TODAY IN HISTORY

the 10th day of 2017. There are 355 days left in the year. On this date 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 elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, took his seat.

In 1776,

Thomas Paine anonymously published his influential pamphlet, “Common Sense,” which argued for American independence from British rule.

In 1861,

Florida became the third state to secede from the Union.

In 1870,

John D. Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil.

In 1917,

legendary Western frontiersman and showman William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody died at his sister’s home in Denver at age 70.

In 1920,

the League of Nations was established as the Treaty of Versailles went into effect.

In 1946,

the first man-made contact with the moon came as radar signals transmitted by the U.S. Army Signal Corps were bounced off the lunar surface.

In 1971,

“Masterpiece Theatre” premiered on PBS with host Alistair Cooke introducing the drama series “The First Churchills.” French fashion designer Coco Chanel died in Paris at age 87.

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 announced 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, proved disastrous, ending in Dec. 2009.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

Opera singer Sherrill Milnes, blues artist Eddy Clearwater and rock singer-musician Ronnie Hawkins are 82. Baseball Hall of Famer Willie McCovey is 79.