On this day...

49 -BC- Julius Cesar crosses the Rubicon, invades Italy
1429 Order of the Golden Fleece established in Austria-Hungary & Spain
1776 "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, published
1806 Dutch in Cape Town, South Africa surrender to the British
1811 Louisiana slaves rebel in 2 parishes
1840 Penny Post mail system started
1845 Poets Elizabeth Barrett & Robert Browning begin corresponding
1861 Florida becomes 3rd state to secede
1861 US forts & property seized by Mississippi
1870 Georgia legislature reconvenes
1870 John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil
1889 Ivory Coast declared a protectorate of France
1901 Oil discovered at Spindletop claim near Beaumont, Texas
1910 First international air meet in US held, in LA
1911 First photo in US taken from an airplane, San Diego
1912 World's first flying boat's maiden flight, (NY)
1920 League of Nations' first meeting, Treaty of Versailles in effect
1920 Silver reaches record $1.37 an ounce
1925 Miriam (Ma) Ferguson sworn in as Texas governor, nation's 2nd woman governor
1928 Soviet Union orders exile of Leon Trotsky
1932 "Mickey Mouse" & "Silly Symphony" comics syndicated
1932 "Pete the Tramp" cartoon strip by C.D. Russell debuts
1942 Japan invades Dutch East Indies
1943 First US President to visit a foreign country in wartime-FDR leaves for Casablanca, Morocco
1944 First mobile electric power plant delivered, Philadelphia
1946 UN General Assembly convenes for first time (London)
1946 US Army establishes first radar contact with Moon, Belmar, NJ
1949 First Jewish family show "The Goldbergs" premiers on CBS
1951 First jet passenger trip made
1956 Elvis records "Heartbreak Hotel"
1957 Anthony Eden resigns & Harold Macmillan becomes PM Britain
1958 Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" reaches #1
1962 4,000 die in avalanche, Ranrahirca, Peru
1962 Eruptions on Mount Huascaran in Peru destroy 7 villages & kills 3.500
1964 US version of "That Was The Week That Was," premiers
1966 Julian Bond denied seat in Georgia legislature for opposing Vietnam War
1967 PBS (the National Educational TV) begins as a 70 station network
1972 Los Angeles Lakers 33 straight win streak snapped, losing to Bucks 120-104
1979 First brother Billy Carter makes allegedly anti-Semitic remarks
1981 John Severin sets 100-mi unicycle speed record, 9 hours 21 minutes
1984 US establishes full diplomatic relations with Vatican
1985 Daniel Ortega Saavedra inaugurated as president of Nicaragua
1990 NCAA approves random drug testing for college football players

Birthdays which occurred on January 10th:

1644 Louis Boufflers, Marshall of France
1738 Ethan Allen, Revolutionary War fighter (led Green Mountain Boys)
1814 Aubrey de Vere, Irish writer (Victorian Observer)
1877 Frederick Gardner Cottrell, inventor (elecrostatic precipitator)
1892 Dumas Malone, Mississippi, historian (Jefferson & His Time)
1894 Reginald Denham, London, Broadway director (Obsession, The Bad Seed)
1904 Ray Bolger, Dorchester MA, actor/dancer (Wizard of Oz)
1908 Paul Henreid, Trieste, actor (Casablanca, 4 Horsemen of Apocalypse)
1910 Galina Ulanova, Russia, ballerina
1914 Polly Rowles, Philadelphia PA, actress (Aunt Laurie-Jamie)
1926 June Haver, Mrs. Fred MacMurray/actress (Dolly Sisters)
1927 Gisele MacKenzie, Winnipeg Manitoba, singer/actress (Your Hit Parade)
1927 Johnnie Ray, pop singer (Cry)
1927 Lee Philips, Brooklyn NY, actor (Ellery Queen)
1928 Donald Brooks, fashion designer (Emmy 1983)
1935 Ronnie Hawkins, Ark, rocker (The Band-Who Do You Love?)
1938 Willie McCovey, Hall of Fame first baseman (San Francisco)
1939 Bill Toomey, decathlon champ (Olympic-gold-1968)
1939 Sal Mineo, actor (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause)
1942 Jim Croce, singer (Time in a Bottle)
1945 Rod Stewart, singer (Maggie Mae, Do You Think I'm Sexy)
1948 Donald Fagan, rock vocalist/keyboardist (Steely Dan-Peg)
1948 George Foreman, world heavyweight boxing champ (1973-74)
1949 Teresa Graves, Houston TX, actress (Laugh-in, Get Christie Love)
1949 Walter S. Browne, US chess champion (1974-78, 1980-84)
1952 Scott Thorston, keyboards/guitarist (Motels-Only the Lonely)
1953 Bobby Rahal, Indy-car racer
1953 Pat Benatar, Brooklyn NY, pop singer
1959 Don Letts, rocker (Bad)
1961 Nadja Salerni-Sonnenberg, Rome Italy, concert violinist
1964 Krista Tesreau, actress (Guiding Light)

Deaths which occurred on January 10th:

1645 William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, beheaded
1778 Carolus Lineus, "Carl von Linne" Swedish botanist/explorer
1968 Howard Smith, actor (Harvey Griffin-Hazel), dies at 74
1972 Al Goodman, orchestra leader (NBC Comedy Hour), dies at 81
1981 Richard Boone, actor (Paladin-Have Gun Will Travel), dies at 63
1982 Paul Lynde, comedian (Uncle Arthur-Bewitched), dies at 55