March 6 is the 65th day of the year in common years and the 66th in leap years, leaving 300 days until the end of the year. It falls in late winter in the Northern Hemisphere and late summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Astrologically it lies under the sign of Pisces. The date is observed and remembered for a variety of historical, cultural and national events around the world.
Historical events
- 1836 — The Battle of the Alamo ended on March 6, when Mexican forces overran the mission fortress in San Antonio. The defenders, including Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, were killed, and the event became a rallying cry in the Texas Revolution.
- 1857 — The U.S. Supreme Court issued the Dred Scott decision on March 6, a landmark ruling with major consequences for American politics and the debate over slavery.
- 1957 — Ghana declared independence from the United Kingdom on March 6 and is commonly celebrated in Ghana as Independence Day.
Notable births
- 1475 — Michelangelo Buonarroti, the Italian sculptor, painter and architect, traditionally recorded as born on March 6.
- 1806 — Elizabeth Barrett Browning, an influential English poet of the Victorian era, was born on this date.
- 1927 — Gabriel García Márquez, the Colombian novelist and Nobel laureate known for works of magical realism, was born on March 6.
Various other political, cultural and scientific milestones have also occurred on March 6 across different years. Which events are highlighted often depends on national or regional histories and commemorative traditions.
Observances and calendar notes
Ghana’s Independence Day is a fixed national holiday observed annually on March 6. Other observances on this date vary by country and religion or are movable depending on lunar or liturgical calendars. In discussions of calendars and date reckoning, March 6 is sometimes noted when explaining how the insertion of February 29 affects day counts under the Gregorian calendar.
As with any calendar date, March 6 serves as a convenient reference point for anniversaries, historical research, and cultural memory; its significance is shaped by the events and figures various communities choose to remember.