Today is Thursday, Sept. 10, the 253rd day of 2009. There are 112 days left in the year.

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

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

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

Five years ago

CBS News vigorously defended its report about President George W. Bushs Air National Guard service, with anchor Dan Rather saying broadcast memos questioned by forensic experts came from solid sources.

One year ago

The worlds largest particle collider passed its first major tests by firing two beams of protons in opposite directions around a 17-mile ring under the Franco-Swiss border.

Todays Birthdays

Golfer Arnold Palmer is 80. Singer Jose Feliciano is 64. Former Canadian first lady Margaret Trudeau is 61. Political commentator Bill OReilly is 60. Actress Amy Irving is 56. Actor Colin Firth is 49. Movie director Guy Ritchie is 41. Actor Ryan Phillippe is 35.

Thought for Today

History is the great dust-heap … a pageant and not a philosophy.

Augustine Birrell, English author and statesman (1850-1933)