Today is the 217th day of 2012. There are 149 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight

1962: Unveiling a statue called "A Jamaican Athlete", Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret opens the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica; Prime Minister of Canada John Diefenbaker presents a gift of C$10,000 (about 3,300 pounds), to the people of Jamaica for scholarships tenable in Canada.

Other Events

1914: Germany invades Belgium, opening World War I fighting; Britain declares war on Germany; United States declares its neutrality.

1916: Denmark sells Danish Virgin Islands to the US for $25 million.

1944: Nazi police capture 14-year-old Anne Frank and seven other Jews in hiding places in Amsterdam during World War II.

1986: Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reluctantly offers to impose limited sanctions against South Africa.

1990: Twelve nations of European Community ban oil imports, embargo arms and suspend most trade with Iraq after invasion of Kuwait.

1993: Japan's Cabinet resigns, ending 38 years of rule by the Liberal Democratic Party.

2000: Queen Mother Elizabeth celebrates her 100th birthday as thousands line the roads of London to cheer her. Her popularity stems in part from her activities during World War II, travelling with her husband, King George VI, and visiting and sympathising with their subjects.

2002: In an electoral tie, Bolivia's Congress select Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, a wealthy mining magnate and former president, as the country's next president.

2003: The first 200 members of a West African peacekeeping force arrive in Liberia in an effort to stop more than two months of fighting between government forces and rebels, and allow food and medicine to enter Monrovia.

2005: A US Army interrogator is demoted but spared a prison sentence for "roughing up" an Afghan prisoner who later died.

2009 - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il issues a "special pardon" freeing two jailed American journalists after talks with former US President Bill Clinton.

Today's Birthdays

Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet (1792-1822); Hans Christian Andersen, Danish fairy-tale writer (1805-1875); Britain's Queen Mother Elizabeth (1900-2002); Louis Armstrong, US jazz musician (1901-1971); Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish diplomat (1912-1947); Rene Goscinny, French author of Asterix (1926-1977); Assia Djebar, Algerian author (1936-); Billy Bob Thornton, US actor (1955-).

— Jamaica Observer and AP