Today is Wednesday, Sept. 10, the 254th day of 2008. There are 112 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Sept. 10, 1608, John Smith was elected president of the Jamestown colony council in Virginia.

On this date:

• 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 1846, Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine.

• In 1935, Sen. Huey P. Long, “The Kingfish” of Louisiana politics, died in Baton Rouge two days after being shot.

• In 1939, Canada declared war on Nazi Germany.

• In 1945, Vidkun Quisling was sentenced to death in Norway for collaborating with the Nazis (he was executed by firing squad in October 1945).

Ten years ago: President Clinton met with members of his Cabinet to apologize, ask forgiveness and promise to improve as a person in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Northwest Airlines and its striking pilots announced an agreement to end a nearly two-week walkout.

Today’s Birthdays: Golfer Arnold Palmer is 79. Actor Philip Baker Hall is 77. Actor Greg Mullavey is 69. Singer Danny Hutton (Three Dog Night) is 66. Actor Tom Ligon is 63. Actress Judy Geeson is 60. Rock musician Joe Perry (Aerosmith) is 58. Actress Amy Irving is 55. Country singer Rosie Flores is 52.

Thought for Today: “The authentic and pure values, truth, beauty, and goodness, in the activity of a human being are the result of one and the same act, a certain application of the full attention to the object.”—Simone Weil, French philosopher (1909-1943).