From Historynet: Today in History March 24

1208          King John of England  opposes 

Innocent III  on his nomination for archbishop of Canterbury.

1603          Queen Elizabeth I  dies which will bring into power James VI of Scotland .

1663          Charles II of England  awards land known as Carolina in North America to eight members of the nobility who assisted in his restoration.

1664          In London, Roger Williams  is granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island.

1720          The banking houses of Paris close in the wake of financial crisis.

1721          In Germany, the supremely talented 

Johann Sebastian Bach  publishes the Six Brandenburg Concertos.

1765          Britain passes the Quartering Act, requiring the colonies to house 10,000 British troops in public and private buildings.

1862          Abolitionist Wendell Phillips  speaks to a crowd about emancipation in Cincinnati, Ohio and is pelted by eggs.

1900          Mayor Van Wyck of New York  breaks ground for the New York subway tunnel that will link Manhattan and Brooklyn.

1904          Vice Admiral Togo  sinks seven Russian ships as the Japanese strengthen their blockade of Port Arthur.

1927          Chinese Communists seize Nanking and break with 

Chiang Kai-shek  over the Nationalist goals.

1938          The United States asks that all powers help refugees fleeing from the Nazis.

1944          The Gestapo rounds up innocent Italians in Rome and shoots them to death in reprisal for a bomb attack that killed 33 German policemen.

1947          Congress proposes limiting the United States presidency to two terms.

1951          General Douglas MacArthur  threatens the Chinese with an extension of the Korean War if the proposed truce is not accepted.

1954          Great Britain opens trade talks with Hungary.

1955          Tennessee Williams'  play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opens at the Morosco Theatre in New York City.

1958          Elvis Presley  trades in his guitar for a rifle and Army fatigues.

1965          The Freedom Marchers, citizens for civil rights, reach Montgomery, Alabama.

1967          Viet Cong ambush a truck convoy in South Vietnam damaging 82 of the 121 trucks.

1972          Great Britain imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland.

1985          Thousands demonstrate in Madrid against the NATO presence in Spain.

1989          The Exxon Valdez oil tanker spills 240,000 barrels of oil in Alaska's Prince William Sound.

1999          NATO planes, including stealth aircraft, attack Serbian forces in Kosovo.