What Happened Whensday: September 10, 2008

This is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 112 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events:

506 - The bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde.

1419 - John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy is assassinated by adherents of the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France.

1608 - John Smith is elected council president of Jamestown, Virginia.

1776 - American Revolutionary War: Nathan Hale volunteers to spy.

1798 - At the Battle of St. George's Caye, British Honduras defeats Spain.

1813 - The U.S. defeats the British Fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.

1823 - Simón Bolívar is named President of Peru.

1846 - Elias Howe gets a patent for the sewing machine.

1858 - George Mary Searle discovers the asteroid 55 Pandora.

1897 - Lattimer Massacre - a sheriff's posse kills twenty unarmed immigrant miners in Pennsylvania, United States.

1898 - Empress Elizabeth of Austria is assassinated by Luigi Lucheni.

1919 - Austria and the Allies sign the Treaty of Saint-Germain recognizing the independence of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.

1927 - Sports: France had its first Davis Cup win, though it had competed since 1905.

1932 - The New York City Subway's third competing subway system, the municipally-owned IND, is opened.

1939 - World War II: The submarine HMAS Oxley is mistakenly sunk by the submarine HMS Triton near Norway and becomes the Royal Navy's first loss.
1939 - Canada declares war on Nazi Germany, joining France, the UK, New Zealand and Australia in the Allies.

1942 - World War II: The British carry out an amphibious landing on Madagascar to re-launch Allied offensive operations in the Madagascar Campaign.

1943 - World War II: German forces begin their occupation of Rome.

1945 - Mike the Headless Chicken is decapitated; he survives for another 18 months before choking to death.

1951 - United Kingdom began an economic boycott of Iran.

1961 - Italian Grand Prix, a crash causes the death of German driver Wolfgang von Trips and 13 spectators hit by his Ferrari.

1963 - 20 African-American students enter public schools in Alabama.

1966 - Music: "The Last Train to Clarksville" was released by the Monkees.

1967 - The people of Gibraltar vote to remain a British dependency rather than becoming part of Spain.

1972 - Sports: The United States loses its first international basketball game in a disputed match against the Soviet Union at Munich, Germany.

1974 - Guinea-Bissau gains independence from Portugal.

1976 - A British Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident and an Inex-Adria DC-9 collide near Zagreb, Yugoslavia, killing 176.

1977 - Last execution by Guillotine in France. Hamida Djandoubi, convicted for torture and murder.

1980 - Pro-Wrestling: Harley Race defeated Shohei Baba for the NWA Heavyweight Wrestling title

1990 - The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire – the largest church in Africa is consecrated by Pope John Paul II.
1990 - TV: Will Smith made his debut in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

2000 - Cats closes on Broadway.

2002 - Switzerland, noted as a neutral country, joins the United Nations.

2003 - Anna Lindh, the foreign minister of Sweden, is stabbed fatally while shopping, and dies of her wounds on September 11.

2007 - Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan after seven years in exile, following a military coup in October 1999.


Births:

1487 - Pope Julius III, Italian Roman Catholic Pope (d. 1555)
1638 - Maria Theresa of Spain, queen of Louis XIV of France (d. 1683)
1914 - Robert Wise, American film director (d. 2005)
1917 - Miguel Serrano, Chilean author and diplomat
1918 - Rin Tin Tin, German shepherd dog (d. 1932)
1929 - Arnold Palmer, American golfer
1934 - Roger Maris, American baseball player (d. 1985)
1948 - Charlie Waters, American football player
1949 - Don Muraco, professional wrestler
1949 - Bill O'Reilly, American journalist and commentator
1950 - Joe Perry, American musician (Aerosmith)
1963 - Randy Johnson, American baseball player
1963 - Bill Stevenson, American music producer and musician
1965 - Robin Goodridge, English rock drummer (Bush)
1968 - Guy Ritchie, British film director
1974 - Ryan Phillippe, American actor
1974 - Ben Wallace, American basketball player
1980 - Mikey Way, American musician (My Chemical Romance)
1984 - Matthew Followill, guitarist of American rock band Kings Of Leon
1989 - Sanjaya Malakar, TV show contestant


Deaths:

210 BC - Qin Shi Huang, first emperor of China.
918 - Count Baldwin II of Flanders (b. 865)
954 - King Louis IV of France (b. 920)
1167 - Empress Matilda, wife of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1102)
1197 - Henry II of Champagne (b. 1166)
1519 - John Colet, English churchman and educator
1997 - Jack Adkisson, professional wrestler, aka 'Fritz Von Erich' (b. 1929)
2006 - Daniel Wayne Smith, son of Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith (b. 1986)
2007 - Jane Wyman, American actress, first wife of Ronald Reagan (b.1917)