On Jan. 10, 1776, Thomas Paine published his influential pamphlet, “Common Sense.”
In 1850 architect John Wellborn Root, one of the foremost figures of the Chicago school of architecture with landmark creations such as the Rookery and the Monadnock Building, was born in Lumpkin, Ga.
In 1861 Florida seceded from the Union.
In 1863 London’s Metropolitan, the world’s first underground passenger railway, opened to the public.
In 1870 John D. Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil.
In 1920 the League of Nations was established as the Treaty of Versailles went into effect.
In 1946 the first human contact with the moon was made as radar signals were bounced off the lunar surface.
In 1967 Republican Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, the first African-American elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, took his seat.
In 1971 “Masterpiece Theatre” premiered on PBS.
In 1984 the United States and the Vatican established full diplomatic relations for the first time in more than a century.
In 1995 Russia announced a 48-hour truce in breakaway Chechnya, but the cease-fire fell apart after only a few hours.
In 2000 America Online announced it was buying Time Warner for $162 billion.
In 2002 Marines began flying hundreds of Al Qaeda prisoners in Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Also in 2002 the White House disclosed that Enron Corp. had sought the administration’s help shortly before collapsing with the life savings of many workers.
In 2003, Illinois Gov. George Ryan pardoned four inmates on Death Row. Also in 2003 North Korea withdrew from a global treaty barring it from making nuclear weapons.
In 2004 North Korea said it had shown its “nuclear deterrent” to an unofficial U.S. delegation that visited the disputed Yongbyon nuclear complex.
In 2006 Bruce Sutter became the fourth relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
