Today is Wednesday, August 11, the 223rd day of 2010. There are 142 days left in the year.

On this date

In 1611, because of his mental instability, the Habsburg archdukes forced Emperor Rudolf to resign his Bohemian crown to his brother, Matthias.

In 1712, the Treaty of Araru ended the Swiss War, guaranteeing domination of Protestants over five Catholic cantons.

In 1909, the steamship SS Arapahoe became the first ship in North America to issue an SOS distress signal, off Cape Hatteras.

In 1929, Arabs launched attacks on Jews in Palestine over disputes on Jewish use of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, considered holy by both Jews and Arabs.

In 1935, Nazi storm troopers staged mass demonstrations against Jews in Germany.

In 1945, the Allies informed Japan that its surrender offer was acceptable as the Second World War in the Pacific neared its end.

In 1954, a formal peace took hold in Indochina, ending more than seven years of fighting between the French and Communist Viet Minh.

In 1965, rioting and looting that claimed 34 lives broke out in the predominantly black Watts section of Los Angeles.

In 1973, the USA officially ended combat involvement in Indochina, the same day the Viet Cong charged that 71 prisoners of war turned over to them by South Vietnam were not Communist supporters but wanted to return to Saigon.

In 1975, the United States vetoed the proposed admission of North and South Vietnam to the United Nations, following the Security Council's refusal to consider South Korea's application.

In 1992, heavy fire blastedSarajevo, and UN officials said about 28,000 people, mostly Muslims, were being forced from their homes in northern Bosnia in one of the biggest single acts of "ethnic cleansing".

In 1995, the Serbian government dispersed bitter Serb refugees driven from Croatia by an army offensive that put an end to the Serb rebellion.

In 1996, Bosnian Serb troops refused to let foreign inspectors see a military compound, prompting the Nato-led peace force to recall its representatives from the Bosnian Serb stronghold, Pale.

Thought for Today

"The best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds." — Edgar A. Guest, American author, journalist and poet (1881-1959).