March 6
March 6 is the 66th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 300 days remain until the year's end. It falls in winter (northern hemisphere) and under the astrological sign of Pisces.
External references
Curated jump-off points to the major almanacs, encyclopaedias and primary sources for this date.
Astronomy
On March 6 the Sun's declination is approximately -6.0°. At this latitude the Sun is south of the celestial equator, giving the Northern Hemisphere shorter days than nights.
For specific rise/set times at your location, see the U.S. Naval Observatory, or the NASA APOD archive for any imagery published on a March 6.
Position in the year
Holidays & observances
- Independence Day (Ghana, 1957)
Events
A selection of widely-documented historical events that took place on this date. Years marked BCE follow standard astronomical convention.
1836 — After a 13-day siege, Mexican forces under Santa Anna captured the Alamo; about 200 Texan defenders died. ↗(190 years ago)more
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar.
- 1857 — In Dred Scott v. Sandford, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that African-Americans were not citizens — a decision later overturned by the 14th Amendment. ↗(169 years ago)
more
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857), commonly referred to as the Dred Scott Decision, was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held that the United States Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, and therefore they could not enjoy the rights and privileges the Constitution conferred...
1869 — Dmitri Mendeleev presented the first periodic table of elements to the Russian Chemical Society. ↗(157 years ago)more
The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the elements, is an ordered arrangement of the chemical elements into rows ("periods") and columns ("groups"). An icon of chemistry, the periodic table is widely used in physics and other sciences.
1957 — Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African colony to gain independence from European rule. ↗(69 years ago)more
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated with the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to the east.
Notable births
1475 — Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian Renaissance sculptor and painter. ↗(551 years ago)more
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. He was born in the Republic of Florence but was mostly active in Rome from his 30s onwards. His work was inspired by models from classical antiquity and had a lasting influence on Western art.
1806 — Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet. ↗(220 years ago)more
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime and frequently anthologised after her death. Her work received renewed attention following the feminist scholarship of the 1970s and 1980s, and greater recognition of women writers in English.
1937 — Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space. ↗(89 years ago)more
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is a Russian engineer, politician, and former Soviet cosmonaut. She was the first woman in space, having flown a solo mission on Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. She orbited the Earth 48 times, spent almost three days in space, is the only woman to have been on a solo space mission and is the last surviving Vostok programme cosm...
Notable deaths
1900 — Carl Bechstein, German piano maker. ↗(126 years ago)more
C. Bechstein GmbH is a German piano manufacturer of grand and upright pianos, established in Berlin in 1853 by piano builder Carl Bechstein.
Numerical & calendrical curiosities
| Day-of-year (66) | 2 × 3 × 11 · composite (no) |
|---|---|
| Days remaining (300) | 2^2 × 3 × 5^2 |
| Date code DDMMYYYY | 06032026 · no palindrome in next 200 years |
| Sun declination | -5.99° (Cooper approximation) |
| Distance from solstice | 77 days |