TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY is Monday, March 4, 2019.

It is International Scrapbooking Industry Day On this day in history:

1783 – Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities with its former colonies, the United States of America.

1804 – The Australian Battle of Vinegar Hill, also known as the Battle of Castle Hill, begins.

1831 – Lieutenant-Governor James Stirling is commissioned first governor of the Swan River colony.

1899 – Cyclone Mahina hits north Queensland, killing over 400.

1904 – The Russo-Japanese War began after Japan laid siege to Port Arthur.

1932 – The first Winter Olympics were held in the United States at Lake Placid.

1945 – During World War II, US President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a conference at Yalta to outline plans for Germany’s defeat.

1948 – Ceylon gained independence within the British Commonwealth. The country later became known as Sri Lanka.

1968 – The world’s largest hovercraft was launched at Cowes, Isle of Wight.

1974 – Patricia (Patty) Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, CA, by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

1976 – An earthquake in Guatemala and Honduras killed more than 22,000 people.

1997 – President Milosevic of Serbia apparently surrendered to the will of his people, ordering his government to recognise opposition victories in local elections held in November 1996.

1998 – In northeast Afghanistan, at least 5000 people were killed in an earthquake that measured 6.1 on the Richter Scale.

1999 – Warplanes from Israel attacked south Lebanon just after rockets were fired toward Israel. No casualties were claimed on either side.

2003 – Yugoslavia was formally dissolved by lawmakers. The country was replaced with a loose union of its remaining two republics, Serbia and Montenegro.