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This article is about the day. For the 1994 novel, see The Fifth of March.

March 5 is the 64th day of the year (65th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 301 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
• 1046 - Naser Khosrow begins the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama.
• 1496 - England King Henry VII issues letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorizing them to explore unknown lands.
• 1689 - Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham is named Secretary of State for the Northern Department.
• 1766 - Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.
• 1770 - Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including a black man named Crispus Attucks, and a boy are killed by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War five years later.
• 1784 - Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney is named President of the Board of Trade.
• 1793 - French troops are defeated by Austrian forces and Liège is recaptured.
• 1824 - First Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.
• 1836 - Samuel Colt makes the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.
• 1842 - Over 500 Mexican troops led by Rafael Vasquez invade Texas, briefly occupy San Antonio and then head back to the Rio Grande.
• 1848 - Louis Antoine Garnier-Pages is named French minister of Finance.
• 1850 - The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened.
• 1860 - Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia.
• 1861 - The "Stars and Bars" is adopted as the flag of the Confederate States of America.
• 1868 - A court of impeachment is organized in the United States Senate to hear charges against President Andrew Johnson.
• 1868 - Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito premieres at La Scala.
• 1872 - George Westinghouse patents the air brake.
• 1894 - Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery becomes First Lord of the Treasury.
• 1904 - Nikola Tesla, in Electrical World and Engineer, describes the process of the ball lightning formation.
• 1905 - Russian troops begin to retreat from Mukden, Manchuria after losing 100,000 troops in three days.
• 1907 - The second Duma opens in St. Petersburg, Russia and 40,000 demonstrators have to be dispersed by Russian troops.
• 1912 - Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, using them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.
• 1915 - World War I: The LZ 33, a zeppelin, is damaged by enemy fire and stranded south of Ostend.
• 1916 - The Spanish football club, the Real Club Deportivo Mallorca is founded.
• 1933 - Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a "bank holiday", closing all U.S. banks and freezing all financial transactions.
• 1933 - In Germany, the Nazis win 44 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections.
• 1936 - First flight of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft.
• 1940 - Members of Soviet politburo sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs, known also as the Katyn massacre.
• 1943 - First flight of Gloster Meteor jet aircraft in the United Kingdom.
• 1945 - World War II: The "Battle of the Ruhr" begins.
• 1946 - Winston Churchill uses the phrase "Iron Curtain" in his speech at Westminster College, Missouri.
• 1946 - Hungarian Communists and Social Democrats co-found the Left Bloc.
• 1949 - The Jharkhand Party is founded in India.
• 1958 - The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is established.
• 1958 - Explorer 2 spacecraft launches and fails to reach Earth orbit.
• 1960 - The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis originates when Alister Hardy publicly announces his idea that ape-human divergence may have been due to a coastal phase.
• 1964 - Ceylon declares emergency crisis due to unrest.
• 1965 - March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against British colonial presence.
• 1966 - BOAC Flight 911 crashes on Mount Fuji, Japan, killing 124.
• 1966 - In Luxembourg, Udo Jürgens wins the eleventh Eurovision Song Contest for Austria.
• 1968 - The U.S. launches Solar Explorer B, (aka Explorer 37) from the Wallops Island to study the Sun.
• 1970 - The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.
• 1970 - Dubnium atoms are first detected conclusively.
• 1973 - Donald DeFreeze, the future Symbionese Liberation Army leader, escapes from Vacaville Prison.
• 1974 - Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal.
• 1976 - The British pound falls below $2 USD for the first time.
• 1978 - The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg AFB in California.
• 1979 - Detection equipment picks up a gamma ray burst originating from the Large Magellanic Cloud, leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.
• 1979 - Voyager 1's closest approach to Jupiter, 172,000 miles.
• 1979 - Earth satellites record gamma rays from remnants of supernova N-49.
• 1982 - Venera 14, a Soviet satellite arrives at the planet Venus.
• 1988 - Constitution of Turks and Caicos Islands is restored and revised.
• 1991 - Iraq releases all Gulf War prisoners.
• 1998 - NASA announces that the Clementine probe orbiting the Moon has found enough water to support a human colony.
• 1999 - Paul Okalik is elected first Premier of Nunavut.
• 2001 - In Mecca, 35 Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death during the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
• 2003 - In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed by a Hamas suicide bomb in the Haifa bus 37 massacre.
• 2005 - The Burkinabé Party for Democracy and Socialism holds its first National Convention.

