This day in history
Today is Wednesday, March 6, the 66th day of 2024. There are 300 days left in the year.
▶ Birthdays: Former FBI and CIA director William Webster is 100. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is 98. Dancer-actor Carmen de Lavallade is 93. Former Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova is 87. Former Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, R-Mo., is 85. Actor-writer Joanna Miles is 84. Actor Ben Murphy is 82. Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is 80. Rock musician Hugh Grundy (the Zombies) is 79. Rock singermusician David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) is 78. Actor Anna Maria Horsford is 77. Actor-director Rob Reiner is 77. Singer Kiki Dee is 77. TV consumer reporter John Stossel is 77. Composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz is 76. Rock singer-musician Phil Alvin (the Blasters) is 71. Sports correspondent Armen Keteyian is 71. Actor Tom Arnold is 65. Actor D.L. Hughley is 61. Actor Shuler Hensley is 57. Actor Connie Britton is 57. Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal is 52.
▶ In 1834, the city of York in Upper Canada was incorporated as Toronto.
▶ In 1836, the Alamo in San Antonio, 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 US 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 1944, US 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 1970, a bomb being built inside a Greenwich Village townhouse in New York by the radical Weathermen accidentally went off, destroying the house and killing three group members.