On this day in American history

1776- Thomas Paine published his pamphlet "Common Sense" in which he set forth his arguments in favor of American independence.




1861 - The Union ship Star of the West was fired upon as it approached Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. This event was the first time that shots were fired between the North and South.




1861 - Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the union




1913 - Richard Milhous Nixon was born. He became the thirty-seventh president of the United States.




1940 - Television was used for the first time to present a sales meeting to convention delegates in New York City.




1975 - In Whittier, CA, 14 people were killed when a Golden West Airlines flight and a private Cessna collided in the air. Twelve people were killed on the Golden West Airlines flight and the other two deaths were on the private plane.




1977 - Super Bowl XI set a pro attendance record with 103,438. The NBC telecast was viewed by 81.9 million.




1991 - A special committee of Major League Baseball authorities officially banned Pete Rose from being elected into the Hall of Fame.




2012 - tDecline officially begins as Nick Saban and his Alabama Crimson Tide takes the soul of the entire LSU football program by way of a 21-0 mauling in New Orleans in a game that would award the Crimson Tide with the 2011 BCS National Championship and would retroactively award Alabama the 2011 SEC Championship. This would be Alabama's 2nd BCS National Championship and their 23rd SEC Championship.