ON THIS DATE

In 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.

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 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 1973, Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck, 80, died in Danby, Vermont.

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 2016, former first lady Nancy Reagan died in Los Angeles at age 94.