Today in History - March 6

Today is Friday, March 6, the 65th day of 2009.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 6, 1836, the Alamo in San Antonio 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, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford that Scott, a slave, was not an American citizen and could not sue for his freedom in federal court.

In 1933, a nationwide bank holiday declared by President Franklin D. 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 full-scale 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 1967, the daughter of Josef Stalin, Svetlana Alliluyeva, appeared at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and declared her intention to defect to the West.

In 1983, in a case that drew much notoriety, Cheryl Araujo was gang-raped atop a pool table in a tavern in New Bedford, Mass., called Big Dan's; four men were later convicted of the attack. (Araujo was killed in a car accident in 1986.)

In 1987, 193 people died when the British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized off the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.

Ten years ago: The emir of Bahrain (Sheik Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa), a key Western ally who had ruled for nearly four decades, died shortly after a meeting with Defense Secretary William Cohen; he was 65.

Five years ago: President George W. Bush backed off on plans to require frequent Mexican travelers to the U.S. to be fingerprinted and photographed before crossing the border. A water taxi capsized in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, killing five people.

One year ago: A Palestinian killed eight students at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem before he was slain. Twin bombings in a shopping district in Baghdad killed at least 68 people and wounded 130 others.

Today's Birthdays: Orchestra conductor Julius Rudel is 88. TV personality Ed McMahon is 86. Former FBI and CIA director William Webster is 85. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is 83. Author Gabriel Garcia Marquez is 82. Orchestra conductor Lorin Maazel is 79. Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova is 72. Country singer Doug Dillard is 72. Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., is 70. Actress-writer Joanna Miles is 69. Actor Ben Murphy is 67. Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is 65. Singer Mary Wilson (The Supremes) is 65. Rock musician Hugh Grundy (The Zombies) is 64. Rock singer-musician David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) is 63. Actor-director Rob Reiner is 62. Singer Kiki Dee is 62. Rock singer-musician Phil Alvin (The Blasters) is 56. Actor Tom Arnold is 50. Former child actress Suzanne Crough is 46. Actor D.L. Hughley is 45. Country songwriter Skip Ewing is 45. Actress Yvette Wilson is 45. Actor Shuler Hensley is 42. Actress Connie Britton is 41. Actress Moira Kelly is 41. Actress Amy Pietz is 40. Basketball player Shaquille O'Neal is 37. Country singer Trent Willmon is 36. Country musician Shan Farmer (Ricochet) is 35. Rapper Beanie Sigel is 35. Rapper Bubba Sparxxx is 32. Rock musician Chris Tomson (Vampire Weekend) is 25. Football player Andre Gurode is 31. Actor Eli Marienthal is 23. Actor Jimmy Galeota is 23. Actor Dillon Freasier (Film: "There Will Be Blood") is 13. Actress Savannah Stehlin is 13.

Thought for Today: "Learn by other's mistakes because you do not live long enough to make them all yourself." — Anonymous.