Today in History for March 6, 2016

U.S. General Samuel Curtis

March 6, 1521 - Ferdinand Magellan discovered Guam.

March 6, 1531 – Spanish explorer and diplomat Pedro Arias Dávila died at the age of 63 in León, Nicaragua.

March 6, 1716 – Swedish-Finnish botanist and explorer Pehr Kalm was born in Ångermanland, Sweden.

March 6, 1776 – During the Revolutionary War, a committee of the New York Provincial Congress instructed Major William Malcolm to dismantle the Sandy Hook lighthouse in the then-disputed territory of Sandy Hook, now in New Jersey, telling him to “use your best discretion to render the light-house entirely useless.” Malcolm’s task was to prevent the lighthouse from helping the British to reach New York City.

March 6, 1806 – Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born in Durham, England.

March 6, 1818 – Uchee Tom and his warriors showed signs of hostility by stopping William Ogly, who was in his ox-cart on his way to Claiborne, Ala. for provisions for his family. Ogly was eventually permitted to pass without injury, and, after buying corn from another settler at Sepulga Creek, he returned home without going to Claiborne. During his absence, the Indians had visited his cabin and “shown signs of violence to his family.”

March 6, 1820 – The Missouri Compromise was signed into law by President James Monroe. The compromise allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state, brought Maine into the Union as a free state, and made the rest of the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase territory slavery-free.

March 6, 1836 – At the Alamo, after a 13-day siege, Santa Anna gave the order to attack just before dawn, and after a bloody 90-minute battle, the Alamo fell in a predawn assault. In all, 187 Texas volunteers, including William Barrett Travis, frontiersman Davy Crockett and colonel Jim Bowie were killed. Santa Anna ordered the bodies of the slain defenders burned. 

March 6, 1854 - At the Washington Monument, several men stole the Pope's Stone from the lapidarium.

March 6, 1857 - The U.S. Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision ruled that blacks could not sue in federal court to be citizens. In the ruling, the court affirmed the right of slave owners to take their slaves into the western territories, negating the doctrine of popular sovereignty and severely undermining the platform of the newly created Republican Party.

March 6, 1862 – During the Civil War, opposing forces began positioning themselves for what will be the Battle of Pea Ridge or Elkhorn Tavern, Ark. Union forces under Samuel Curtis had pushed all Confederate military out of Missouri. Sterling Price, head of the evicted Confederate forces, invited Gen. Earl Van Dorn to join with him to reverse the current military situation. Van Dorn was an interesting character whose military performance would indicate that his talent was more as a raider than command at army level. The forces moved to the vicinity of present-day Fayetteville, Ark., with both sides jockeying for position around Sugar Creek. Van Dorn decided against a frontal attack and used a night march to get around to the Federal rear, in a place called Pea Ridge.

March 6, 1863 – During the Civil War, a four-day Federal operation from Helena, Ark. to Big Creek and Lick Creek, Ark. began. A four-day Federal operation that encompassed New Berne, Trenton, Pollocksville, Young’s Crossroads and Swansborough, N.C. began. A skirmish was fought in the vicinity of Christiana and another at Middleton, Tenn.

March 6, 1864 – During the Civil War, an unsuccessful Confederate torpedo attack on Federal shipping on the North Edisto River, close to Charleston, S.C. took place. The torpedo boat, CSS David, was outfitted by the Confederate Navy with a long spar stretching off her front, with a bomb attached to the end. On this day, she drove up the North Edisto River near Charleston, in pursuit of the USS Memphis. David got within 50 feet before the Memphis' crew even noticed she was there. The crew began hysterically firing muskets, with no effect on the iron semi-submersible. The spar bomb hit hard, below the waterline--and didn’t go off. In two more attempts it never went off and Memphis was undamaged. Confederate ingenuity in devising new and improvised weaponry was not, alas, matched by manufacturing capabilities of equal quality.

March 6, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought near Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River; in the vicinity of Snickersville, Va.; at Flint Creek, Ark.; and at Columbus, Ky. Yazoo City, Miss. was abandoned by Federal forces.

March 6, 1865 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Natural Bridge, Fla. and near Florence, S.C.

