Today In History [6th March, 2015]

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

March 6

1521           Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam.
1820           The Missouri Compromise is enacted by Congress and signed by President James Monroe, providing for the admission of Missouri into the Union as a slave state, but prohibits slavery in the rest of the northern Louisiana Purchase territory.
1836           After fighting for 13 days, the Alamo falls.
1853           Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Traviata premieres in Venice.
1857           The Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision holds that blacks cannot be citizens.
1860           While campaigning for the presidency, Abraham Lincoln makes a speech defending the right to strike.
1862           The USS Monitor left New York with a crew of 63, seven officers and 56 seamen.
1884           Over 100 suffragists, led by Susan B. Anthony, present President Chester A. Arthur with a demand that he voice support for female suffrage.
1888           Louisa May Alcott dies just hours after the burial of her father.
1899           Aspirin is patented following Felix Hoffman's discoveries about the properties of acetylsalicylic acid.
1901           A would-be assassin tries to kill Wilhelm II of Germany in Bremen.
1914           German Prince Wilhelm de Wied is crowned as King of Albania.
1916           The Allies recapture Fort Douamont in France during the Battle of Verdun.
1928           A Communist attack on Beijing results in 3,000 dead and 50,000 fleeing to Swatow.
1939           In Spain, Jose Miaja takes over Madrid government after a military coup and vows to seek "peace with honor."
1943           British RAF fliers bomb Essen and the Krupp arms works in the Ruhr, Germany.
1945           Cologne, Germany, falls to General Courtney Hodges' First Army.
1947           Winston Churchill opposes the withdrawal of troops from India.
1948           During talks in Berlin, the Western powers agree to internationalize the Ruhr region.
1953           Upon Josef Stalin's death, Georgi Malenkov is named Soviet premier.
1960           The Swiss grant women the right to vote in municipal elections.
1965           The United States announces that it will send 3,500 troops to Vietnam.
1967           President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his plan to establish a draft lottery.
1973           President Richard Nixon imposes price controls on oil and gas.
1975           Iran and Iraq announce that they have settled the border dispute.
1980           Islamic militants in Tehran say that they will turn over the American hostages to the Revolutionary Council.
1981           President Reagan announces plans to cut 37,000 federal jobs.
1987           The British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in the Channel off the coast of Belgium. At least 26 are dead.

Born on March 6
1475           Michelangelo Buonarroti, painter, sculptor and architect.
1806           Elizabeth Barret Browning, poet (Sonnets from the Portuguese).
1831           Philip Henry Sheridan, Union Army general.
1885           Ring Lardner, writer (You Know Me, Al).
1899           Richard Leo Simon, publisher, partner of Max Schuster.
1908           Lou Costello, American comedian, partner of Bud Abbott.
1928           Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, Columbian-born novelist (One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera).
1937           Valentina Nikolayeva-Tereshkova, Russian astronaut, the first woman to orbit the Earth.
1944           Dame Kiri Te Kannawa, operatic soprano.