Today is Thursday, Sept. 11, the 255th day of 2008. There are 111 days left in the year. This is Patriot Day.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Sept. 11, 2001, in the single worst act of terrorism committed on U.S. soil, nearly 3,000 people died when two hijacked jetliners crashed into New York’s World Trade Center, causing the twin towers to collapse; a commandeered jetliner smashed into the Pentagon; and a fourth hijacked plane crashed in western Pennsylvania.

On this date:

• In 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Betsy Drake is 85. Musician-composer Moby is 43. Business reporter Maria Bartiromo is 41. Singer Harry Connick Jr. is 41.

Thought for Today: “There would never be a moment, in war or in peace, when I wouldn’t trade all the patriots in the country for one tolerant man. Or when I wouldn’t swap the vitamins in a child’s lunch box for a jelly glass of magnanimity.”—E.B. White, American author and humorist (1899-1985).