@rh18bold:Today in History

Today is Monday, September 10, the 253rd day of 2007. There are 112 days left in the year.

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 1919, the Allied powers and the new republic of Austria signed the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which dissolved the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, recognised the independence of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Yugoslavia and forbade Austria to unite with Germany.

In 1945, Vidkun Quisling, head of the puppet government set up by the Nazis in Norway in the Second World War, was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. He was executed by firing squad in October 1945.

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

In 1974, Portugal recognised the independence of Guinea-Bissau, under the leadership of Luiz Cabral.

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

In 1989, Hungary opened its border to the West, allowing thousands of East Germans to leave in a mass exodus that presaged the toppling of the Berlin Wall.

Thought for Today

"If there is no knowledge, there is no understanding; if there is no understanding, there is no knowledge." — The Talmud.