Did inauguration day really kill a US president?
Updated
The year was 1841 and an American military officer by the name of William Henry Harrison was elected as the ninth president of the United States.
After braving the cold for his inauguration speech, he was said to have contracted a cold before developing pneumonia and died just 32 days into the job.
So did the inauguration day actually kill him?
What happened on inauguration day?
It was a cold inauguration day on March 4, 1841.
Harrison reportedly refused to wear a hat or a scarf during the event.
It was also reported he attended three inauguration balls following the event.
Academic director at the University of Sydney's United State Studies Centre, Dr David Smith, said Harrison delivered the longest ever acceptance speech given at an inauguration.
"So I believe that speech went for between two and three hours," Dr Smith said.
"It was 8,000 words ... and that had apparently been edited down for size.
"Now back in the 19th Century people had different ideas about what good speech-making involved.
"Speech-making was a way you showed off your erudition and William Henry Harrison was very concerned of being portrayed as rube."
So is this how the rumour began?
Kind of.
He fell sick some three weeks later, but many assumed the cold conditions on March 4 attributed to his demise.
What does the White House say?
White House records state he died after catching a cold that developed into pneumonia, but don't specify when he caught the cold.
He passed away on April 4, 1841.
What are the other theories?
Dr Smith, said the theory nowadays looks closer to the living conditions at the time.
"What is more likely is not only did he actually not die as result of the speech, there are people who say it's not that likely he even died of pneumonia," Dr Smith said.
"Probably what killed him is the same thing that killed Zachary Taylor and Abraham Lincoln's son and that was very poor sanitation in the White House.
"We need to remember that Washington DC is built on swamp … back before there was a proper sewerage system.
"A lot of sewage flowed through the Potomac River ... and very close to the White House."
Wasn't Harrison treated by doctors?
He was, but you have to remember it was a time before the invention of penicillin.
Some reports have also suggested his doctors used a whole host of weird and wacky procedures, deemed completely normal at the time.
They include applying opium, castor oil, leeches and Virginia snakeroot, a native American plant.
Apparently the treatments only made Harrison worse and he became delirious before succumbing to his illness.
What happened after he died?
John Tyler became president, and he became the first individual in US history to reach the office through the death of another.
Harrison left behind a widow, Anna, and three children.
Interestingly, his grandson Benjamin would go on to become the 23rd president of the US in 1889.
But unlike his grandfather, Benjamin Harrison served a full term without incident.
Were any lessons learned?
Not really.
"You can imagine the kind of crisis that would have ensued having been in inaugurated less than a month previously," Dr Smith said.
"It may have been the wrong lesson because they didn't fix the sanitation around the White House for a very long time.
"'Don't make a long speech in the cold', that's probably good for the benefit of American people, but this was something that then went onto kill Abraham Lincoln's son, so they probably took the wrong lesson from this."
Could it happen now?
It's unlikely.
"It's funny to think about now given the way the president is protected," Dr Smith said.
"Trump is going to have the best medical treatment that is possible."
And we have to remember President-elect Donald Trump is a self-confessed germaphobe.
Dr Smith said it was also unlikely Mr Trump would speak for long enough to catch a cold.
"His convention speech went for about an hour-and-a-half, which is very long by television standards," Dr Smith said.
"The inauguration, which is going to be held outside ... in what could be very cold weather ... he's probably going to speak for less than 20 minutes.
"It is entirely possible he could wander off script a bit."
Topics: us-elections, human-interest, history, world-politics, united-states
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