On this day, March 6
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.
1882 The Homestead mill of the Pittsburgh Bessemer Steel Co. had its first strike when millworkers refused to sign “yellow dog” contracts; violence followed.
1944 U.S. heavy bombers staged the first full-scale American raid on Berlin during World War II.
1951 Koppers’ Kobuta rubber plant was knocked out of defense production for three months by a $500,000 fire.
1978 The UMW rank and file rejected a proposed contract. President Jimmy Carter invoked the Taft-Hartley Act, obliging miners to return to work.
2015 During a town hall at South Carolina’s Benedict College, President Barack Obama said racial discrimination by police in Ferguson, Mo., was “oppressive and abusive” as he called for criminal justice reform as part of the modern struggle for civil rights.
Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology). Today’s birthdays: Former FBI and CIA director William Webster, 97. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, 95. Dancer-actor Carmen de Lavallade, 90. Former Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, 84. Former Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, R-Mo., 82. Actor Ben Murphy, 79. Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, 77. Rock singer-musician David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), 75. Actor Anna Maria Horsford, 74. Actor-director Rob Reiner, 74. Singer Kiki Dee, 74. Composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz, 73. Rock singer-musician Phil Alvin (The Blasters), 68. Sports correspondent Armen Keteyian, 68. Actor Tom Arnold, 62. Actor D.L. Hughley, 58. Country songwriter Skip Ewing, 57. Actor Shuler Hensley, 54. Actor Connie Britton, 54. Actor Moira Kelly, 53. Actor Amy Pietz, 52. Rock musician Chris Broderick (Megadeth), 51. Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, 49. Country singer Trent Willmon, 48. Rapper Beanie Sigel, 47. Rapper Bubba Sparxxx, 44. Actor Shaun Evans, 41. Rock musician Chris Tomson (Vampire Weekend), 37. MLB pitcher Jake Arrieta, 35. Actor Eli Marienthal, 35. Actor Jimmy Galeota, 35. Rapper/producer Tyler, the Creator, 30. Actor Dillon Freasier, 25. Actor Savannah Stehlin, 25. Actor Millicent Simmonds (“Wonderstruck”), 18. Thought for today: “Learn by others’ mistakes because you do not live long enough to make them all yourself.”
— Author unknown