Today in history

1821: Guatemala becomes independent from Spain. 1830: British statesman William Huskisson is fatally injured at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in the first train accident. 1939: Nuremberg laws are passed, making discrimination against Jews part of Germany’s national policy. 1993: Hijackers brandishing grenades force a Russian jet with 52 people aboard to land in Norway. 1995: Tanks, howitzers and other heavy weaponry roll away from Sarajevo as Bosnian Serbs begin complying with a US-brokered agreement to ease the shattered city’s siege. 2000: Mexicans are free to toast their independence from Spain for the first time in 70 years. The sale of alcohol at patriotic events had been banned when President Pascual Ortiz was wounded in an assassination attempt in 1930. 2010: A mortar attack by Palestinian militants and airstrikes by Israel form the grim backdrop as Middle East leaders end their round of peace talks still divided on major issues.