Died On This Date: Mar 6

Crockett, David
b. August 17, 1786 d. March 6, 1836Famous frontiersman, Tennessee statesman, and defender of the Alamo. He was born at the confluence of Limestone Creek and Nolichuckey River in the State of Franklin, which a few years later became Greene County, Tenn., August 17, 1786. Killed at the Alamo. This cenotaph is at his birthplace in Tennessee.

Alcott, Louisa May
b. November 29, 1832 d. March 6, 1888
Author, she is best remembered for writing children novels, including the book, "Little Women" (1869). Born in Germantown, Pennslvania, she grew up in Boston and Concord, Massachusetts, where her father, Bronson Alcott, was a noted educator and leader of a philosophical movement called transcendentalism. Her family friends and neighbors included the writers Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Henry David Thoreau.

Bowie, Jim (James)
b. April 10, 1796 d. March 6, 1836
Folk Figure, Alamo Defender. Born in Logan County (present day Simpson County), Kentucky, one of ten children of Rezin and Elve Bowie. About 1809 the Bowies moved to Louisiana where they established a plantation on the Vermilion River. During the War of 1812, Bowie and his brother joined the Louisiana militia, but saw little action. After the war the brothers traded illegally in slaves and also dabbled in land speculation.

Sousa, John Philip
b. November 6, 1854 d. March 6, 1932
Composer and Bandmaster. He wrote many kinds of music, including operettas, orchestral suites, waltzes, songs, and a symphonic poem. But his fame rests on his marches, and he was known throughout the world as "The March King." Sousa took the relatively simple form of the military march and infused it with a personal style and new rhythmic and melodic vitality. The greatest of his more than 100 marches is "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (1896).

Buck, Pearl S.
b. June 26, 1892 d. March 6, 1973
Author, humanitarian, philanthropist. Winner of the Nobel Price for Literature in 1938. She was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Her parents were missionaries and she spent her youth in China. She learned to speak Chinese before she could speak English. After being educated by her mother and by a Chinese, Buck was sent to a boarding school in Shanghai at the age of fifteen. She continued her education in the United States at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Virginia, where she studied.

Travis, William Barret
b. August 9, 1809 d. March 6, 1836
Texas Patriot. He was the commander of the Alamo. Arrived in Texas in 1831, was commission a Lieutenant Colonel of Cavalry on December 12, 1835.

Gallo, Ernest
b. March 18, 1909 d. March 6, 2007
Businessman. He was the patriarch of the family-owned Ernest and Julio Gallo Winery in Modesto, California. The company is the largest winemaker in the world, and the producer of several popular brands including Carlo Rossi wines and Bartles and Jaymes wine coolers.

Puckett, Kirby
b. March 14, 1960 d. March 6, 2006
Major League Baseball Player. He was born the youngest of nine children and grew up in a rough part of Chicago. Puckett's birthdate was frequently listed as March 14, 1961, but recent research by the Hall of Fame indicated he was born a year earlier. In high school he already displayed exceptional talent as a baseball player. Kirby earned prep All-America honors at Calumet High School in 1979. He played college baseball at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and at Triton Junior College.

Heyward Jr., Thomas
b. July 28, 1746 d. March 6, 1809
Signer of the Declaration of Independence from South Carolina. Born near Beaufort in Saint Luke’s Parish, South Carolina. His father, Daniel Heyward, had already named another son, Thomas, so the future signer added a Junior to his name to distinguish himself from his brother. Coming from a wealthy family, he was able to study law in England, where he discovered that the English looked down on Americans.

Oldenburg I., Paul
b. December 14, 1901 d. March 6, 1964
King of the Hellenes from 1947 to 1964. He succeeded his elder brother, George II, on 1 April, 1947. George II, who had no children, died of a sudden heart attack after a short illness. King Paul I had suffered many of the hardships undergone by the Greek royal family during the Second World War - with their exile in Egypt, South Africa and London, and their escape from German attacks on Crete.

Cheli, Ralph
d. March 6, 1944
World War II Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. He was a Major with the U.S. Army Air Corps and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism at Wewak, New Guinea. His official CMOH citation reads as follows: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy. While Maj. Cheli was leading his squadron in a dive to attack the heavily defended Dagua Airdrome, intercepting enemy aircraft centered their fire on his plane.

Reeve, Dana
b. March 17, 1961 d. March 6, 2006
Social Reformer, Actress. A native of New York City she graduated with honors from Middlebury College before venturing to California to pursue an acting career. She made appearances on television's "Law and Order" and "All My Children" and hosted a talk show on the Lifetime Network. She performed on Broadway as well as regional theaters around the country. In 1992 she married actor Chrstopher Reeve.

Wright, Teresa
b. October 27, 1918 d. March 6, 2005
Actress. She personified "The Girl Next-Door" in films of the 1940s. Wright won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for "Mrs. Miniver" (1942), and received Oscar nominations for "The Little Foxes" (1941) and "The Pride of the Yankees" (1942). Her other classic credits include "Shadow of a Doubt" (1943), "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946), and "The Men" (1950). Wright was born in New York City.

Nordstrom, Isadore A.
b. May 24, 1876 d. March 6, 1930
Peace Time Awards Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. Nordstrom served as a Chief Boatswain, United States Navy. He was awarded his medal for service at sea on April 13, 1906. His citation reads-For gallant conduct upon the occasion of the disastrous fire of accidentally ignited powder charges, which occurred in the forward turret of the U.S.S. Kearsage during target practice on 13 April 1906.

Wallin, Homer Norman
b. December 6, 1893 d. March 6, 1984
United States Navy Admiral. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1917 and served on the battleship "USS New Jersey" (BB-16) during World War I. After the war, he was transferred to the Navy's Construction Corps and became chief of Naval Architecture. In 1941, as Captain he became Material Officer for Commander, Battle Force, United States Pacific Fleet, and was serving in that position when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7.

Day, Nicholas Wyckoff
b. January 18, 1839 d. March 6, 1916
Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. Began his Civil War service as the Quartermaster Sergeant on the 71st New York Militia Regiment. He was then commissioned into the 96th New York Volunteer Infantry as a Captain before being advanced to full Colonel and given command of the 131st new York Volunteer Infantry. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 for “gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Opequan, Va.”

Eddy, Nelson
b. June 29, 1901 d. March 6, 1967
Singer and Actor. He is best remembered for his partnership with singer/actress Jeannette MacDonald in a series of movies during the 1930s. Born Nelson Ackerman Eddy and named for his paternal grandfather, he was the only child of an impoverished family. His father, Bill Eddy, was a drummer who performed in many bands, and a singer who performed in church choirs.