Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on January 23rd. Studies show that women are now becoming doctors in greater numbers than men, but that was far from the case on this day in 1849, when Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman physician in the United States. Born in Great Britain, Blackwell attended what is now Hobart College, in New York state, and later became a professor of gynecology, a field of medicine she helped to establish.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices