Daily List

Today in History, January 10th

On January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense. Plus the Spindletop oil gusher and the first UN General Assembly.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published January 10, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

January 10 is best known as the day Thomas Paine published Common Sense in 1776, the pamphlet that pushed many colonists from grumbling about Britain to wanting out. The date also saw the Spindletop gusher launch the Texas oil boom in 1901 and the first United Nations General Assembly meet in London in 1946.

The big story: Thomas Paine Publishes Common Sense (1776)

By early 1776, colonial soldiers had been fighting British troops for months, yet many Americans still thought of themselves as loyal subjects with a grievance. Thomas Paine set out to end that thinking. An Englishman who had come to Philadelphia only in 1774, after stints as a corset maker, sailor and schoolteacher, he published a 47-page pamphlet on January 10, 1776. It carried no author’s name. Common Sense made the case for full independence in blunt, everyday language rather than legal argument. It mocked the idea of hereditary kings and insisted that America’s real parent was all of Europe, not England. Readers devoured it. Roughly 500,000 copies circulated within two years, a staggering number for the time. Paine helped turn a tax dispute into a revolution, and about six months later the Continental Congress declared independence. For a writer who started out making corsets, he proved quite good at loosening things up.

More events on January 10

Year	What happened
49 BCE	Julius Caesar led his army across the Rubicon River into Italy, starting a civil war that reshaped the Roman Republic. (The date is the one traditionally given, on the Roman calendar of the time.)
1863	London’s first underground railway opened, the start of what became the London Underground and the world’s first urban subway.
1901	The Spindletop well near Beaumont, Texas, blew in, the first major Texas oil discovery and the start of a new era for the U.S. oil industry.
1920	The League of Nations formally came into being when its Covenant took effect.
1941	President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced the Lend-Lease program to Congress to send aid to Britain.
1946	The first United Nations General Assembly, with 51 nations, met at Central Hall Westminster in London.
1962	An avalanche on Peru’s Mount Huascarán killed more than 4,000 people and destroyed several towns and villages.
1984	The United States and the Vatican established diplomatic relations after a break of 117 years.
1999	The first episode of The Sopranos aired on HBO.
2000	America Online announced it would acquire Time Warner in a deal worth about $182 billion in stock and debt.
2008	India’s Tata Motors unveiled the Nano, billed as the world’s cheapest car, at about $2,500.
2016	Singer David Bowie died in New York City, two days after his 69th birthday.

Born on January 10

1903: Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor and a pioneer of abstract sculpture.
1924: Max Roach, jazz drummer and one of the most influential modern percussionists.
1945: Rod Stewart, British rock singer with the famously raspy voice.
1949: George Foreman, two-time world heavyweight boxing champion.