Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 10, the 253rd day of 2014. There are 112 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight:

On Sept. 10, 1939, Canada declared war on Germany.

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. (Afterward, Perry sent out the message, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”)

In 1914, movie director Robert Wise (“West Side Story”; “The Sound of Music”) was born in Winchester, Indiana.

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 died in Baton Rouge two days after being shot in the Louisiana state Capitol, allegedly by Dr. Carl Weiss.

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 1955, the long-running TV Western series “Gunsmoke,” starring James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon, premiered on CBS television.

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

In 1974, the West African country of Guinea-Bissau became fully independent of Portugal.

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 1984, a revival of the TV game show “Jeopardy!” hosted by Alex Trebek premiered in syndication.

In 1994, the prison drama “The Shawshank Redemption,” starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Ten 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, Maryland, at age 77.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama said he’d accepted Republican Rep. Joe Wilson’s apology for shouting “You lie!” during the president’s health-care speech to Congress. A frail Sen. Robert Byrd addressed the Senate for the first time in months to pay tribute to the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, his one-time rival and longtime dear friend. The activist group ACORN fired two employees of its Baltimore office after they were seen in hidden-camera video giving tax advice to a pair of conservative activists, James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, who were posing as a pimp and a prostitute.

One year ago: President Barack Obama, in a nationally broadcast address, said diplomacy held “the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons” in Syria without the use of force, but declared the U.S. military would be “ready to respond” against President Bashar Assad if other measures failed. An Indian court convicted four men in the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a moving New Delhi bus. (The four were later sentenced to death.) Thomas Bach was elected president of the International Olympic Committee, succeeding Jacques Rogge (zhahk ROH’-geh).

Today’s Birthdays: World Golf Hall of Famer Arnold Palmer is 85. Actor Philip Baker Hall is 83. Actor Greg Mullavey is 81. Country singer Tommy Overstreet is 77. Jazz vibraphonist Roy Ayers is 74. Singer Danny Hutton (Three Dog Night) is 72. Singer Jose Feliciano is 69. Actor Tom Ligon is 69. Actress Judy Geeson is 66. Former Canadian first lady Margaret Trudeau is 66. Political commentator Bill O’Reilly is 65. Rock musician Joe Perry (Aerosmith) is 64. Actress Amy Irving is 61. Country singer Rosie Flores is 58. Actress Kate Burton is 57. Movie director Chris Columbus is 56. Actor Colin Firth is 54. Rock singer-musician David Lowery (Cracker) is 54. Actor Sean O’Bryan is 51. Actor Raymond Cruz is 50. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Randy Johnson is 51. Rock musician Robin Goodridge (Bush) is 49. Rock musician Stevie D. (Buckcherry) is 48. Rock singer-musician Miles Zuniga (Fastball) is 48. Actress Nina Repeta (NY’-nuh ruh-PEHT’-ah) is 47. Rapper Big Daddy Kane is 46. Movie director Guy Ritchie is 46. Contemporary Christian singer Sara Groves is 42. Actor Ryan Phillippe (FIHL’-ih-pee) is 40. Actor Kyle Bornheimer is 39. Rock musician Mikey Way (My Chemical Romance) is 34. Olympic bronze medal figure skater Timothy Goebel is 34. Rock musician Matthew Followill (Kings of Leon) is 30. Singer Ashley Monroe (Pistol Annies) is 28. Singer Sanjaya Malakar (“American Idol”) is 25. Actor Chandler Massie is 24. Actress Hannah Hodson is 23.

Thought for Today: “There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” — Zora Neale Hurston, American author (1891-1960).