6 March It Happened Today

1836  The siege of the Alamo ends.

1899  The painkilling drug aspirin is patented.

1911  Birth of former actor and US president Ronald Reagan.

1944  Birth of the New Zealand soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

1987  The Herald of Free Enterprise ferry overturns outside the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, killing 193 passengers and crew.