Elizabeth Blackwell (February 3, 1821 – May 31, 1910)

At a graduation ceremony in a church in Geneva, New York on
January 23, 1849, Geneva Medical College bestowed a medical
degree upon Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in the United
States to receive one.

Despite the near-uniform opposition of her fellow students and
medical professionals, Blackwell pursued her calling with an
iron will and dedicated her life to treating the sick and furthering
the cause of women in medicine.

Illustration of medical students attending a lecture at
the Woman’s Medical College of the New York Infirmary,
founded by Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell.

January 23, 1977 saw the premiere of Roots, a groundbreaking
television program. The eight-episode miniseries, which was
broadcast over eight consecutive nights, follows a family from
its origins in West Africa through generations of slavery and
the end of the Civil War.

Roots was one of the most-watched television events in U.S.
history and a major moment in mainstream American culture’s
reckoning with the legacy of slavery.

Alexander Murray Palmer Haley
(August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992)

A critical and ratings success over the course of its run,
Roots received 37 Primetime Emmy Award nominations
and won nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody
Award.

Last photo of L.B.J. dated January 16, 1973. He suffered a
fatal heart attack later at his ranch in Johnson City, Texas.

Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973),
also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States,
serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the
assassination of John F. Kennedy (below).

During a break in the action of Super Bowl XVIII on January
22nd, 1984, audiences first saw a commercial directed by
Ridley Scott that is now widely agreed to be one of the
most powerful and effective of all time.

Apple’s "1984" spot, featuring a woman throwing a
sledgehammer through a screen on which a Big
Brother-like figure preaches about "the unification
of thought," got people around the United States
talking and heralded a new age for Apple, consumer       
technology and advertising.
       

Steve Jobs with the Apple 1984 computer.        
        
        
        

Zany, satirical and brimming with countercultural energy,
"Rowan & Martin’s  Laugh-In" sketch comedy TV show
premiered on NBC and ran until July 23, 1973, on the
NBC television network , launching the careers of Lily
Tomlin and Goldie Hawn.  

Gary Owens