March 6th in History

On this day in history —

  • The Battle of the Alamo ends (1836)
  • The Supreme Court issues the Dred Scott decision (1857)
  • Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first Periodic Table of Elements (1867)
  • Oreo® cookies are introduced (1912)
  • Cassius Clay becomes Muhammad Ali (1964)
  • Stalin’s daughter defects (1967)
  • Walter Cronkite signs off with “And that’s the way it is” for the last time (1981)

It’s the birthday of —

  • Shaquille O’Neal, basketball player (1972)
  • D. H. Hughley, comic (1963)
  • Tom Arnold, ex-husband (1959)
  • Stephen Schwartz, lyricist (1948)
  • Rob Reiner, meathead director (1947)
  • Kiri Te Kanawa, opera star (1944)
  • Valentina Tereshkova (Валенти́на Терешко́ва), first woman in space (1937)
  • Ivan Boesky, inside trader (1937)
  • Marion Barry, Jr., DC mayor (1936)
  • Gordon Cooper, Mercury astronaut (1927)
  • Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve chairman (1926)
  • Ed McMahon, sidekick (1923)
  • Will Eisner, graphic novelist (1917)
  • Lou Costello, Abbott partner (1906)
  • Ring Lardner, writer (1885)
  • Georg Luger, gun designer (1849)
  • Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet (1806)
  • Cyrano de Bergerac, soldier and playwright (1619)
  • Michelangelo, turtle namesake (1475)

Deaths —

  • Ernest Gallo, wine maker (2007)
  • Dana Reeve, Mrs. Superman (2006)
  • Melina Mercouri, actress (2006)
  • Georgia O’Keeffe, artist (1986)
  • Ayn Rand, novelist (1982)
  • “Slapsy Maxie” Rosenbloom, boxer and comedy impressario (1976)
  • Pearl S. Buck, novelist (1973)
  • Nelson Eddy, MacDonald partner (1967)
  • Margaret Dumont, Groucho foil (1965)
  • Gutzon Borglum, monumental sculptor (1941)
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Supreme Court justice (1935)
  • John Philip Sousa, march king (1932)
  • Gottlieb Daimler, car designer (1900)
  • Louisa May Alcott, novelist (1888)
  • Constanze Mozart, composer’s spouse (1842)
  • Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, William Travis, Alamo defenders (1836)

Holidays —

  • Foundation Day (Norfolk Island)
  • Independence Day (Ghana)
  • Feast of Kyneburga and Kyneswide (Catholicism)