based sorority is celebrating its second AKA Impact Day on Sept. 16 by raising the money for the AKA-HBCU Endowment Fund. The fundraising drive comes as some HBCUs are reportedly facing...

The man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan is interested in getting a job in the music industry, possibly in California.

Residents in Natick, Massachusetts, are reacting after learning a World War II museum in town abruptly shut down over the weekend. Moving trucks could be seen outside the International Museum of World War II on Mercer Road Wednesday afternoon. The museum, which is considered to have one of the most comprehensive collections in the world, announced on its website it...

A World War II museum in the Boston suburbs has abruptly closed. The International Museum of World War II in Natick says on its website it closed Sunday after an individual acquired most of its collections. The Boston Globe reports that billionaire Ronald Lauder, an heir to the Estee Lauder cosmetics empire, purchased the holdings for $25 million in March...

The disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews shortly after singing “Jingle Bells” with classmates at a 1984 Christmas concert stunned this rural town in northern Colorado. Her case attracted the attention of the White House, and came at a time when the faces of missing children across the nation were being placed on milk cartons. On Thursday, police announced that human...

A college student pleaded guilty Tuesday to sneaking into Mar-a-Lago during President Donald Trump’s Thanksgiving visit in a manner similar to how a Chinese national gained admission four months later. University of Wisconsin student Mark Lindblom apologized Tuesday and received a year’s probation after federal prosecutors agreed he meant no harm when he sneaked into the Palm Beach...

The daughter of a librarian and our resident bookworm, Jenna’s a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the best new reads. Now, she wants to share her passion with TODAY fans.

The U.S. military said Tuesday that five missing crew members have been declared dead after their refueling plane collided with a fighter jet last week off Japan’s southern coast, and that search and recovery operations have been halted. The five were on a KC-130 Hercules refueling aircraft that collided last Thursday with an F/A-18 Hornet during regular training. The warplanes...

The U.S. Marine Corps said in a statement released Friday that Capt. Jahmar F. Resilard of Miramar died in the Thursday crash.

A U.S. combat jet from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan crashed into the sea northeast of the Philippines on Monday, but its two pilots were rescued safely. The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the F/A-18 Hornet had a mechanical problem during routine operations in the Philippine Sea. A rescue aircraft quickly plucked the pilots from the water and brought...

An U.S. Navy helicopter crashed on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan on Friday, causing non-fatal injuries to sailors, the Navy said. The Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a statement that the MH-60 Seahawk crashed shortly after takeoff Friday morning while the carrier was off the Philippine coast. All affected sailors were in stable condition and...

President Donald Trump’s approval rating ticked up to 45 percent among registered voters, but majorities of them disapprove of his handling of Russia and immigration at the border, according to the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. The president’s approval rating remains stable — it was at 44 percent in June — something that stands out given the controversies since...

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that government workers can’t be forced to contribute to labor unions that represent them in collective bargaining, dealing a serious financial blow to organized labor. The justices are scrapping a 41-year-old decision that had allowed states to require that public employees pay some fees to unions that represent them, even if the workers choose not...