March 6 - Fall of the Alamo

 On March 6th 1838 the legendary Battle of the Alamo reached its bloody climax, after 13 days the small Texan garrison under Colonel William B Travis was overwhelmed and destroyed by the Mexican army of Santa Anna.

             Colonel Travis                               A young Santa Anna

             

 The final assault against the Texan garrison began before daybreak, the Mexicans formed up into large columns and began their advance, at some point during this attack Travis was killed, a bullet to the head. The garrison held firm though and unleashed volley after volley of small arms and cannon fire, beating back Mexican attempts to storm the position.

 Regrouping the Mexicans surged forward again, this time scaling the walls and finally getting their troops inside, with the Mexicans inside the compound and Travis dead, the Texan defenders knew it was over. Despite this they continued to resist with desperate ferocity until inevitably they were overwhelmed and the Alamo was taken.

 Santa Anna had as many as 6100 men, using some 1600 in the actual attack on the Alamo, the Texan garrison had an effective force of around 200. The battle of the Alamo has come to symbolise to many a heroic struggle for freedom, regardless of the odds or the risks. Often nicknamed "the American Thermopylae" the battle of the Alamo inspires men and women as much today as it did 168 years ago.

                                           The Alamo Today.

             

 Now a tourist attraction its unlikely the Alamo will be forgotten anytime soon or its special place in the hearts of all free Americans today diminish.

 Also on this day.

 1447 - Nicholas V becomes Pope, his reign began with vast improvements for the city of Rome, rebuilding works, founding libraries, translating a whole host of Greek texts pagan and christian into Latin. As Pope he didnt oppose humanism but instead encouraged it whenever possible, a deeply intellectual man his time as Pope was unfairly over shadowed by the fall of Constantinople in 1453 for which he is chiefly remembered.

 1940 - An armistice is signed between Finland and the Soviet Union during the Winter War.

 1964 - Constantine II becomes King of Greece, he currently resides in exile in London England where he maintains close ties to the British Royal family.

 For further information on events that took place on this date please visit the below link.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_6

 Being my first post on here, its going to take a little while to find my feet, hopefully I can inject some freshness into the forum and attract more members to read and post on here. I hope i've made a decent start anyway. Also thanks to Komnenos for giving me this opportunity.

 Heraclius.

Edited by Heraclius

Nice work, Heraclius!

Also occurring today in women's history:

1973 - death of Pearl S. Buck. By the time of her death in 1973, Buck would publish over 71 books, novels, collection of stories, biography and autobiography, poetry, drama, children's literature, and translations from the Chinese. "The Good Earth" was my favorite Buck book.


Pearl Buck


Pearl Buck

Source: http://www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/Buck/


1982 - death of Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand was considered by some to be the single most important novelist and philosopher of the 20th century. Rand was born in Russia as Alyssa Rosenbaum. Rejecting Bolshevik Russia as the antithesis of freedom, she fled to the U.S. in 1926. She moved to Hollywood and supported herself while writing novels and short stories. Rand met her husband on the set of the movie King of Kings. An atheist from her childhood, she coupled a critique of religious altruism with her critique of social "collectivism." In 1936, she published her first novel �We, The Living�, followed by �Anthem� and �The Fountain-head in 1938. The latter was a best seller and was made into a King Vidor film staring Gary Cooper. In 1957, �Atlas Shrugged� also became a best seller. She published books and articles promoting the positive value of selfishness and capitalism, and critiquing old and new left, continuing until her death in 1982. At the time of her death, she was adapting �Atlas Shrugged� for a television mini-series.


Ayn Rand

Source: http://www.ayn-rand.com/


Edited by morticia

Khayyam is one of the best poets ever (apart of a great astronomer and a delightful atheist) 

"Yankee propaganda. Battle for freedom, yea rite, they stole the land from the Mexican to start with. In my book the Mexicans were the righteous ones and has every right to annilate the fools resisting at Alamo.

And that battle is way overrated, it was insignificant compared to what was going on in Europe."

 I tend to agree, but if thats what it represents to many people then it was worth saying.