Today is Monday, March 6, the 65th day of 2017. There are 300 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On 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.
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 to Mexican forces after a 13-day siege.
In 1853, Verdi’s opera “La Traviata” premiered in Venice, Italy.
In 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.
In 1944, U.S. heavy bombers staged the first full-scale American raid on Berlin during World War II.
In 1953, Georgy Malenkov was named premier of the Soviet Union a day after the death of Josef Stalin.
In 1957, the British Gold Coast and British Togoland became the independent state of Ghana.
In 1967, the daughter of Josef Stalin, Svetlana Alliluyeva (ah-lee-loo-YAY’-vah), appeared at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and declared her intention to defect to the West. Singer-actor Nelson Eddy, 65, died in Palm Beach, Florida.
In 1970, a bomb being built inside a Greenwich Village townhouse by the radical Weathermen accidentally went off, destroying the house and killing three group members.
In 1981, Walter Cronkite signed off for the last time as principal anchorman of “The CBS Evening News.”
In 1987, 193 people died when the British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized off the Belgian port of Zeebrugge (zay-BRUKH’-ah). The first “Lethal Weapon” movie, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, was released by Warner Bros.
In 1997, a gunman stole a million-dollar Picasso portrait (“Tete de Femme”) from a London gallery. (The painting was recovered and two suspects arrested a week later.) Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II launched the first official royal website.
Ten years ago: Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, was convicted of lying and obstructing an investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity. (President George W. Bush later commuted Libby’s 30-month prison sentence, but did not issue a pardon.) Some 70 people died in an earthquake on Sumatra island, Indonesia. Ernest Gallo, who built one of the world’s largest winemaking empires, died in Modesto, California, at age 97.
Five years ago: In Super Tuesday contests, Republican Mitt Romney narrowly won in pivotal Ohio, seized a home-state victory in Massachusetts, triumphed in Idaho, Vermont and Alaska, and won easily in Virginia, where neither Rick Santorum nor Newt Gingrich was on the ballot; Santorum won contests in Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Dakota, while Gingrich won at home in Georgia. Former Texas tycoon R. Allen Stanford was convicted in Houston of bilking his investors out of more than $7 billion through a Ponzi scheme. (Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in prison.) Songwriter Robert B. Sherman, 86, who collaborated with his brother Richard on such movie musicals as “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” died in London.
One year ago: Former first lady Nancy Reagan died in Los Angeles at age 94. Former President Jimmy Carter announced he no longer needed treatment for cancer, less than seven months after revealing he’d been diagnosed with melanoma that spread to his brain. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tangled aggressively in a Democratic presidential debate in Flint, Michigan, over trade, Wall Street influence and more.
Today’s Birthdays: Former FBI and CIA director William Webster is 93. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is 91. Former Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova is 80. Former Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, R-Mo., is 78. Actress-writer Joanna Miles is 77. Actor Ben Murphy is 75. Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is 73. Singer Mary Wilson (The Supremes) is 73. Rock musician Hugh Grundy (The Zombies) is 72. Rock singer-musician David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) is 71. Actress Anna Maria Horsford is 70. Actor-director Rob Reiner is 70. Singer Kiki Dee is 70. Fox News reporter John Stossel is 70. Composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz is 69. Rock singer-musician Phil Alvin (The Blasters) is 64. Sports correspondent Armen Keteyian is 64. Actor Tom Arnold is 58. Actor D.L. Hughley is 53. Country songwriter Skip Ewing is 53. Actor Shuler Hensley is 50. Actress Connie Britton is 50. Actress Moira Kelly is 49. Actress Amy Pietz is 48. Rock musician Chris Broderick (Megadeth) is 47. Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal is 45. Country singer Trent Willmon is 44. Country musician Shan Farmer (Ricochet) is 43. Rapper Beanie Sigel is 43. Rapper Bubba Sparxxx is 40. Rock musician Chris Tomson (Vampire Weekend) is 33. Actor Eli Marienthal is 31. Actor Jimmy Galeota is 31. Rapper/producer Tyler, the Creator is 26. Actor Dillon Freasier is 21. Actress Savannah Stehlin is 21.
Thought for Today: “Learn by others’ mistakes because you do not live long enough to make them all yourself.” — Author unknown.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Today in History
