Today is Wednesday, October 6, the 279th day of 2010. There are 86 days left in the year.

On this date

In 1536, William Tyndale, who translated the first English Bible, is executed for heresy in Vilvoorde, the Netherlands.

In 1789, an irate crowd enters the Versailles palace outside Paris. Troops of the Marquis de Lafayette protect the royal family, who are taken to Paris as hostages of the revolution.

In 1953, London sends forces to British Guiana to prevent coup by communists.

In 1964, as Cambodia is dragged into the Vietnam War, China pledges to Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodian chief of state, that it will give his country economic and military aid.

Thought for Today

"The most exciting attractions are between two opposites that never meet." — Andy Warhol, American painter (1928-1987).