TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017

On this day in history:

1550 - France and England signed the Peace of Boulogne. 1664 - A charter to colonise Rhode Island was granted to Roger Williams in London. 1827 - Work begins on Busby’s Bore to pipe water to meet the needs of the growing colony in New South Wales.

1837 - Canada gave blacks the right to vote

1848 - A state of siege was proclaimed in Amsterdam. 1878 - The British frigate Eurydice sank killing 300. 1882 - In Berlin, German scientist Robert Koch announced the discovery of the tuberculosis germ (bacillus).

1904 - Vice Adm Tojo sank seven Russian ships as the Japanese strengthened their blockade of Port Arthur. 1905 - In Crete, a group led by Eleutherios Venizelos claimed independence from Turkey. 1906 - The Census of the British Empire revealed that England ruled of the world.

1924 - Greece became a republic.

1938 - The US asked that all countries help refugees fleeing from the Nazis.

1944 - In Rome, The Gestapo rounded up innocent Italians and shot them to death in response to a bomb attack that killed 32 German policemen. Over 300 civilians were executed.

1972 - Great Britain imposed direct rule over Northern Ireland.

1985 - Thousands demonstrated in Madrid against the NATO presence in Spain.

1990 - Indian troops left Sri Lanka.

1991 - The African nation of Benin held its first presidential elections in about 30 years. 1993 - In Israel, Ezer Weizman, an advocate of peace with neighbouring Arab nations, was elected President. 1995 - Russian forces surrounded Achkoi-Martan. It was one of the few remaining strongholds of rebels in Chechnya.

1997 - The Australian parliament overturned the world’s first and only euthanasia law.

2002 - Thieves stole five 17th century paintings worth about $2.6 million from the Frans Hals Museum in the Dutch city of Haarlem.