Births

  1121       Brave Michael The Great fought at the Battle of the Hill with Willam Wallace one of the most bloodiest battles between Britan and Scotland

• 1133 - King Henry II of England (d. 1189)
• 1324 - King David II of Scotland (d. 1371)
• 1512 - Gerardus Mercator, Flemish cartographer (d. 1594)
• 1563 - John Coke, English politician (d. 1644)
• 1575 - William Oughtred, English mathematician (d. 1660)
• 1585 - John George I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1656)
• 1658 - Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, French explorer (d. 1730)
• 1693 - Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian (d. 1754)
• 1696 - Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Italian painter (d. 1770)
• 1703 (N.S.) - Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, Russian poet (d. 1768)
• 1723 - Princess Mary of Great Britain (d. 1773)
• 1739 - Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, doctor, Massachusetts militia officer, member of the Massachusetts legislature (d. 1819)
• 1748 - Jonas C. Dryander, Swedish botanist (d. 1810)
• 1748 - William Shield, English musician (d. 1829)
• 1750 - Jean-Baptiste Gaspard d'Ansse de Villoison, French classical scholar (d. 1805)
• 1794 - Jacques Babinet, French physicist (d. 1872)
• 1794 - Robert Cooper Grier, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1870)
• 1814 - Wilhelm von Giesebrecht, German historian (d. 1889)
• 1815 - John Wentworth, American politician (d. 1888)
• 1817 - Austen Henry Layard, English archaeologist (d. 1894)
• 1836 - Charles Goodnight, American cattle rancher (d. 1929)
• 1853 - Howard Pyle, American author and illustrator (d. 1911)
• 1867 - Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, Premier of Quebec (d. 1952)
• 1869 - Michael von Faulhaber, German cardinal and archbishop (d. 1952)
• 1870 - Frank Norris, American writer (d. 1902)
• 1871 - Rosa Luxemburg, Socialist revolutionary (d. 1919)
• 1873 - Olav Bjaaland, Norwegian explorer and cross-country skier (d. 1961)
• 1874 - Henry Travers, British actor (d. 1965)
• 1879 - Sir William Beveridge, British economist (d. 1963)
• 1883 - Marius Barbeau, French Canadian ethnographer and folklorist (b. 1969)
• 1886 - Dong Biwu, High-ranking member of the Communist Party of China (d. 1975)
• 1887 - Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer (d. 1959)
• 1897 - Set Persson, Swedish communist politician (d. 1960)
• 1898 - Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 1976)
• 1898 - Soong May-ling, Chinese wife of Chiang Kai-Shek (d. 2003)
• 1904 - Karl Rahner, German theologian (d. 1984)
• 1908 - Irving Fiske, American writer, playwright, (d. 1990)
• 1908 - Sir Rex Harrison, English actor (d. 1990)
• 1914 - Philip Farkas, American horn player and teacher (d. 1992)
• 1915 - Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician (d. 2002)
• 1918 - Milt Schmidt, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and manager
• 1918 - Red Storey, Canadian football player and ice hockey referee (d. 2006)
• 1918 - James Tobin, American economist, Nobel laureate (d. 2002)
• 1920 - José Aboulker, Jewish Communist
• 1920 - Virginia Christine, American actress (d. 1996)
• 1921 - Elmer Valo, American baseball player (d. 1998)
• 1922 - James Noble, American actor
• 1922 - Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian writer and film director (d. 1975)
• 1923 - Laurence Tisch, American investor
• 1927 - Jack Cassidy, American actor (d. 1976)
• 1929 - Erik Carlsson, Swedish rally driver
• 1930 - Del Crandall, American baseball player
• 1931 - Fred Othon Aristidès, French comics artist
• 1931 - Barry Tuckwell, Australian horn virtuoso
• 1933 - Tommy Tucker, American blues singer and pianist (d. 1982)
• 1934 - Daniel Kahneman, Israeli economist, Nobel laureate
• 1934 - James B. Sikking, American actor
• 1936 - Canaan Banana, first President of Zimbabwe (d. 2003)
• 1936 - Dean Stockwell, American actor
• 1937 - Olusẹgun Ọbasanjọ, President of Nigeria
