The historic day ....begins!!

The news reports began announcing crowds @ 6pm yesterday and the crowds continue to grow...by day break a few hundred thousand were claiming there patch of dirt to experience history....in the cold.

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WASHINGTON — Crowds streamed into the nation's capital Tuesday, jamming subway cars and packing the National Mall from the Capitol to the Washington Monument hours before President-elect Barack Obama was to be sworn in.
For weeks, officials urged people to arrive early for the historic inauguration of the nation's first black president and throngs of revelers heeded that advice, streaming onto the Mall hours before daybreak.

By 7 a.m., some 207,000 people had entered Washington's Metro transit system, transit officials said. Huge lines formed outside subway stations; many parking lots filled up and had to be closed.

"Platforms are extremely crowded," Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. Lines were six to 10 deep at fare machines.

Meanwhile, thousands of people gathered near the parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue, occasionally erupting in spontaneous cheers and chants of "open the gates!" The large crowds made it difficult for many to figure out where checkpoints into the secure area were.

Police have projected crowds ranging between 1 and 2 million for the inauguration. It's possible that attendance could top the 1.2 million people who were at Lyndon Johnson's 1965 inauguration, which is the largest crowd the National Park Service has on record.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan's inauguration drew about 500,000 people, and President Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration drew about 800,000 people, according to park service estimates.