On This Day - January 10, 2026

Publisher Robert Bell makes the first copies of Thomas Paine's Common Sense available for sale to the public. The 47-page pamphlet set in writing the reasons the Thirteen Colonies should become independent from the British Crown. Within days Bell issued a second printing with more than 100,000 sold that year. On July 4th, delegates ratified the Declaration of Independence.

Senator A.A. Sargent (R-CA) introduces a resolution to the U.S. Senate to amend the Constitution providing women suffrage.

After three years of research, Drs. Hubert Loring and Carlton Schwerdt from Stanford University announce the first successful isolation of the poliovirus. The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis funded the breakthrough research that eventually led to the first successful polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk.

HBO aired the first episode of the television drama The Sopranos. Created by David Chase, the show ran for six seasons and starred James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, and Edie Falco. January 10th Celebrated (and Not So Celebrated) Birthdays