Take CityLab's Presidential Inauguration Quiz!

If there’s one thing Americans can agree on, it’s that the inauguration of a new president is a time to put aside partisan political passions and come together to witness the peaceful transition of power in the nation’s capital.

Or maybe not. Many historians are reminding us now that Andrew Jackson’s inaugural festivities in 1829 included drunken brawling among the incoming president’s supporters and despairing soul-searching from the departing occupant of the White House. Inauguration events have long been steeped in tradition, pomp, protest, and the occasional chaos and violence.