Today is Jan. 23. On this date:
1516
King Ferdinand II of Aragon, who with his late queen consort, Isabella of Castile, sponsored the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, died in Madrigalejo, Spain.
1789
Georgetown University was established in present-day Washington, D.C.
1845
Congress decided all national elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
1849
The British-born Elizabeth Blackwell, who co-founded an academy for young ladies in Cincinnati when she was 17, became the first woman in the United States to earn a medical degree when she graduated from Geneva Medical College in New York.
1937
Seventeen people went on trial in Moscow during Josef Stalin’s “Great Purge.” (All were convicted of conspiracy; all but four were executed.)
1944
Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (“The Scream”) died near Oslo at age 80.
1950
The Israeli Knesset approved a resolution affirming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
1964
The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, eliminating the poll tax in federal elections, was ratified as South Dakota became the 38th state to endorse it.
1968
North Korea seized the Navy intelligence ship USS Pueblo, charging its crew with being on a spying mission. (The crew was released 11 months later.)
1977
The original TV mini-series “Roots,” based on the Alex Haley novel, began airing on ABC.
1989
Surrealist artist Salvador Dali died in his native Figueres, Spain, at age 84.
1995
The Supreme Court, in McKennon vs. Nashville Banner Publishing Co., ruled that companies accused of firing employees illegally could not escape liability by later finding a lawful reason to justify the dismissal.