• 1938 - Paul Evans, American singer and songwriter
• 1938 - Fred Williamson, American football player and actor
• 1939 - Samantha Eggar, English actress
• 1939 - Peter Woodcock, Canadian serial killer
• 1939 - Pierre Wynants, Belgian chef
• 1940 - Malcolm Hebden, English actor
• 1942 - Felipe González, Prime Minister of Spain
• 1942 - Mike Resnick, American science fiction author
• 1943 - Billy Backus, American boxer
• 1944 - Lucio Battisti, Italian singer (d. 1998)
• 1944 - Roy Gutman, American journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner
• 1946 - Murray Head, British actor and singer
• 1946 - Richard Bell, Canadian musician (The Band)
• 1947 - Eddie Hodges, American actor and singer
• 1947 - Clodagh Rodgers, Irish singer
• 1947 - Kent Tekulve, American baseball player
• 1948 - Eddy Grant, Guyana-born singer
• 1948 - Richard Hickox, English musical conductor
• 1948 - Elaine Paige, English singer and actress
• 1948 - Paquirri, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1984)
• 1949 - Franz Josef Jung, Commander-in-chief of the German Bundeswehr
• 1951 - Giorgos Ninios, Greek actor
• 1952 - Alan Clark, English keyboardist (Dire Straits)
• 1954 - Marsha Warfield, American actress, comedienne
• 1955 - Penn Jillette, American magician and comedian
• 1956 - Adriana Barraza, Mexican actress
• 1956 - Teena Marie, American singer
• 1957 - Mark E. Smith, English singer (The Fall)
• 1958 - Andy Gibb, English-born Australian singer and teen idol (d. 1988)
• 1959 - Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenian politician (d. 1999)
• 1959 - David Fury, American television writer and producer
• 1960 - David Tibet, English musician (Current 93)
• 1962 - Jonathan Penner, American reality show contestant
• 1962 - Charlie and Craig Reid, Scottish musicians (The Proclaimers)
• 1966 - Michael Irvin, American football player
• 1966 - Bob Halkidis, Canadian hockey player
• 1966 - Aasif Mandvi, Indian-born American actor and comedian
• 1969 - Paul Blackthorne, British actor
• 1969 - Moussa Saïb, former Algerian footballer
• 1969 - MC Solaar, French rapper
• 1970 - John Frusciante, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
• 1970 - Lisa Robin Kelly, American actress
• 1971 - Jeffrey Hammonds, American baseball player
• 1971 - Evil Jared Hasselhoff, American musician (Bloodhound Gang)
• 1971 - Yuri Lowenthal, American actor/author/painter
• 1972 - Luca Turilli, Italian musician (Rhapsody)
• 1973 - Yannis Anastasiou, Greek footballer
• 1973 - Ryan Franklin, American baseball player
• 1974 - Kevin Connolly, American television actor and comedian
• 1974 - Jens Jeremies, German footballer
• 1974 - Matt Lucas, English comedian
• 1974 - Eva Mendes, American actress
• 1975 - Jolene Blalock, American actress
• 1975 - Sasho Petrovski, Australian soccer player
• 1975 - Niki Taylor, American model
• 1975 - Luciano Burti, Brazilian racing driver
• 1976 - Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1976 - Paul Konerko, American baseball player
• 1976 - Katerina Matziou, Greek actress
• 1977 - Bryan Berard, American ice hockey player
• 1977 - Mike MacDougal, American baseball player
• 1977 - Wally Szczerbiak, American basketball player
• 1978 - Mike Hessman, American baseball player
• 1978 - Kimberly McCullough, American actress
• 1978 - Papoose, American rapper
• 1979 - Tang Gonghong, Chinese weightlifter
• 1981 - Andreas Wiig, Norwegian snowboarder
• 1981 - Paul Martin, American ice hockey player
• 1981 - Shugo Oshinari, Japanese actor
• 1982 - Daniel Carter, New Zealand Rugby player
• 1982 - Giorgia Palmas, Italian television personality and model
• 1985 - Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Japanese actor
• 1985 - Whitney Port, Cast member of The Hills TV series
• 1986 - Matty Fryatt, English footballer
• 1987 - Anna Chakvetadze, Russian tennis player
• 1988 - Trevor Carson, Northern Irish footballer
• 1988 - Bjarni Viðarsson, Icelandic footballer
• 1989 - Jake Lloyd, American actor

