March 6th

[fishlady]

okay.....so what happened this day in history everyone.....??????

[eklikewhoa]

Spotlight: On this date in 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev presented his periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society. Earlier, Mendeleev had developed his periodic law, stating that the property of an element is the periodic function of the elements' atomic mass. He referred to the tendency of those chemical elements with similar properties to recur at regular intervals as periodicity. Mendeleev's table arranged the elements in ascending order of their atomic mass, while leaving gaps for the elements that he predicted would be discovered at a later date.
Quote: "Science is wonderfully equipped to answer the question 'How?' but it gets terribly confused when you ask the question 'Why?'" — Erwin Chargaff


Question of the Day: How is the arrangement of Mendeleev's periodic table different from the arrangement of Moseley's?
The most important difference between Mendeleev's table and today's table is that the modern table is organized by increasing atomic number, not increasing atomic weight. Why was the table changed? In 1914, Henry Moseley learned you could experimentally determine the atomic numbers of elements. Before that, atomic numbers were just the order of elements based on increasing atomic mass. Mendeleev's table was also based upon his Periodic Law, which stated that when elements are arranged by increasing atomic number, there is a periodic repetition of similar chemical and physical properties. Once atomic numbers had significance, the periodic table was reorganized, and it was no longer placed by increasing atomic mass, even though it may seem like it... More


Word of the day: junket
3. A trip or tour, especially:
a. One taken by an official at public expense.
b. One taken by a person who is the guest of a business or agency seeking favor or patronage.
(© Houghton Mifflin Company)

The month of March, with its connotation of steady, rhythmic progress, seems a good time to examine some other words relating to forward motion. Let us set forth.

Previous words: peregrinate, gallivant, saunter

Today's History:
Battle of the Alamo
Toronto: Canada's largest city, and one of the most livable cities in the world, was incorporated (1834)
the Alamo: fort was overrun by Mexican troops during the Texas revolution; all inside were killed (1836)
Dred Scott case: US Supreme Court ruled that slaves were not citizens; the decision was overturned a decade later by the 14th amendment (1857)


Today's Birthdays:
Tom Arnold
Michelangelo (1475-1564): artist who painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling and sculpted the David
Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655): satirist; also, writers Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), Ring Lardner (1885-1933) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez (81)
Ed McMahon (86): long-time sidekick to Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show
Valentina Tereshkova (72): cosmonaut who was the first woman in space; astronaut Gordon Cooper (1927-2004) was also born on this day
Tom Arnold (50): comic actor, True Lies; plus, comic entertainers Lou Costello (1906-1959), Rob Reiner (62), D.L. Hughley (45) and Connie Britton (41)
Shaquille O'Neal (37): hulking basketball star; also, athletes Willie Stargell (1940-2001) and **** Fosbury (62)





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Copyrights:

Today's Highlights. Copyright © 1999-2006 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.
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[fishboyt]

What he said.

[fishlady]

I'M SOOOOOO DISSAPPOINTED THAT YOU HAD TO RESORT TO THE INTERNET TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS DATE.....


BUT .....today marks the anniversary of the BATTLE OF THE ALAMO!!!!!!!!!!



Treston, being in school you should've known that young squire........

[CichlidFan]

I doubt very many people would be able to come up with that one, unless they happen to have a personal interest in the Alamo...

I was thinking maybe the Beatles played on Ed Sullivan or something like that... :)

CF

[eklikewhoa]

I remembered it had something to do with the alamo.

I really enjoyed learning it in school and once I got older I took the lady friend to there to see it in person.


But FL, why are you disappointed? I turned to one of my resources and gave you a page worth of info about today that none of us knew or cared for.

[fishboyt]

I'M SOOOOOO DISSAPPOINTED THAT YOU HAD TO RESORT TO THE INTERNET TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS DATE.....


BUT .....today marks the anniversary of the BATTLE OF THE ALAMO!!!!!!!!!!



Treston, being in school you should've known that young squire........

Oh yeah. It's in the "Today in History" book. March 6, 1836: "In the Texas war for independence, Mexican troops overrun the Alamo in San Antonio after besieging the fiercely defended outpost for 13 days. Nearly all of the 184 Texan defenders were killed, but they inflicted heavy casualties on the Mexicans and bought time for Sam Houston to defend the rest of Texas."

[fishboyt]

I remembered it had something to do with the alamo.

I really enjoyed learning it in school and once I got older I took the lady friend to there to see it in person.


But FL, why are you disappointed? I turned to one of my resources and gave you a page worth of info about today that none of us knew or cared for.

I've been there two times.

[eklikewhoa]

I've been there two times.

Showoff.

[sunrise]

"Remember the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!" were the Texans rallying cries at battle San Jacinto. sunrise

[fishboyt]

Showoff.

[Delock]

I was about to post the battle of the Alamo...

7 grade Texas History is still stuck in my mind!

