10 January: Caesar Crosses Rubicon; Nappy Cuts Knot; Florida Secedes; Tube Opened; Bouffant Yawns, Takes Nap

Today is Sunday, Jan. 10, the 10th day of 2010. There are 355 days left in the year. The UPI Almanac.Today's Highlight in History:
In 1776, Thomas Paine anonymously published his influential pamphlet, "Common Sense."
On this date:
In 49 B.C.E., Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, beginning the Roman civil war.
In 1810, Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, divorced his wife, Josephine.
In 1860, the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Mass., collapsed, trapping hundreds in the rubble; during rescue efforts, a fire broke out - up to 145 people, mostly female workers from Scotland and Ireland, perished.
In 1861, Florida seceded from the Union. [As w/ Mississippi, if we'd kept these ninnies & their swampland from reëntering our Union, the national mildew rate would be on a par w/ the rest of the civilized world. — Ed.]
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 1878, a constitutional amendment that would give women the right to vote was introduced into the U.S. Senate. It wasn't until 42 years later that the amendment was signed into law.
In 1901, oil was discovered at the Spindletop claim near Beaumont, Texas, launching the Southwest oil boom.
In 1910, Hallmark Cards had its origins as its founder, Joyce Clyde Hall, arrived in Kansas City, Mo., to begin selling postcards wholesale.
In 1920, the League of Nations was established as the Treaty of Versailles went into effect.
In 1946, the first General Assembly of the United Nations convened in London.

In 1957, Harold Macmillan became prime minister of Britain, following the resignation of Anthony Eden.
In 1967, Massachusetts Republican Edward W. Brooke, the first black person elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, took his seat.

In 1978, the Soviet Union launched two cosmonauts aboard the Soyuz 27 capsule for a rendezvous with the Salyut 6 space laboratory.
In 1980, former AFL-CIO president George Meany died in Washington, D.C., at 85.
In 1984, the United States and the Vatican established full diplomatic relations for the first time in more than a century. [First Amendment, anyone? — Ed.]
In 1989, Cuba began withdrawing its troops from Angola, more than 13 years after its first contingents arrived.
In 1999, Republicans and Democrats disagreed over whether to call witnesses in President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial, with Republicans pressing to hear testimony from Monica Lewinsky and others, and Democrats saying such testimony could unnecessarily prolong the proceedings.
In 2000, America Online announced it was buying Time Warner for $162 billion (the resulting disastrous merger ended in December 2009). Peace talks between Israel and Syria recessed in West Virginia without agreement on new borders or any other major elements of a land-for-peace treaty.
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. Michelle Kwan won her seventh straight title and eighth overall at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Atlanta; Johnny Weir skated to his first men's title. Novelist Alexandra Ripley died in Richmond, Va., at age 70.
In 2005, CBS issued a damning independent review of mistakes related to a "60 Minutes Wednesday" report on President George W. Bush's National Guard service and fired three news executives and a producer for their "myopic zeal" in rushing it to air. A mudslide in La Conchita, Calif., crushed homes and killed 10 residents. Gunmen assassinated Baghdad's deputy police chief and his son; al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility. Ukraine's Election Commission declared Viktor Yushchenko the winner of the presidential vote.
In 2006, Iran resumed nuclear research two years after halting the work to avoid possible U.N. economic sanctions.
In 2007, President George W. Bush announced he would send a "surge" of 21,500 U.S. forces to Iraq.
In 2008, the United States lodged a formal diplomatic protest with Iran over an incident in which Iranian speedboats harassed U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf. President George W. Bush, visiting Israel and the Palestinian West Bank, said a Mideast peace pact would require "painful political concessions by both sides." John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, endorsed Barack Obama's White House bid. And, Edmund Hillary, who rose to international fame as a member of the first climbing party to scale Mount Everest, died in Auckland, New Zealand, at age 88.
In 2009, Vice President-elect Joe Biden arrived in Afghanistan for talks with the country's leaders. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in cities across Europe and in Lebanon against the Israeli offensive in Gaza. The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush was commissioned with its namesake, the 41st president, and other members of the Bush family on hand for the ceremonies at Naval Station Norfolk.
Today's Birthdays January 10: Opera singer Sherrill Milnes is 75. Blues artist Eddy Clearwater is 75. Rock singer-musician Ronnie Hawkins is 75. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Willie McCovey is 72. Singer Scott McKenzie is 71. Movie director Walter Hill is 70. Singer Frank Sinatra Jr. is 66. Singer Rod Stewart is 65. Rock singer-musician Donald Fagen (Steely Dan) is 62. Actor William Sanderson is 62. Former boxer and entrepreneur George Foreman is 61. Roots rock singer Alejandro Escovedo is 59. Rock musician Scott Thurston (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) is 58. Singer Pat Benatar is 57. Race car driver and team owner Bobby Rahal is 57. Rock musician Michael Schenker is 55. Singer Shawn Colvin is 54. Rock singer-musician Curt Kirkwood is 51. Actor Evan Handler is 49. Rock singer Brad Roberts (Crash Test Dummies) is 46. Actress Trini Alvarado is 43. Rock musician Matt Roberts (3 Doors Down) is 32. Rock singer Brent Smith (Shinedown) is 32. Rapper Chris Smith (Kris Kross) is 31. Actress Sarah Shahi is 30.
Those Born On This Date Include: silent screen actor Francis X. Bushman (1883); poet Robinson Jeffers (1887); Max Patkin, the Crown Prince of Baseball (1920); actors Ray Bolger (1904) Paul Henreid (1908) and Sal Mineo (1939); singers Johnnie Ray (1927) & Jim Croce (1943).
Today In Entertainment History January 10
In 1948, future country star Loretta Webb married Oliver "Mooney" Lynn, becoming Loretta Lynn.
In 1956, Elvis Presley began his first recording session for RCA Records. "Heartbreak Hotel" was among the songs he recorded.
In 1964, The Beatles' first album in the United States, "Introducing the Beatles," was released.
In 1967, National Educational Television, the forerunner of the Public Broadcasting Service, operated as a true network for the first time as it carried President Lyndon B. Johnson's State of the Union address.
In 1971, singer Bob Dylan performed with country musician Earl Scruggs for a PBS documentary. "Masterpiece Theatre" premiered on PBS.
In 1976, bluesman Howlin' Wolf died of cancer in a Chicago-area hospital. He was a major influence on musicians like Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones.In 1981, the production of "Pirates of Penzance," starring Linda Ronstadt and Rex Smith, moved to Broadway after successfully playing the New York Shakespeare Festival.
In 1989, Michael Jackson's "Moonwalker" video was released. Jackson played a superhero in the video, which included a lengthy fantasy segment set to the song "Smooth Criminal."
In 1991, Clint Black joined the Grand Ole Opry.
In 2000, Melissa Etheridge and her partner, Julie Cypher, revealed David Crosby was the father of their two children by artificial insemination. [Eeew! Poor children. — Ed.]
In 2004, actor-writer Spalding Gray, 62, vanished from his New York apartment (his body was found two months later in the East River).
In 2008, Maila Nurmi, whose "Vampira" TV persona pioneered the spooky-yet-sexy Goth aesthetic, died in Los Angeles at age 85.
In 2009, singer Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas married actor Josh Duhamel at a vineyard in Malibu, California.
Thought for Today: "History must speak for itself. A historian is content if he has been able to shed more light." - William L. Shirer, American author and journalist (1904-1993).