January 10
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Featured Event
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913, 14.40.676, www.metmuseum.org
Crossing the Rubicon
Julius Caesar and his army crossed the Rubicon on this day in 49 bce to take control of the Roman Republic. Caesar was breaking a law that forbade generals from leading armies out of their assigned territories, and he provoked a four-year civil war that irreversibly transformed ancient Rome. [Read today’s edition of Today in History >>.]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
© AC Manley/Shutterstock.com
The breaking wave / and the muscle as it contracts / obey the same law. / Delicate line / gathers the body’s total strength / in a bold balance. / Shall my soul meet / so severe a curve, journeying / on its way to form?
Dame Barbara Hepworth, whose lyrical forms made her one of the most influential sculptors of the mid-20th century and whose abstract sculptures were among the earliest produced in England, was born this day in 1903.
Famous Birthdays
More on January 10
© Andrew Kent/Retna Ltd.
2016
David Bowie—who transformed himself from a traditional pop crooner into a trendsetting international superstar best known for his metamorphic personae (on- and offstage), abrupt shifts in musical genres, and status as a fashion icon—died in New York City. [Sort fact from fiction in our music quiz.]
© 2004 HBO
1999
The first episode of The Sopranos aired on HBO. The dramatic series, which starred James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, was later widely hailed as a classic. [Test your knowledge of pop culture.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1984
The United States and the Vatican established diplomatic relations after a 117-year break. [Take our quiz about the history of Roman Catholicism.]
TM and © PBS, Inc., all rights reserved/PRNewsFoto/AP Images
1971
Masterpiece Theatre (later called Masterpiece) debuted on PBS; the first series aired was The First Churchills.
AP
1949
George Foreman, who became the oldest world heavyweight boxing champion in 1994, was born in Marshall, Texas. [How much do you know about boxing?]
NASA/JSC
1946
Radar signals bouncing off the Moon were detected for the first time. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about the Moon.]
Marcel Bolomey/United Nations, Photo UN7691411
1946
The first United Nations General Assembly met in London. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about world organizations.]
William P. Gottlieb Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1924
Jazz drummer and percussionist Max Roach was born in Newland, North Carolina. [Take our quiz about musicians.]
Central Press/Hulton Archives/Getty Images
1920
The League of Nations was established in Geneva. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about world organizations.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1901
The first major oil field in Texas was discovered, near Beaumont. [Test your knowledge of energy and fossil fuels.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1861
Florida seceded from the Union and in February 1861 joined the Confederacy. [How much do you know about the American Civil War?]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1776
Thomas Paine published Common Sense, a 50-page pamphlet that sold more than 500,000 copies within a few months and called for a war of independence that would become the American Revolution.