This Day in History

1849: Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to receive an MD degree.
1933: The 20th Amendment is ratified, moving the date of presidential inaugurations from March 4 to Jan. 20.
1960: The bathyscape Trieste sets a world record when it descends almost 7 miles to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, near Guam.
1964: The 24th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, prohibiting imposition of any poll tax as a requirement for voting in federal elections.
1968: The USS Pueblo with its 83-man crew is seized in the Sea of Japan by North Korea.
1977: Roots, a TV series based on Alex Haley's best-selling book, makes history January 23-30, when the show is viewed by more Americans than any other program since the invention of television.
1997: Madeleine Albright is sworn in as secretary of state, becoming the first woman to head the State Dept.
2004: The chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq , David Kay, states that Iraq had no stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons before the March 2003 invasion.
2005: Ukrainian President-elect Viktor Yushchenko, the opposition candidate in several rounds of voting in late 2004, takes office.
2006: Canadians voting in parliamentary elections end more than 12 years of Liberal Party rule, granting the Conservative Party and its leader, Stephen Harper, a minority government.