March 6, 1895 – L&N Railroad detectives attempted to restrain vagrant “Railroad Bill” when they found him sleeping on a water tank along the tracks. Bill fired shots at detectives, hijacked a train car before jumping from a boxcar and disappearing into the woods. A manhunt ensued that ended with the death of Baldwin County deputy sheriff James Stewart in Bay Minette, Ala.

March 6, 1896 - The Ladies Aid Society of the Presbyterian church at Perdue Hill, Ala. planned to serve oysters and other refreshments at the Masonic Hall on this Friday night.

March 6, 1899 - Bayer received a patent for their new pain reliever-- aspirin. Pharmacist Felix Hoffman was said to have synthesized heroin and aspirin in the same month.

March 6, 1900 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Grove was born in Lonaconing, Md. During his career, he played for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston Red Sox. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1947.

March 6, 1909 – W. Hicks, who was arrested for the Feb. 22 killing of John Askew near Travis Bridge in Conecuh County, Ala., was tried before Justice of the Peace J.S. Stearns. After hearing the evidence, Hicks was refused bail and was held to await the grand jury.

March 6, 1915 – At 7:30 p.m. on this Saturday, Mrs. Southwick Dean of the Boston School of Oratory gave a “Shakespearean and dramatic reading” at the Conecuh County Courthouse in Evergreen, Ala. The show was sponsored by the Mothers Club with proceeds to go to the “school fund.”

March 6, 1916 – County court was in session on this Monday in Evergreen, Ala.

March 6, 1919 – Greenville attorney and former Confederate officer Hilary Abner Herbert died in Tampa, Fla. He was Secretary of the Navy under President Grover Cleveland and served as a U.S. Representative from Alabama’s Second District.

March 6, 1927 - Nobel Prize-winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez was born in Aracataca, Columbia. He is best known for his 1967 novel, “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”

March 6, 1932 - An indictment charging second-degree murder was returned by the Escambia County Grand Jury against Joe White of Brewton, Ala., who has been held without bond since the death March 3 of Ed Morris, Boston Red Sox pitcher, from knife wounds received during a fight at a fish fry in Brewton.

March 6, 1940 – National Baseball Hall of Fame left fielder and first baseman Willie Stargell was born in Earlsboro, Okla. He played his entire career for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1988.

March 6, 1944 - Fire of an unknown origin broke out in a large cotton shed on the farm of W.K. Horton and completely destroyed the building and 600 bales of cotton. The blaze was discovered about midnight and had gained such headway that it was impossible to put it out. The loss was more than $60,000.

March 6, 1946 – Cody & Cody from the Roy Rogers Show appeared live on stage at the Pix Theatre in Evergreen, Ala. at 10:30 p.m. Joining them were the famous String Busters, the Lady Whip Cracker, Goofy Gal and Stella & Ann.

March 6, 1946 – Ho Chi Minh signed an agreement with France which recognized Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.

March 6, 1948 – Evergreen High School’s boys basketball team beat Fairhope, 48-20, in the consolation round of the “A” group in the First Distirct Basketball Tournament in Monroeville, Ala., giving the Aggies the third-place trophy in the district. Earlier that day, in the tourney semi-finals, McGill, who went on to win the district tourney, beat Evergreen, 57-26. In the opening round, Evergreen beat Jackson, 40-13, and beat Robertsdale, 38-28, in the quarterfinals.

March 6, 1950 - Silly Putty was introduced as a toy by Peter Hodgson. Packaged in plastic eggs, the one-ounce pieces of rubber-like material could be used to transfer colored ink from newsprint.

March 6, 1951 – The espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg began.

March 6, 1952 – German SS officer Jürgen Stroop was hanged in Warsaw, Poland at the age of 56.

March 6, 1965 - The White House confirmed reports that, at the request of South Vietnam, the United States was sending two battalions of U.S. Marines for security work at the Da Nang air base, which will hopefully free South Vietnamese troops for combat. On March 1, Ambassador Maxwell Taylor informed South Vietnamese Premier Phan Huy Quat that the United States was preparing to send 3,500 U.S. Marines to Vietnam. Three days later, a formal request was submitted by the U.S. Embassy, asking the South Vietnamese government to “invite” the United States to send the Marines. Premier Quat, a mere figurehead, had to obtain approval from the real power, Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, chief of the Armed Forces Council. Thieu approved, but asked that the Marines be “brought ashore in the most inconspicuous way feasible.” The Marines began landing near Da Nang on March 8.

