Today In History
Today is Monday, March 6, the 65th day of 2017. There are 300 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
› 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.
ON THIS DATE
› 1834: The city of York in Upper Canada was incorporated as Toronto.
› 1836: The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, fell to Mexican forces after a 13-day siege.
› 1933: A national bank holiday declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt aimed at calming panicked depositors went into effect. Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, wounded in an attempt on Roosevelt’s life the previous month, died at a Miami hospital at age 59.
› 1944: U.S. heavy bombers staged the first full-scale American raid on Berlin during World War II.
› 1953: Georgy Malenkov was named premier of the Soviet Union a day after the death of Josef Stalin.
› 1957: The British Gold Coast and British Togoland became the independent state of Ghana.
› 1967: The daughter of Josef Stalin, Svetlana Alliluyeva, appeared at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and declared her intention to defect to the West. Singer-actor Nelson Eddy, 65, died in Palm Beach, Florida.
› 1970: A bomb being built inside a Greenwich Village townhouse by the radical Weathermen accidentally went off, destroying the house and killing three group members.
› 1981: Walter Cronkite signed off for the last time as principal anchorman of “The CBS Evening News.”
› 1987: One hundred ninety-three people died when the British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized off the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. The first “Lethal Weapon” movie, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, was released by Warner Bros.
› 1997: A gunman stole a million-dollar Picasso portrait (“Tete de Femme”) from a London gallery. (The painting was recovered and two suspects arrested a week later.) Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II launched the first official royal website.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Former FBI and CIA director William Webster is 93. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is 91. Former Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova is 80. Former Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, R-Mo., is 78. Actress-writer Joanna Miles is 77. Actor Ben Murphy is 75. Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is 73. Singer Mary Wilson (The Supremes) is 73. Rock musician Hugh Grundy (The Zombies) is 72. Rock singer-musician David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) is 71. Actress Anna Maria Horsford is 70. Actor-director Rob Reiner is 70. Singer Kiki Dee is 70. Fox News reporter John Stossel is 70. Composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz is 69. Rock singer-musician Phil Alvin (The Blasters) is 64. Sports correspondent Armen Keteyian is 64. Actor Tom Arnold is 58. Actor Shuler Hensley is 50. Actress Connie Britton is 50. Actress Moira Kelly is 49. Actress Amy Pietz is 48. Rock musician Chris Broderick (Megadeth) is 47. Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal is 45. Country singer Trent Willmon is 44. Rapper Beanie Sigel is 43. Rapper Bubba Sparxxx is 40. Rock musician Chris Tomson (Vampire Weekend) is 33. Actor Eli Marienthal is 31. Actor Jimmy Galeota is 31. Rapper/producer Tyler, the Creator is 26. Actor Dillon Freasier is 21. Actress Savannah Stehlin is 21.