[Darbex]

I have done the whole Mission walk going from downtown Alamo all the way to the south side following the trails and aqueduct. But I did not try to remember dates as it doesnt further my knowledge to know exact dates. Ask the Autistic guy I am sure he knows all dates. (Rainman)

[fishlady]

On March 5, day twelve of the siege, Santa Anna announced an assault for the following day. This sudden declaration stunned his officers. The enemy's walls were crumbling. No Texan relief column had appeared. When the provisions ran out, surrender would remain the rebels' only option. There was simply no valid military justification for the costly attack on a stronghold bristling with cannons. But ignoring these reasonable objections, Santa Anna stubbornly insisted on storming the Alamo. Around 5:00 A.M. on Sunday, March 6, he hurled his columns at the battered walls from four directions. Texan gunners stood by their artillery. As about 1,800 assault troops advanced into range, canister ripped through their ranks. Staggered by the concentrated cannon and rifle fire, the Mexican soldiers halted, reformed, and drove forward. Soon they were past the defensive perimeter. Travis, among the first to die, fell on the north bastion. Abandoning the walls, defenders withdrew to the dim rooms of the Long Barracks. There some of the bloodiest hand to hand fighting occurred. Bowie, too ravaged by illness to rise from his bed, found no pity. Mexican soldiers slaughtered him with their bayonets. The chapel fell last. By dawn the Centralists had carried the works. The assault had lasted no more than ninety minutes. As many as seven defenders survived the battle, but Santa Anna ordered their summary execution. Many historians count Crockett as a member of that hapless contingent, an assertion that still provokes debate in some circles. By eight o'clock every Alamo fighting man lay dead. Currently, 189 defenders appear on the official list, but ongoing research may increase the final tally to as many as 257.

Though overlooked, a fascinating account of the Battle of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution is the personal journal of Mexican Army Officer Lt. Col. José Enrique de la Peña. De la Peña witnessed the death of William B. Travis during the fight and the capture and execution of Davy Crockett by Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna. Below are excerpts from de la Peña's account.

The Death of William Barret Travis

"They had bolted and reinforced the doors, but in order to form trenches they had excavated some places that were now a hindrance to them. Not all of them took refuge, for some remained in the open, looking at us before firing, as if dumbfounded at our daring. Travis was seen to hesitate, but not about the death he would choose. He would take a few steps and stop, turning his proud face toward us to discharge his shots; he fought like a true soldier. Finally he died, but he died after having traded his life very dearly. None of his men died with greater heroism, and they all died. Travis behaved as a hero; one must do him justice, for with a handful of men without discipline, he resolved to face men used to war and much superior in numbers, without supplies, with scarce munitions, and against the will of his subordinates. He was a handsome blond, with a physique as robust as his spirit was strong."

The Death of Davy Crockett

"Some seven men survived the general carnage and, under the protection of General Castrillón, they were brought before Santa Anna. Among them was one of great stature, well proportioned, with regular features, in whose face there was the imprint of adversity, but in whom one also noticed a degree of resignation and nobility that did him honor. He was the naturalist David Crockett, well known in North America for his unusual adventures, who had undertaken to explore the country and who, finding himself in Béjar at the very moment of surprise, had taken refuge in the Alamo, fearing that his status as a foreigner might not be respected. Santa Anna answered Castrillón's intervention in Crockett's behalf with a gesture of indignation and, addressing himself to the sappers, the troops closest to him, ordered his execution. The commanders and officers were outraged at this action and did not support the order, hoping that once the fury of the moment had blown over these men would be spared; but several officers who were around the president and who, perhaps, had not been present during the danger, became noteworthy by an infamous deed, surpassing the solders in cruelty. They thrust themselves forward, in order to flatter their commander, and with swords in hand, fell upon these unfortunate, defenseless men just as a tiger leaps upon his prey. Though tortured before they were killed, these unfortunates died without complaining and without humiliating themselves before their torturers."

Though Santa Anna had his victory, the common soldiers paid the price as his officers had anticipated. Accounts vary, but best estimates place the number of Mexicans killed and wounded at about 600. Mexican officers led several noncombatant women, children, and slaves from the smoldering compound. Santa Anna treated surviving enemy women and children with admirable gallantry by not killing them. He pledged safe passage through his lines and provided each with a blanket and two dollars. The most famous of these survivors were Susanna W. Dickinson, widow of Capt. Almaron Dickinson, and their infant daughter, Angelina Dickinson. After the battle, Mrs. Dickinson traveled to Gonzales. There, she reported the fall of the post to General Houston. The sad intelligence precipitated a wild exodus of Texan settlers called the Runaway Scrape.

What of real military value did the defenders' heroic stand accomplish? Some movies and other works of fiction pretend that Houston used the time to raise an army. During most of the siege, however, he was at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos and not with the army. The delay did, on the other hand, allow promulgation of independence, formation of a revolutionary government, and the drafting of a constitution. If Santa Anna had struck the Texan settlements immediately, he might have disrupted the proceedings and driven all insurgents across the Sabine River. The men of the Alamo were valiant soldiers, but no evidence supports the notion, advanced in the more perfervid versions, that they "joined together in an immortal pact to give their lives that the spark of freedom might blaze into a roaring flame." Governor Smith and the General Council ordered Neill, Bowie, and Travis to hold the fort until support arrived. Despite all the "victory or death" hyperbole, they were not suicidal. Throughout the thirteen-day siege, Travis never stopped calling on the government for the promised support. The defenders of the Alamo willingly placed themselves in harm's way to protect their country. Death was a risk they accepted, but it was never their aim. Torn by internal discord, the provisional government failed to deliver on its promise to provide relief, and Travis and his command paid the cost of that dereliction. As Travis predicted, his bones did reproach the factious politicos and the parade ground patriots for their neglect. Even stripped of exaggeration, however, the battle of the Alamo remains an inspiring moment in Texas history. The sacrifice of Travis and his command animated the rest of Texas and kindled a righteous wrath that swept the Mexicans off the field at San Jacinto. Since 1836, Americans on battlefields over the globe have responded to the exhortation, "Remember the Alamo!"

[fishlady]

well, they might have lost the battle at the Alamo....but we kicked their A***** at the battle ground of San Jacinto right here in our midst near Baytown.....
i have stood under the tree where Santa Anna lay wounded after we kicked his behind........