This day in history

[September 10, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, Sept. 10, the 253rd day of 2009. There are 112 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Sept. 10, 1939, Canada declared war on Nazi Germany as Parliament acted at the behest of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.

On this date:

In 1608, John Smith was elected president of the Jamestown colony council in Virginia.

In 1813, an American naval force commanded by Oliver H. Perry defeated the British in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.

In 1846, Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine.

In 1919, New York City welcomed home Gen. John J. Pershing and 25,000 soldiers who'd served in the U.S. First Division during World War I.

In 1935, Sen. Huey P. Long, "The Kingfish" of Louisiana politics, died in Baton Rouge two days after being shot in the state Capitol.

In 1945, Vidkun Quisling was sentenced to death in Norway for collaborating with the Nazis (he was executed by firing squad the next month).

In 1963, 20 black students entered Alabama public schools following a standoff between federal authorities and Governor George C. Wallace.

In 1977, convicted murderer Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian immigrant, became the last person to date to be executed by the guillotine in France.

In 1979, four Puerto Rican nationalists imprisoned for a 1954 attack on the U.S. House of Representatives and a 1950 attempt on the life of President Harry S. Truman were freed from prison after being granted clemency by President Jimmy Carter.

In 1983, John Vorster, prime minister of white-ruled South Africa from 1966 to 1978, died in Cape Town at age 67.

Ten years ago: The U.S. government began freeing 14 Puerto Rican nationalists granted clemency by President Bill Clinton. A federal judge ordered an end to busing and other means of achieving racial balance in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, the North Carolina school system that had pioneered urban busing in the United States.

Five years ago: CBS News vigorously defended its report about President George W. Bush's Air National Guard service, with anchor Dan Rather saying broadcast memos questioned by forensic experts came from "what we consider to be solid sources." Former Transportation Secretary Brock Adams died in Stevensville, Md., at age 77.

One year ago: The world's largest particle collider passed its first major tests by firing two beams of protons in opposite directions around a 17-mile (27-kilometer) ring under the Franco-Swiss border. Frank Mundus, the legendary shark fisherman said to have inspired the character of Quint in "Jaws," died in Honolulu at age 82.

Today's birthdays: Golfer Arnold Palmer is 80. Actor Philip Baker Hall is 78. Country singer Tommy Overstreet is 72. Actor Greg Mullavey is 70. Jazz vibraphonist Roy Ayers is 69. Singer Danny Hutton (Three Dog Night) is 67. Singer Jose Feliciano is 64. Actor Tom Ligon is 64. Actress Judy Geeson is 61. Former Canadian first lady Margaret Trudeau is 61. Political commentator Bill O'Reilly is 60. Rock musician Joe Perry (Aerosmith) is 59. Actress Amy Irving is 56. Country singer Rosie Flores is 53. Actress Kate Burton is 52. Movie director Chris Columbus is 51. Actor Colin Firth is 49. Rock singer-musician David Lowery (Cracker) is 49. Pitcher Randy Johnson is 46. Rock musician Stevie D. (Buckcherry) is 43. Rock musician Robin Goodridge (Bush) is 43. Rock singer-musician Miles Zuniga (Fastball) is 43. Rapper Big Daddy Kane is 41. Movie director Guy Ritchie is 41. Actor Ryan Phillippe is 35. NBA All-Star Ben Wallace is 35. Rock musician Mikey Way (My Chemical Romance) is 29. Olympic bronze medal figure skater Timothy Goebel is 29.

Thought for today: "History is the great dust-heap ... a pageant and not a philosophy." -- Augustine Birrell, English author and statesman (1850-1933)

[Associated Press]

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