Today in History: March 6

Illustration showing Mexican Army troops attacking and scaling the walls of the Alamo, San Antonio, Texas, March 6, 1836. Published in Shinn's History of the American People, 1899. (Photo by Interim Archives/Getty Images)
In 1836, the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, fell to Mexican forces after a 13-day siege.   (Photo by Interim Archives/Getty Images)
Firefighters stand amid the smoke and wreckage from an explosion in the basement of 18 West 11th Street, New York, New York, March 6, 1970. The Greenwich Village house was being used by members of the Weathermen (later Weather Underground) and the explosion, caused by the accidental detonation of a bomb during its construction, resulted in three deaths. (Photo by Fred W. McDarrah/Getty Images)
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. (Photo by Fred W. McDarrah/Getty Images)
Gang rape suspects Daniel G. Silvia, left, Jose Vieira, center, and John Cordeiro were jailed last March for the rape of a New Bedford, Mass., woman. After 10 months of delay and legal maneuvering, the trial, Feb. 3, 1984, is about to begin in the Big Dan's rape case. (This is a 1983 file photo)
In 1983, in a case that drew much notoriety, a woman was gang-raped atop a pool table in a tavern in New Bedford, Massachusetts, called Big Dan’s; four men were later convicted of the attack. (This is a 1983 file photo)
President Ronald Reagan takes the oath of office administered by Chief Justice Warren Burger in a private White House ceremony for a second term in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Jan. 20, 1985.  First Lady Nancy Reagan holds the bible.  (AP Photo/Ira Schwarz)
In 2016, former first lady Nancy Reagan died in Los Angeles at age 94. In this photo, then-President Ronald Reagan takes the oath of office administered by Chief Justice Warren Burger in a private White House ceremony for a second term in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Jan. 20, 1985. First Lady Nancy Reagan holds the bible. (AP Photo/Ira Schwarz)
Soviet politicians Nikita Khrushchev, Nikolai Bulganin, Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov and Lazar Kaganovitch, from left to right, show their presence framed by flowers at a construction workers mass demonstration in Moscow, Russia, February 4, 1957. (AP Photo)
In 1953, Georgy Malenkov was named premier of the Soviet Union a day after the death of Josef Stalin. Soviet politicians Nikita Khrushchev, Nikolai Bulganin, Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov and Lazar Kaganovitch, from left to right, show their presence framed by flowers at a construction workers mass demonstration in Moscow, Russia, February 4, 1957. (AP Photo)
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. Workers remove a monument dedicated to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney from outside the Maryland State House, in Annapolis, Md., early Friday, Aug. 18, 2017. The statue of the U.S. Supreme Court justice who wrote the 1857 Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery and denied citizenship to African Americans, was lifted away by a crane at about 2 a.m. It was lowered into a truck and driven away to storage. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
In 1964, heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay officially changed his name to Muhammad Ali. FILE – In this May 25, 1965, file photo, heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali stands over fallen challenger Sonny Liston shortly after dropping him with a short hard right to the jaw in Lewiston, Maine. Ali’s Kentucky hometown will honor the late boxer by renaming its airport for him. The Louisville Regional Airport Authority’s board voted Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019, to change the name to Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Ali would have turned 77 Thursday. He died in 2016. (AP Photo/John Rooney, File)
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Illustration showing Mexican Army troops attacking and scaling the walls of the Alamo, San Antonio, Texas, March 6, 1836. Published in Shinn's History of the American People, 1899. (Photo by Interim Archives/Getty Images)
Firefighters stand amid the smoke and wreckage from an explosion in the basement of 18 West 11th Street, New York, New York, March 6, 1970. The Greenwich Village house was being used by members of the Weathermen (later Weather Underground) and the explosion, caused by the accidental detonation of a bomb during its construction, resulted in three deaths. (Photo by Fred W. McDarrah/Getty Images)
Gang rape suspects Daniel G. Silvia, left, Jose Vieira, center, and John Cordeiro were jailed last March for the rape of a New Bedford, Mass., woman. After 10 months of delay and legal maneuvering, the trial, Feb. 3, 1984, is about to begin in the Big Dan's rape case. (This is a 1983 file photo)
President Ronald Reagan takes the oath of office administered by Chief Justice Warren Burger in a private White House ceremony for a second term in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Jan. 20, 1985.  First Lady Nancy Reagan holds the bible.  (AP Photo/Ira Schwarz)
Soviet politicians Nikita Khrushchev, Nikolai Bulganin, Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov and Lazar Kaganovitch, from left to right, show their presence framed by flowers at a construction workers mass demonstration in Moscow, Russia, February 4, 1957. (AP Photo)

Today is Wednesday, March 6, the 65th day of 2019.

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 1475, Italian artist and poet Michelangelo was born in Caprese (kah-PRAY’-say) in the Republic of Florence.

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 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. 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 1964, heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay officially changed his name to Muhammad Ali.

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 1983, in a case that drew much notoriety, a woman was gang-raped atop a pool table in a tavern in New Bedford, Massachusetts, called Big Dan’s; four men were later convicted of the attack.

In 1995, “The Jenny Jones Show” taped an episode on same-sex crushes during which Jonathan Schmitz learned his secret admirer was an acquaintance, Scott Amedure; three days later, Schmitz fatally shot Amedure, later telling police that Amedure had embarrassed him on national TV. (Schmitz was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison for second-degree murder but was released on parole in August, 2017; the episode was never included in the “Jenny Jones” syndication package, but did air on Court TV.)

In 2008, a Palestinian killed eight students at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem before he was slain; Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip praised the operation in a statement, and thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza to celebrate.

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

Ten years ago: The government reported the jobless rate reached 8.1 percent in Feb. 2009. While acknowledging an “astounding” number of job losses, President Barack Obama told critics of his $787 billion economic recovery plan in Columbus, Ohio, that it was saving jobs and said, “I know we did the right thing.” NASA’s planet-hunting spacecraft, Kepler, rocketed into space on a voyage to track down other Earths in a faraway patch of the Milky Way galaxy.

Five years ago: Ukraine lurched toward breakup as lawmakers unanimously declared they wanted to join Russia and planned to put the decision to voters; President Barack Obama condemned the move and the West imposed the first real sanctions against Russia. Actress-singer Sheila MacRae, 92, died in Englewood, New Jersey.

One year 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.

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