By The Associated PressSat Sep 2, 8:00 PM ET

Today is Sunday, Sept. 3, the 246th day of 2006. There are 119 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris between the United States and Great Britain officially ended the Revolutionary War.

On this date:

In 1189, England's King Richard I (the Lionhearted) was crowned in Westminster.

In 1658, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the English Commonwealth, died.

In 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany, two days after the Nazi invasion of Poland.

In 1943, the British Eighth Army invaded Italy during World War II, the same day Italy signed a secret armistice with the allies.

In 1967, Nguyen Van Thieu was elected president of South Vietnam under a new constitution.

In 1967, motorists in Sweden began driving on the right-hand side of the road instead of the left.

In 1976, the unmanned U.S. spacecraft Viking 2 landed on Mars to take the first close-up, color photographs of the planet's surface.

In 1978, Pope John Paul I was installed as the 264th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1989, a Cubana de Aviacion jetliner crashed after takeoff in Havana, killing all 126 aboard and 26 people on the ground.

In 2004, the three-day hostage siege at a school in Beslan, Russia, ended in bloody chaos after Chechen militants set off bombs as Russian commandos stormed the building; nearly 340 people were killed.

Ten years ago: The United States launched 27 cruise missiles at "selected air defense targets" in Iraq as punishment for Iraq's invasion of Kurdish safe havens.

Five years ago: Four days into a world conference against racism, the United States and Israel walked out of the U.N. meeting in South Africa, accusing Arab nations of hijacking the summit as a platform to embarrass the Jewish state. It was announced that high-tech giant Hewlett-Packard was buying Compaq Computer for about $25 billion. Movie critic Pauline Kael died in Great Barrington, Mass., at age 82. St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bud Smith became the 16th rookie in modern history to throw a no-hitter, shutting down San Diego in the Cardinals' 4-0 win.

One year ago: President Bush ordered more than 7,000 active duty forces to the Gulf Coast as his administration intensified efforts to rescue survivors and send aid to the hurricane-ravaged region in the face of criticism it did not act quickly enough. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died in Arlington, Va., at age 80, after more than three decades on the Supreme Court.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Kitty Carlisle Hart is 96. Actress Helen Wagner ("As the World Turns") is 88. "Beetle Bailey" cartoonist Mort Walker is 83. Country singer Hank Thompson is 81. Actress Anne Jackson is 80. Country singer Tompall Glaser is 73. Actress Pauline Collins is 66. Rock singer-musician Al Jardine (The Beach Boys) is 64. Actress Valerie Perrine is 63. Rock musician Donald Brewer (Grand Funk Railroad) is 58. Rock guitarist Steve Jones (The Sex Pistols) is 51. Rock singer-musician Todd Lewis is 41. Actor Costas Mandylor is 41. Actor Charlie Sheen is 41. Singer Jennifer Paige is 33. Actor Nick Wechsler is 28.

Thought for Today: "It is awfully important to know what is and what is not your business." — Gertrude Stein, American author (1874-1946).