Donald Trump will go to trial on March 4, 2024 in federal court in the District of Columbia on the charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election result. Why March 4? It's a Monday, and long trials often start on Mondays. But Judge Tanya Chutkan, who chose the date, may have intended to make a sly historical reference. Elected presidents are inaugurated on January 20 now, but before 1937 they were inaugurated on March 4. March 4 is thus the anniversary of the inauguration of all the elected presidents from John Adams to Franklin Roosevelt in his first term (1933). It was on March 4, 1889 that Benjamin Harrison (5'6", 160 pounds) was inaugurated. Harrison's "spectacularly corrupt administration" (the words of historian Heather Cox Richardson) produced a collapse of the stock market and the Panic of 1893.
Celebrations of Benjamin Harrison are few and far between. Judge Chutkan has figured out an appropriate commemoration, and Mr. Trump will get to play the leading part.