March 6, 1475: Italian artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, famous for his paintings (the Sistine Chapel), sculpture (“David”), and architecture (the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Cathedral), is born in Caprese.
March 6, 1984: Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller, a founder of Germany’s Confessing Church and a prisoner for his opposition to the Nazis, dies. Because of his advocacy for complete neutrality between East and West Germany (which was perceived as compromise with communism), he spent his later years in obscurity (see issue 32: Dietrich Bonhoeffer).