Jan. 20 - Throngs arrive in Washington before dawn for Obama inauguration. Throngs arrive in Washington before dawn for Obama inauguration. Barack Obama was poised to make history on Tuesday (January 20) as the first black U.S. president, buoyed by surging public confidence for dealing with the biggest economic headaches in 70 years, two wars and a web of other international problems.Crowds inauguration site overlooking the national mall before dawn, riding packed metro trains that started operating at 4 a.m. (0900gm) amid extraodinary security. More than one million people were expected to fill the mall to be as close as possible to the event despite blustery, cold temperatures in the 20s forecast to rise to 30 degrees by noon. Diehards camped overnight amid low-slung, gray concrete barriers to be the first through security checkpoints that opened at 4 a.m. on the fringe of the mall where the ceremony will be displayed on jumbo-sized television monitors. Traffic backed up well before dawn en route to parking lots at metro stops in outlying Washington suburbs. Police were reported to be checking some of the cars as part of complex security precautions. Parking lots at the stations were filling fast, with long lines to pay. Interstate 66 was backed up heading into the Vienna metro, the starting point for the Orange line into the District. Big crowds were already at downtown security checkpoints. The four bridges to the capital from neighboring Virginia were shut to private vehicles for the first time to help control traffic and to provide an exit route in case of emergency. No videos currently selected. Click on any video below, from any channel, to add it to your playlist.