March 4

March 4 is the 64th day of the year, and the American record for it runs from 1776 to 1987 — a span of 211 years. The entry that anchors it: William McKinley is inaugurated President of the United States for the second time, 1901.

The revolutionary generation left its own mark on the date. In 1776, American Revolutionary War — Using artillery transported from Ticonderoga, the Continental Army occupied Dorchester Heights, forcing the British to abandon Boston two weeks later. Then, in 1797, John Adams is inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States of America, becoming the first President to begin his presidency on March 4.

The antebellum decades brought the date closer to the country’s central argument. In 1849, Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States of America and Millard Fillmore, 12th Vice President, did not take their respective oaths of office (they did so the following day), leading to the erroneous theory that outgoing President pro tempore of the United States Senate David Rice Atchison had assumed the role of acting president for one day. Then, in 1865, U.S. politician Andrew Johnson makes his drunk vice-presidential inaugural address in Washington, D.C. The same year, the third and final national flag of the Confederate States of America is adopted by the Confederate Congress.

The early twentieth century brought industry, air travel and war to the date. In 1901, William McKinley is inaugurated President of the United States for the second time; Theodore Roosevelt is vice president. Then, in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as the 32nd President of the United States.

After 1945 the date reflects a country operating at global scale. In 1987, U.S. president Ronald Reagan made a nationally televised address in which he accepted full responsibility for illegal actions in the Iran–Contra affair.

The date is also a birthday. Among the Americans born on March 4: Casimir Pulaski (1745), Polish-American general; Rebecca Gratz (1781), American educator and philanthropist; Isaac Lea (1792), American conchologist, geologist, and publisher; Edwards Pierrepont (1817), American lawyer and politician, 34th United States Attorney General; and John Buford (1826), American general.

March 4 is also a date of endings. Among the Americans who died on it: John Collins (1795), American politician, 3rd governor of Rhode Island; Abraham Baldwin (1807), American minister, lawyer, and politician; Matthew C. Perry (1858), American naval commander; and Thomas Starr King (1864), American minister and politician.

The record for March 4 runs 211 years deep across 8 entries. Read in sequence, the date stops being a coincidence and starts being a through-line.