On this day, April 6

1818 During Pittsburgh’s first bank robbery, $104,000 was stolen from Farmers & Mechanics Bank; the accused robbers were captured soon thereafter.

1862 The Civil War Battle of Shiloh began in Tennessee as Confederate forces launched a surprise attack against Union troops, who beat back the Confederates the next day.

1909 American explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson and four Inuits became the first men to reach the North Pole.

1942 An estimated 300,000 people assembled Downtown to watch 35,000 marchers in an Army Day demonstration of loyalty and patriotism.

1978 The FBI and the District Attorney’s Office begin an investigation of Community Action Pittsburgh, an agency that was dispensing federal anti-poverty funds.

2008 Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, speaking at a fundraiser in San Francisco, spoke of voters in Pennsylvania’s Rust Belt communities who “cling to guns or religion” because of bitterness about their economic lot; Democratic rival Hillary Clinton called the remark “elitist.” Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin

Today’s birthdays: Nobel Prize-winning scientist James D. Watson, 93. Actor Billy Dee Williams, 84. Actor Roy Thinnes, 83. Movie director Barry Levinson, 79. Actor John Ratzenberger, 74. Actor Patrika Darbo, 73. Baseball Hall of Famer and former Pirates pitcher Bert Blyleven, 70. Actor Marilu Henner, 69. Olympic bronze medal figure skater Janet Lynn, 68. Actor Michael Rooker, 66. Former U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., 65. Rock musician Warren Haynes, 61. Rock singer-musician Black Francis, 56. Actor Ari Meyers, 52. Actor Paul Rudd, 52. Actor-producer Jason Hervey, 49. Actor Zach Braff, 46. Actor Joel Garland, 46. Actor Candace Cameron Bure, 45. Actor Teddy Sears, 44. Actor Eliza Coupe, 40. Actor Bret Harrison, 39. Actor Charlie McDermott, 31. Thought for today: “History is the ship carrying living memories to the future.”

— Sir Stephen Spender, British poet and critic (1909-1995)