Today in History

Today is Thursday, Jan. 10, the 10th day of 2019. There are 355 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 10, 1863, the London Underground had its beginnings as the Metropolitan, the world's first underground passenger railway, opened to the public with service between Paddington and Farringdon Street.

On this date:

In 1776, Thomas Paine anonymously published his influential pamphlet, "Common Sense," which argued for American independence from British rule.

In 1860, the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Mass., collapsed and caught fire, killing up to 145 people, mostly female workers from Scotland and Ireland.

In 1861, Florida became the third state to secede from the Union.

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 General Assembly of the United Nations convened in London. The first manmade contact with the moon was made as radar signals transmitted by the U.S. Army Signal Corps were bounced off the lunar surface.

In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson, in his State of the Union address, asked Congress to impose a surcharge on both corporate and individual income taxes to help pay for his "Great Society" programs as well as the war in Vietnam. That same day, Massachusetts Republican Edward W. Brooke, the first black person elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, took his seat.

In 1984, the United States and the Vatican established full diplomatic relations for the first time in more than a century.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton, attending a NATO summit meeting in Brussels, Belgium, announced completion of an agreement to remove all long-range nuclear missiles from the former Soviet republic of Ukraine.

In 2000, America Online announced it was buying Time Warner for $162 billion (the merger, which proved disastrous, ended in December 2009).

In 2002, Marines began flying hundreds of al-Qaida prisoners in Afghanistan to a U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In 2006, Iran resumed nuclear research two years after halting the work to avoid possible U.N. economic sanctions.

Ten years ago: Vice President-elect Joe Biden arrived in Afghanistan, where he pledged long-term American support. 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.

Five years ago: The Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added just 74,000 jobs in December 2013. Larry Speakes, who'd spent six years as acting press secretary for President Ronald Reagan, died in Cleveland, Mississippi, at age 74.

One year ago: Immigration agents descended on dozens of 7-Eleven stores nationwide before dawn to check on the immigration status of employees in what officials described as the largest operation so far against an employer under Donald Trump's presidency. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra said Charles Dutoit had stepped down as artistic director and principal conductor after multiple allegations of sexual assault. After nine terms in the House, California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa announced that he would not seek re-election.

Today's Birthdays: Opera singer Sherrill Milnes is 84. Rock singer-musician Ronnie Hawkins is 84. Movie director Walter Hill is 79. Actor William Sanderson is 75. Singer Rod Stewart is 74. Rock singer-musician Donald Fagen (Steely Dan) is 71. Boxing Hall of Famer and entrepreneur George Foreman is 70. Roots rock singer Alejandro Escovedo is 68. Rock musician Scott Thurston (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) is 67. Singer Pat Benatar is 66. Hall of Fame race car driver and team owner Bobby Rahal is 66. Rock musician Michael Schenker is 64. Singer Shawn Colvin is 63. Rock singer-musician Curt Kirkwood (Meat Puppets) is 60. Actor Evan Handler is 58. Rock singer Brad Roberts (Crash Test Dummies) is 55. Actress Trini Alvarado is 52. Rock singer Brent Smith (Shinedown) is 41. Rapper Chris Smith (Kris Kross) is 40. Actress Sarah Shahi is 39. Presidential adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner is 38. American roots singer Valerie June is 37.

Thought for Today: "You got to look on the bright side, even if there ain't one." -- Dashiell Hammett, American author (born 1894, died this date in 1961).

Copyright 2019, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.