Years Ago

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 10, the 10th day of 2012. There are 356 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1776: Thomas Paine anonymously publishes his influential pamphlet, “Common Sense,” which argues for American independence from British rule.

1860: The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Mass., collapses and catches fire, killing up to 145 people, mostly female workers from Scotland and Ireland.

1870: John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil.

1957: Harold Macmillan becomes prime minister of Britain, following the resignation of Anthony Eden.

1962: John W. McCormack becomes speaker of the House, succeeding the late Samuel T. Rayburn.

VINDICATOR FILES

1987: Frank Watson, president of Youngstown Welding & Engineering Co., says the company has yet to recover from a five-week strike in the fall and could close within two months.

David Effron is named music director and conductor of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, filling the position vacated by Peter Leonard.

1972: All Youngstown hospitals take precautions against a high incidence of flu-like upper respiratory infections by canceling general visiting hours.

Fog and ice cause seven early morning collisions on Belmont Avenue, injuring 11 people.

1962: William Pauline is in fair condition in Salem Central Clinic after leading his wife, Kathleen, and children, Karen and John, to safety as their house on Prospect Street was being engulfed in flames.

The mercury drops to record lows of -4 in Youngstown, the lowest for the date since 1919, and -9 in the outlying areas.

1937: Three Pennsylvania men go to Washington to make their proposal for a subway train that would link the Great Lakes at Conneaut to the Eastern seaboard. They estimate the cost at $375 million; the Army Corps of Engineers suggests adding $1 billion to that.