Features

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On March 6, 1836, the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, fell to Mexican forces after a 13-day siege. 

On this date: 

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

In 1853, Verdi’s opera “La Traviata” premiered in Venice, Italy. 

In 1857, in its “Dred Scott” decision, the Supreme Court held that Scott, a slave, could not sue for his freedom in federal court. 

In 1933, a nationwide bank holiday declared by President Franklin Roosevelt went into effect. 

In 1935, retired Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. died in Washington. 

In 1944, U.S. heavy bombers staged the first American raid on Berlin during World War II. 

In 1957, the former British African colonies of the Gold Coast and Togoland became the independent state of Ghana. 

In 1981, Walter Cronkite signed off for the last time as principal anchorman of “The CBS Evening News.” 

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

In 1987, 189 people died when the British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized off the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. 

Ten years ago:  

Personal computer users braced for a virus known as “Michelangelo,” set to trigger on March 6, but only scattered cases of lost files were reported. 

Five years ago: 

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 Web site. China introduced new laws to bolster its campaigns against dissent, ethnic separatism and subversive Western ideals. 

One year ago:  

Calling it the “most accurate census in history,” the Bush administration refused to adjust the 2000 head count. Forty-two people, mostly students, were killed in a schoolhouse explosion in southern China; the government blamed a bomber, but parents said the students had been forced to make fireworks by school officials. Bill Mazeroski was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with former Negro League player Hilton Smith. 

Today’s Birthdays:  

TV personality Ed McMahon is 79. Conductor Sarah Caldwell is 78. Former FBI and CIA director William Webster is 78. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is 76. Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova is 65. Country singer Doug Dillard is 65. Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., is 63. Actress-writer Joanna Miles is 62. Actor Ben Murphy is 60. Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is 58. Singer Mary Wilson (The Supremes) is 58. Actor-director Rob Reiner is 55. Singer Kiki Dee is 55. Actor Tom Arnold is 43. Actor D.L. Hughley is 38. Country songwriter Skip Ewing is 38. Actress Yvette Wilson is 38. Actress Moira Kelly is 34. Actress Amy Pietz is 33. Basketball player Shaquille O’Neal is 30. Country musician Shan Farmer (Ricochet) is 28. Actor Jimmy Galeota is 16. Actor Eli Marienthal is 16.