Today’s highlight in history
Today is Monday, March 6, the 65th day of 2023.
On March 6, 1836, the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, fell as Mexican forces led by Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna stormed the fortress after a 13-day siege; the battle claimed the lives of all the Texan defenders, nearly 200 strong, including William Travis, James Bowie and Davy Crockett.
On this date
In 1834, the city of York in Upper Canada was incorporated as Toronto.
In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Dred Scott v. Sandford, ruled 7-2 that Scott, a slave, was not an American citizen and therefore could not sue for his freedom in federal court.
In 1912, Oreo sandwich cookies were first introduced by the National Biscuit Co.
In 1933, a national bank holiday declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, aimed at calming panicked depositors, went into effect.
In 1944, U.S. heavy bombers staged the first full-scale American raid on Berlin during World War II.
In 1964, heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay officially changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
In 1970, a bomb being built inside a Greenwich Village townhouse in New York by the radical Weathermen accidentally went off, destroying the house and killing three group members.
In 1981, Walter Cronkite signed off for the last time as principal anchor of “The CBS Evening News.”
In 1998, the Army honored three Americans who had risked their lives and turned their weapons on fellow soldiers to stop the slaughter of Vietnamese villagers at My Lai in 1968.
In 2002, independent counsel Robert Ray issued his final report in which he wrote that former President Bill Clinton could have been indicted and probably would have been convicted in the scandal involving former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
In 2016, former first lady Nancy Reagan died at age 94.
Ten years ago: Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a critic of the Obama administration’s drone policy, launched an old-style filibuster to block Senate confirmation of John Brennan’s nomination to be CIA director; Paul lasted nearly 13 hours before yielding the floor. Syria’s accelerating humanitarian crisis hit a grim milestone as the number of U.N.registered refugees topped 1 million, half of them children.
Today’s birthdays
Former FBI and CIA director William Webster is 99. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is 97. Danceractor Carmen de Lavallade is 92. Actor Joanna Miles is 83. Actor Ben Murphy is 81. Singer-musician David Gilmour is 77. Actor Anna Maria Horsford is 76. Actor-director Rob Reiner is 76. Singer Kiki Dee is 76. Composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz is 75. Singer-musician Phil Alvin (The Blasters) is 70. Actor Tom Arnold is 64. Actor D.L. Hughley is 60. Actor Connie Britton is 56. Actor Moira Kelly is 55. Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal is 51. Former Padres pitcher Jake Arrieta is 37. Rapper Tyler, the Creator is 32.