This Day in History

1762: The world's first St. Patrick's Day parade is held in New York City.
1766: England's Parliament repeals the Stamp Act after widespread opposition in the American colonies.
1776: British troops are evacuated from Boston under threats from American artillery.
1861: The kingdom of Italy is proclaimed with Victor Emmanuel II as king and Cavour as prime minister.
1871: Parisians begin an uprising against the French government, temporarily establishing a proletarian dictatorship in Paris known as the Commune of 1871.
1901: A Paris art gallery shows 71 of Van Gogh's paintings, solidifying his place in art history; the painter has been dead for more than ten years.
1910: The Camp Fire Girls are founded.
1917: Russia becomes a republic when Czar Nicholas II abdicates.
1992: Whites in South Africa vote in support of Pres. F.W. de Klerk's policies to end white minority rule through negotiation.
2000: More than 500 members of a religious cult perish in a church fire in Uganda.
2003: Ending their diplomatic efforts to avoid war, Pres. George W. Bush, British Prime Min. Tony Blair, and Spanish Premier Jose Maria Aznar withdraw their proposed resolution from the UN Security Council; Bush warns Saddam Hussein and his sons that they have 48 hours to leave Iraq.