TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT March 6, 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.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1475

Italian artist and poet Michelangelo was born in Caprese in the Republic of Florence.

1853

Verdi’s opera “La Traviata” premiered in Venice, Italy.

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.

1933

A national bank holiday declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt aimed at calming panicked depositors went into effect. Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, wounded in an attempt on Roosevelt’s life the previous month, died at a Miami hospital at age 59.

1944

U.S. heavy bombers staged the first full-scale American raid on Berlin during World War II.

1998

The U.S. Army honored three Americans who risked their lives and turned their weapons on fellow soldiers to stop the slaughter of Vietnamese villagers at My Lai (mee ly) in 1968.