March 6, 1970 – An explosion at the Weather Underground safe house in Greenwich Village killed three.

March 6, 1971 - Operation Lam Son 719 continued as reinforced South Vietnamese forces pushed into Tchepone, a major enemy supply center located on Route 9 in Laos. The base was deserted and almost completely destroyed as a result of American bombing raids. The operation, begun on February 8, included a limited incursion by South Vietnamese forces into Laos to disrupt the communist supply and infiltration network in Laos along Route 9, adjacent to the two northern provinces of South Vietnam. The operation was supported by U.S. airpower (aviation and airlift) and artillery (firing across the border from firebases inside South Vietnam).

March 6, 1975 – For the first time the Zapruder film of the assassination of John F. Kennedy was shown in motion to a national TV audience by Robert J. Groden and Dick Gregory.

March 6, 1975 - A new B.C. Moore and Sons Inc. department store was scheduled to hold its grand opening ceremony in Monroeville, Ala. on this Thursday at 8:30 a.m. The public was invited to attend the opening of the store, which was located in the old T.G.&Y. building next to Greer’s food store on South Alabama Avenue.

March 6, 1975 – As part of the Algiers Accord, Iran and Iraq announced a settlement of their border dispute.

March 6, 1976 – On this night, Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated the “Amityville Horror” house with a crew from the television station Channel 5 New York and reporter Michael Linder of WNEW-FM.

March 6, 1976 – The Grand Lodge of Texas A.F.&A.M. erected a plaque at the Alamo honoring Freemasons James Bonham, James Bowie, David Crockett, Almaron Dickenson, William Barrett Travis “and those unidentified Masons who gave their lives in the battle of the Alamo March 6, 1836.”

March 6, 1976 – Wrestler and actor Ken Anderson was born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.

March 6, 1980 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Dr. Jim Bricken had announced the opening of his practice of veterinary medicine in Evergreen, Ala. Bricken was practicing in the Evergreen Animal Health Center building on Old Sparta (Yarborough) Road.

March 6, 1980 – Evergreen High School’s varsity boys basketball team was scheduled to play Andalusia at 1 p.m. in the opening round of the Class 3A state tournament in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Evergreen, led by head coach Charles Branum, entered the game with a 30-1 overall record, and Andalusia was 19-10 overall. The 3A state title game was scheduled to be played on March 8 at 7 p.m.

March 6, 1980 – The Monroe Journal reported that spring football practice was under way at Monroe County High School in Monroeville, Ala. and was being directed by assistant coaches Mike Kimberl and Willie White. New Tiger head football mentor Mike Sasser was to be in town the next week to work with his first MCHS squad. Spring practice at MCHS was to conclude with an intrasquad game at Tiger Stadium on Sat., March 16, at 7:30 p.m.

March 6, 1983 - The United States Football League began its first season of pro football competition.

  

March 6, 1998 - Liam Gallagher of Oasis was charged in an Australian court after he allegedly headbutted a fan, breaking the fan's nose. He was released on $10,000 bail.

March 6, 2005 - A television version of Alabama author Zora Neale Hurston's book “Their Eyes Were Watching God” was broadcast.

March 6, 2006 – National Baseball Hall of Fame center fielder Kirby Puckett died in Phoenix, Az. at the age of 45. He played his entire career for the Minnesota Twins. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001.

March 6, 2008 – Weather reporter Harry Ellis reported 1.73 inches of rain in Evergreen, Ala.

March 6, 2008 – A suicide bomber killed 68 people (including first responders) in Baghdad on the same day that a gunman killed eight students in Jerusalem.

March 6, 2014 - In an interview for AskMen published on this day, former NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell said he had never seen a UFO, that no one had ever threatened him over his claims regarding UFOs, and that any statements about a worldwide cabal covering up UFOs was "just speculation on my part."