Today is Friday, Dec. 10, the 344th day of 2010. There are 21 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Dec. 10, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for helping mediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.

On this date:

In 1520, Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict demanding that he recant, or face excommunication.

In 1817, Mississippi was admitted as the 20th state.

In 1884, Mark Twain’s novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was first published, in Canada as well as England (however, the book was not released in the United States until Feb. 1885).

In 1910, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the population of the United States stood at 91,972,266. The opera “La fanciulla del West” (The Girl of the Golden West), by Giacomo Puccini, had its world premiere at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

In 1931, Jane Addams became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (the co-recipient was Nicholas Murray Butler).

In 1948, the U.N. General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

In 1950, Ralph Bunche was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first black American to receive the award.

In 1967, singer Otis Redding, 26, and six others were killed when their plane crashed into Wisconsin’s Lake Monona.

Associated Press