Today is Saturday, March 6, the 66th day of 2004. There are 300 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On March 6, 1857, in its Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court held that Scott, a slave, 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 fell to Mexican forces after a 13-day siege.
In 1853, Verdi's opera "La Traviata" premiered in Venice, Italy.
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: Two top Clinton administration officials, Vice President Al Gore and White House adviser George Stephanopoulos, appeared on the Sunday TV talk shows to blame Republican sniping for much of the furor over Whitewater. Greek actress-turned-politician Melina Mercouri died in New York.
Five 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.
One year ago: A somber President Bush readied the nation for war against Saddam Hussein, hurling some of his harshest invectives yet at the Iraqi leader during a prime-time news conference. The United States ratified a treaty on cutting active U.S. and Russian long-range nuclear warheads by two-thirds. Democrats blocked President Bush's nomination of Miguel Estrada to a federal appeals court.
Today's Birthdays: TV personality Ed McMahon is 81. Conductor Sarah Caldwell is 80. Former FBI and CIA director William Webster is 80. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is 78. Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova is 67. Country singer Doug Dillard is 67. Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., is 65. Actress-writer Joanna Miles is 64. Actor Ben Murphy is 62. Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is 60. Singer Mary Wilson (The Supremes) is 60. Rock musician Hugh Grundy (The Zombies) is 59. Rock singer-musician David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) is 58. Actor-director Rob Reiner is 57. Singer Kiki Dee is 57. Rock singer-musician Phil Alvin (The Blasters) is 51. Actor Tom Arnold is 45. Actor D.L. Hughley is 40. Country songwriter Skip Ewing is 40. Actress Yvette Wilson is 40. Actress Connie Britton is 36. Actress Moira Kelly is 36. Actress Amy Pietz is 35. Basketball player Shaquille O'Neal is 32. Country musician Shan Farmer (Ricochet) is 30. Rapper Bubba Sparxxx is 27. Actor Jimmy Galeota is 18. Actor Eli Marienthal is 18.
