Spindletop Oil Well Centennial

1901

Gusher signals new era of U.S. oil industry

Born on This Day

Sal Mineo

Sal Mineo

1939 - 1976

Actor best known for his role as a sensitive teen in the classic film "Rebel Without a Cause."

Pat Benatar Performing

Pat Benatar

1953 -

Singer-songwriter known for her powerful voice on 1980s rock hits "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Love is a Battlefield."

Premiere Of NBC's "Better Late Than Never" - Arrivals

George Foreman

1949 - 2025

Boxer and heavyweight champion who later became a successful entrepreneur, best known for the George Foreman Grill.

1863

JAN

10

The London Tube opens, the world's first urban underground railway. Since its first tunnel ran under the Thames river—and had no ventilation—it was always filled with smoke.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on January 10th

1776

Thomas Paine publishes “Common Sense”

On January 10, 1776, writer Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence.  Although little used today, pamphlets were an important medium for the spread of ideas in the 16th through 19th centuries. Originally published anonymously, “Common Sense” advocated independence for the American colonies from Britain and […]

independence and governance in America, printed 1776 in New York.

1843

Outlaw Frank James born in Missouri

Franklin James, the lesser-known older brother of Jesse, is born in Clay County, Missouri. Frank and Jesse James were both legends in their own time, though Jesse is better remembered today because of his more dramatically violent death. The two Missouri brothers drifted into a life of crime after serving in Confederate guerilla forces during […]

1920

League of Nations instituted

On January 10, 1920, the League of Nations formally comes into being when the Covenant of the League of Nations, ratified by 42 nations in 1919, takes effect. In 1914, a political assassination in Sarajevo set off a chain of events that led to the outbreak of the most costly war ever fought to that […]

The League of Nations

1923

President Harding orders U.S. troops home from Germany

Four years after the end of World War I, President Warren G. Harding orders U.S. occupation troops stationed in Germany to return home. In 1917, after several years of bloody stalemate along the Western Front, the entrance of America’s fresh, well-supplied forces into the Great War—a decision announced by President Woodrow Wilson in April and […]

1941

FDR introduces the lend-lease program

On January 10, 1941, Franklin Roosevelt introduces the lend-lease program to Congress. The plan was intended to help Britain beat back Hitler’s advance while keeping America only indirectly involved in World War II. As Roosevelt addressed Congress, the Battle of Britain was in its full destructive swing and Hitler seemed on the verge of invading […]

1946

First meeting of the United Nations

The first General Assembly of the United Nations, comprising 51 nations, convenes at Westminster Central Hall in London, England. One week later, the U.N. Security Council met for the first time and established its rules of procedure. Then, on January 24, the General Assembly adopted its first resolution, a measure calling for the peaceful uses […]

1962

Operation Ranch Hand initiated

On January 10, 1962, the United States Air Force launches Operation Ranch Hand, a “modern technological area-denial technique” designed to expose the roads and trails used by the Viet Cong. Flying C-123 Providers, U.S. personnel dumped an estimated 19 million gallons of defoliating herbicides over 10-20 percent of Vietnam and parts of Laos between 1962-1971. […]

1962

Avalanche kills thousands in Peru

On January 10, 1962, an avalanche on the slopes of an extinct volcano kills more than 4,000 people in Peru. Nine towns and seven smaller villages were destroyed. Mount Huascaran rises 22,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains. Beneath it laid many small Peruvian communities, the inhabitants of which farmed in the Rio […]

1967

President Johnson asks for more funding for Vietnam War

On January 10, 1967, during his State of the Union speech, President Lyndon B. Johnson asks Congress for more money to support the Vietnam War. Lyndon’s War, a war Johnson actually inherited from President John F. Kennedy, had achieved nothing by 1967. The North Vietnamese use of guerrilla warfare tactics resulted in approximately 14,000 American […]

2000

AOL-Time Warner merger announced

On January 10, 2000, in one of the biggest media mergers in history, America Online Inc. announces plans to acquire Time Warner Inc. for some $182 billion in stock and debt. The result was a $350 billion mega-corporation, AOL Time Warner, which held dominant positions in every type of media, including music, publishing, news, entertainment, […]

2008

World’s cheapest car debuts in India

At the New Delhi Auto Expo in India, Tata Motors debuts the Nano, billing it as the world’s cheapest car. The anticipated price tag is around $2,500. Tata, India’s largest automaker, called the four-door, bubble-shaped mini-vehicle (it was just 5 feet wide and 10 feet long) the “People’s Car” and declared that it would be […]

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