TODAY is Monday, December 10, the 344th day of 2001. There are 21 days left in the year.

ON THIS DATE<$>

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

In 1898, a treaty was signed in Paris officially ending the Spanish-American War.

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

In 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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

In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize during ceremonies in Oslo, Norway.

In 1967, singer Otis Redding died in the crash of his private plane in Wisconsin.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“Originality and a feeling of one’s own dignity are achieved only through work and struggle.” — Feodor Dostoyevsky, Russian author (1821-1881).