Today in History

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Today is Monday, March 6, the 65th day of 2023. There are 300 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight in history:

On March 6, 1944, U.S. heavy bombers staged the first full-scale American raid on Berlin during World War II.

On this date:

In 1834, the city of York in Upper Canada was incorporated as Toronto.

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 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.

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 (mee ly) 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.

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

Ten years ago: Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a critic of the Obama administration’s drone policy, launched an old-style filibuster to block Senate confirmation of John Brennan’s nomination to be CIA director; Paul lasted nearly 13 hours before yielding the floor. Syria’s accelerating humanitarian crisis hit a grim milestone as the number of U.N.-registered refugees topped 1 million, half of them children.

Five years ago: Top economic adviser Gary Cohn announced that he was leaving the White House after breaking with President Donald Trump on trade policy. Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, a one-time rising star in the Democratic Party, resigned after pleading guilty to cheating the city out of thousands of dollars to carry on an affair with her bodyguard. Schoolteachers in West Virginia announced an end to a nine-day walkout after state lawmakers approved a 5 percent pay raise.

One year ago: A second attempt to evacuate Ukrainians from the besieged city of Mariupol collapsed as Russian attacks made it impossible to create a humanitarian corridor, according to a Ukrainian official. In his first public remarks since resigning over multiple sexual harassment allegations, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo assailed the “cancel culture” he says was behind politically motivated efforts to remove him. A massive brawl broke out among fans of clubs in Mexico’s top-division soccer league, leaving 14 hospitalized, two of them in critical condition.

Today’s birthdays: Former FBI and CIA director William Webster is 99. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is 97. Dancer-actor Carmen de Lavallade is 92. Former Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova is 86. Former Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, R-Mo., is 84. Actor-writer Joanna Miles is 83. Actor Ben Murphy is 81. Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is 79. Rock musician Hugh Grundy (The Zombies) is 78. Rock singer-musician David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) is 77. Actor Anna Maria Horsford is 76. Actor-director Rob Reiner is 76. Singer Kiki Dee is 76. TV consumer reporter John Stossel is 76. Composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz is 75. Rock singer-musician Phil Alvin (The Blasters) is 70. Sports correspondent Armen Keteyian is 70. Actor Tom Arnold is 64. Actor D.L. Hughley is 60. Country songwriter Skip Ewing is 59. Actor Shuler Hensley is 56. Actor Connie Britton is 56. Actor Moira Kelly is 55. Actor Amy Pietz is 54. Rock musician Chris Broderick (Megadeth) is 53. Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal is 51. Country singer Trent Willmon is 50. Rapper Beanie Sigel is 49. Rapper Bubba Sparxxx is 46. Actor Shaun Evans is 43. Rock musician Chris Tomson (Vampire Weekend) is 39. Former MLB pitcher Jake Arrieta is 37. Actor Eli Marienthal is 37. Rapper/producer Tyler, the Creator is 32. Actor Dillon Freasier is 27. Actor Savannah Stehlin is 27. Actor Millicent Simmonds (Film: “Wonderstruck”) is 20.

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