TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS MONDAY, MARCH 6, the 65th day of 2023. There are 300 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1944, U.S. heavy bombers staged the first full-scale American raid on Berlin during World War II.
In 1836, the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, fell as Mexican forces led by General 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.
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 1964, heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay changed his name officially to Muhammad Ali.
In 1981, Walter Cronkite signed off for the last time as principal anchorman of “The CBS Evening News.”
In 1998, the Army honored three Americans who’d 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.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Former FBI and CIA director William Webster is 99. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is 97. Rock singer-musician David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) is 77. Actor Anna Maria Horsford, actor-director Rob Reiner, singer Kiki Dee and TV consumer reporter John Stossel are 76. Actor Amy Pietz is 54. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal is 51. Country singer Trent Willmon is 50. Rapper Beanie Sigel is 49. Former MLB pitcher Jake Arrieta and actor Eli Marienthal are 37. Actors Dillon Freasier and Savannah Stehlin are 27.