TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2018

On this day:

1793 - The Holy Roman Emperor formally declared war on France.

1917 - At the start of the battle of Gaza, the British cavalry withdrew when 17,000 Turks blocked their advance. 1934 - The Flying Doctor Service announces that it will expand from Queensland into Western Australia.

1938 - Herman Goering warned all Jews to leave Austria. 1942 - The Germans began sending Jews to Auschwitz in Poland.

1945 - The battle of Iwo Jima ended.

1971 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared East Pakistan to be the independent republic of Bangladesh.

1973 - Women were allowed on the floor of the London Stock Exchange for the first time. 1979 - The Camp David treaty was signed by Israel and Egypt that ended the 31-year state of war between the countries. 1983 - The U.S. performed a nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site.

1984 - Australia introduces the $100 note.

1995 - Seven of the 15 European Union states abolished border controls. 1996 - The International Monetary Fund approved a $10.2 billion loan for Russia to help the country transform its economy.

1997 - The 39 bodies of Heaven’s Gate members are found in a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. The group had committed suicide thinking that they would be picked up by a spaceship following behind the comet Hale-Bopp. 1998 - In the U.S., the Federal government endorses new HIV test that yields instant results. 1998 - Unisys Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. pay a $3.15 million fine for selling spare parts at inflated prices to the U.S. federal government. 1999 - In Michigan, Dr. Jack Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder for giving a terminally ill man a lethal injection and putting it all on videotape on September 17, 1998 for “60 Minutes.” 2000 - In Russia, acting President Vladimir Putin was elected president outright. He won a sufficient number of votes to avoid a runoff election.