This day in history

[September 10, 2008]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Sept. 10, the 254th day of 2008. There are 112 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Sept. 10, 1608, John Smith was elected president of the Jamestown colony council in Virginia.

On this date:

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

In 1939, Canada declared war on Nazi Germany.

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

In 1948, American-born Mildred Gillars, accused of being Nazi wartime radio broadcaster "Axis Sally," was indicted in Washington for treason. (She was later convicted, and served 12 years in prison.)

In 1963, 20 black students entered Alabama public schools following a standoff between federal authorities and Gov. 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 1983, John Vorster, prime minister of white-ruled South Africa from 1966 to 1978, died in Cape Town at age 67.

In 1987, Pope John Paul II arrived in Miami, where he was welcomed by President Reagan as he began a 10-day tour of the United States.

Ten years ago: President Clinton met with members of his Cabinet to apologize, ask forgiveness and promise to improve as a person in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Northwest Airlines and its striking pilots announced an agreement to end a nearly two-week walkout.

Five years ago: Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, 46, was stabbed in a Stockholm department store; she died the next day. (Mijailo Mijailovic was later convicted of murdering Lindh and was sentenced to life in prison.) The first video image of Osama bin Laden in nearly two years was broadcast on Al-Jazeera TV. Israel bombed the home of a Hamas leader, killing his eldest son and a bodyguard in retaliation for two suicide bombings.

One year ago: Gen. David Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, told Congress he envisioned the withdrawal of roughly 30,000 troops by the summer of 2008, saying the surge in troops had met its military objectives "in large measure." Academy Award-winning actress Jane Wyman died in Palm Springs, Calif.; she was in her early 90s.

Today's birthdays: Golfer Arnold Palmer is 79. Actor Philip Baker Hall is 77. Country singer Tommy Overstreet is 71. Actor Greg Mullavey is 69. Jazz vibraphonist Roy Ayers is 68. Singer Danny Hutton (Three Dog Night) is 66. Singer Jose Feliciano is 63. Actor Tom Ligon is 63. Actress Judy Geeson is 60. Rock musician Joe Perry (Aerosmith) is 58. Actress Amy Irving is 55. Country singer Rosie Flores is 52. Actress Kate Burton is 51. Movie director Chris Columbus is 50. Actor Colin Firth is 48. Rock singer-musician David Lowery (Cracker) is 48. Rock musician Stevie D. (Buckcherry) is 42. Rock musician Robin Goodridge (Bush) is 42. Rock singer-musician Miles Zuniga (Fastball) is 42. Rapper Big Daddy Kane is 40. Movie director Guy Ritchie is 40. Actor Ryan Phillippe is 34. Rock musician Mikey Way (My Chemical Romance) is 28.

Thought for today: "The authentic and pure values, truth, beauty, and goodness, in the activity of a human being are the result of one and the same act, a certain application of the full attention to the object." -- Simone Weil, French philosopher (1909-1943)

[Associated Press]

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