Deaths

• 1534 - Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter (b. 1489)
• 1539 - Nuno da Cunha, Portuguese governor in India (b. 1487)
• 1592 - Michael Coxcie, Flemish painter (b. 1499)
• 1611 - Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese warlord and samurai (b. 1533)
• 1622 - Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1569)
• 1695 - Henry Wharton, English writer (b. 1664)
• 1726 - Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, English politician
• 1776 - Yeongjo of Joseon, ruler of Korea (b. 1694)
• 1778 - Thomas Arne, English composer (b. 1710)
• 1815 - Franz Mesmer, Austrian developer of hypnotism (b. 1734)
• 1827 - Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician (b. 1749)
• 1827 - Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist (b. 1745)
• 1829 - John Adams, last surviving HMS Bounty mutineer (b. 1766)
• 1849 - David Scott, Scottish painter (b. 1806)
• 1876 - Marie d'Agoult, German-born writer (b. 1805)
• 1893 - Hippolyte Taine, French historian (b. 1828
• 1895 - Nikolai Leskov, Russian writer (b. 1831)
• 1895 - Henry Rawlinson, British soldier and scholar (b. 1810)
• 1903 - George Francis Robert Henderson, British soldier (b. 1854)
• 1907 - Friedrich Blass, German classical scholar (b. 1843)
• 1925 - Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician (b. 1859)
• 1926 - Clément Ader, French aviation pioneer (b. 1841)
• 1927 - Franz Mertens, German mathematician (b. 1840)
• 1929 - David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-born American automobile pioneer (b. 1854)
• 1931 - Fr. Arthur Tooth SSC, Anglican Clergyman prosecuted and imprisoned for ritualist activities (b. 1839)
• 1940 - Cai Yuanpei, Chinese educator (b. 1868)
• 1944 - Max Jacob, French poet and writer (b. 1876)
• 1945 - Lena Baker, American murderer (b. 1901)
• 1947 - Alfredo Casella, Italian composer (b. 1883)
• 1953 - Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer, (b. 1891)
• 1953 - Joseph Stalin, Georgian leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1879)
• 1953 - Herman J. Mankiewicz, American screenwriter (b. 1897)
• 1955 - Antanas Merkys, President of Lithuania (b. 1888)
• 1963 - Patsy Cline, American singer (b. 1932)
• 1963 - Cowboy Copas, American singer (b. 1913)
• 1963 - Hawkshaw Hawkins, American singer (b. 1921)
• 1965 - Chen Cheng, Chinese politician (b. 1897)
• 1965 - Pepper Martin, American baseball player (b. 1904)
• 1966 - Anna Akhmatova, Russian poet (b. 1889)
• 1967 - Georges Vanier, Governor General of Canada (b. 1888)
• 1973 - Michael Jeffery, British music manager (b. 1933)
• 1974 - Billy De Wolfe, American actor (b. 1907)
• 1974 - Sol Hurok, Russian-born impresario (b. 1888)
• 1977 - Tom Pryce, Welsh Formula One driver (b. 1949)
• 1977 - Jansen Van Vuuren, Dutch volunteer safety marshall at the 1977 South African Grand Prix
• 1980 - Jay Silverheels, Canadian actor (b. 1912)
• 1980 - Winifred Wagner, German opera producer (b. 1897)
• 1981 - Yip Harburg, American lyricist (b. 1896)
• 1982 - John Belushi, American actor (b. 1949)
• 1984 - Tito Gobbi, Italian baritone (b. 1915)
• 1984 - William Powell, American actor (b. 1892)
• 1988 - Alberto Olmedo, Argentine comedian (b. 1933)
• 1990 - Gary Merrill, American film actor (b. 1915)
• 1993 - Cyril Collard, French author and filmmaker (b. 1957)
• 1995 - Vivian Stanshall, English musician (Bonzo Dog Band) (b. 1943)
• 1995 - Gregg Hansford, Australian motorcycle and touring car racer (b. 1952)
• 1996 - Whit Bissell, American actor (b. 1909)
• 1997 - Samm Sinclair Baker, American diet author (b. 1909)
• 1999 - Richard Kiley, American actor (b. 1922)
• 2000 - Lolo Ferrari, French actress (b. 1962)
• 2004 - Walt Gorney, American actor (b. 1912)
• 2006 - Richard Kuklinski, American Mafia hit man (b. 1935)
• 2008 - Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American professor of computer science (b.1923)

Holidays and observances

• Learn from Lei Feng Day in China.
• Approximate beginning of month of jīngzhé in Chinese calendar.
• St Piran's Day - Cornwall's national day.
• Feast of St. Ciarán Saighir, patron of the Diocese of Ossory, in Irish calendar.
• Saint Theophile (d. 195)
• Saint Olivia (d. 308)
• March 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

• March