On This Day - January 23, 2026

Elizabeth Blackwell receives her medical degree from Geneva Medical College becoming the first woman to earn a medical degree. Blackwell would serve as a mentor for many women seeking admittance into the medical field.

Kansas elects the first Native American Senator. During his career as a politician, Charles Curtis would serve as the Senate Majority Leader, support the 19th Amendment and become the first Native American Vice President when Herbert Hoover won the election in 1928.

After discovering the ninth planet, Clyde Tombaugh photographs Pluto. The 24-year-old was assigned the systematic task of searching the galaxy for the planet after predictions by other astronomers. Tombaugh made his discovery at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Pluto has since been demoted to a dwarf planet.

The talented jazz star, Duke Ellington makes his Carnegie Hall debut. Ellington premiered Black, Brown, and Beige that night and would make it a tradition to debut a new song each year at his Carnegie Hall concerts.

President Richard Nixon addresses the nation to announce that a Vietnam peace agreement had been reached in Paris.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, inducts its first ten members: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley. January 23rd Celebrated Birthdays