Today in History - History - January 10th

1663King Charles II affirms charter of Royal African Company

1982"The Catch" - iconic moment in NFL history - Dwight Clark makes a fingertip catch for a touchdown from Joe Montana with 58 seconds left (SF 49ers win the game and go on to win the Super Bowl)

2011Lionel Messi wins the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or, for being the best football player in 2010

2011Ian McKellen officially confirms that he will reprise the role of Gandalf in "The Hobbit" film adaptations

1958Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" reaches #1 on the UK pop charts

19431st US pres to visit a foreign country in wartime-FDR leaves for Casablanca, Morocco

200632nd People's Choice Awards: Johnny Depp & Sandra Bullock win (Motion Picture) and Ray Romano & Jennifer Garner win (TV)

1870John D Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil

1642King Charles I & family flee London for Oxford

1845Poets Elizabeth Barrett & Robert Browning begin corresponding

1949George Foreman, Marshall Texas, American World Heavyweight boxing champ (1973-74, 95)

1738Ethan Allen, Litchfield Connecticut, American Revolutionary War patriot (lead the Green Mtn Boys)

1908Paul Henreid, Trieste, actor (Casablanca, 4 Horsemen of Apocalypse)

1945Rod Stewart, London, British singer (Maggie Mae, Do You Think I'm Sexy)

1998Major League Baseball outfielder Barry Bonds (33) weds Elizabeth Watson (28) at Ritz-Carlton Hotel in San Francisco

1898Painter Henri Matisse (28) weds Amélie Noellie Parayre

1942Actress Ava Gardner (19) weds actor Mickey Rooney (21) in Ballard, California

1936Actor Burgess Meredith (28) weds actress Margaret Perry (22)

1870Deputy sheriff Wyatt Earp (21) weds Urilla Sutherland in Lamar, Texas

2009"The Black Eyed Peas" singer fergie (33) weds actor Josh Duhamel (36) at Church Estate Vineyards in Malibu, California

1936Actress Mary Pickford (44) divorces actor Douglas Fairbanks (52) after 15 years of marriage

1810French church annuls marriage of Napoleon I & Empress Joséphine

1967Actor Christopher Plummer (37) divorces columnist Patricia Lewis after nearly 5 years of marriage

1981Singer James Brown (47) divorces Deidre Jenkins after 10 years of marriage

1862Samuel Colt, American inventor (6 shot revolver), dies at 47

1778Carolus linaeus "Carl von Linne", Swedish botanist/explorer, dies at 70

2004Spalding Gray, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1941)

1935Teddy Flack [Edwin], Australian athlete, double Olympic gold medallist in 1896, dies at 61