This day in history

September 10

1989 - Hungary opened its border to the West, allowing thousands of East Germans to leave in a mass exodus that presaged the toppling of the Berlin Wall.

2002 - Switzerland became the 190th member of the United Nations, pledging to respect its traditional neutrality while pursuing human rights and world peace.

2008 - Scientists at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) start up the Large Hadron Collider, a huge particle-smashing machine.