March 5

March 5 is the 64th day of the year (65th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 301 days remaining 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.
• 1279 – the Livonian Order is defeated in the Battle of Aizkraukle by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
• 1496 – King Henry VII of England issues letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorising 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.
• 1824 – First Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.
• 1836 – Samuel Colt makes the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.
• 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.
• 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 receives its première performance 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.
• 1912 – Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, employing them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.
• 1933 – Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a "bank holiday", closing all U.S. banks and freezing all financial transactions.
• 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.
• 1942 – United States Navy Seabees established.
• 1943 – First flight of Gloster Meteor jet aircraft in the United Kingdom.
• 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.
• 1958 – The Explorer 2 spacecraft launches and fails to reach Earth orbit.
• 1960 – Alister Hardy publicly announces his idea that ape-human divergence may have been due to a coastal phase, giving rise to the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis.
• 1965 – March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against British colonial presence.
• 1966 – BOAC Flight 911 crashes on Mount Fuji, Japan, killing 124.
• 1970 – The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.
• 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.
• 1975 – First meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club
• 1978 – The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
• 1979 – Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the American solar satellite Helios II all are hit by "off the scale" gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.
• 1979 – America's Voyager 1 spacecraft has its closest approach to Jupiter, 172,000 miles.
• 1982 – The Soviet probe Venera 14 arrives at the planet Venus.
• 1984 – 6,000 miners in the United Kingdom begin their strike at Cortonwood Colliery.
• 1988 – The Constitution of Turks and Caicos Islands is restored and revised.
• 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.

Births

• 1133 – King Henry II of England (d. 1189)
• 1324 – King David II of Scotland (d. 1371)
• 1326 – Louis I of Hungary (d. 1382)
• 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 – Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, Russian poet (d. 1768)
• 1713 – Edward Cornwallis, English military officer (d. 1776)
• 1713 – Frederick Cornwallis, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1783)
• 1723 – Princess Mary of Great Britain (d. 1773)
• 1739 – Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American physican and statesman (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, American jurist and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1870)
• 1814 – Wilhelm von Giesebrecht, German historian (d. 1889)
• 1815 – John Wentworth, American politician and Member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois (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)
• 1862 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player (d. 1934)
• 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)
• 1882 – Dora Marsden, British editor, writer (d. 1960)
• 1883 – Marius Barbeau, French Canadian ethnographer and folklorist (d. 1969)
• 1886 – Dong Biwu, Chinese Communist Party figure (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 (d. 2009)
• 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 (d. 2003)
• 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 player
• 1933 – Jef Eygel, Belgian basketball player (d. 2005)
• 1933 – Kostas Linoxilakis, Greek footballer
• 1933 – Tommy Tucker, American blues singer and pianist (d. 1982)
• 1934 – Daniel Kahneman, Israeli economist, Nobel laureate
• 1934 – James B. Sikking, American actor
• 1935 – Philip K. Chapman, Australian astronaut and scientist
• 1936 – Canaan Banana, 1st President of Zimbabwe (d. 2003)
• 1936 – Dean Stockwell, American actor
• 1937 – Olusẹgun Ọbasanjọ, 5th & 12th 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
• 1940 – David Koch, American businessman, politician
• 1942 – Felipe González, Prime Minister of Spain (1982-1996)
• 1942 – Mike Resnick, American science fiction author
• 1943 – Billy Backus, American boxer
• 1944 – Lucio Battisti, Italian singer (d. 1998)
• 1944 – Peter Brandes, Danish artist
• 1944 – Roy Gutman, American journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner
• 1946 – Murray Head, British actor and singer
• 1946 – Lova Moor, French singer and dancer
• 1946 – Richard Bell, Canadian musician (The Band) (d. 2007)
• 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, German federal minister of defence
• 1951 – Giorgos Ninios, Greek actor
• 1952 – Diana Castro Hagee, American evangelist and author, wife of John Hagee
• 1952 – Alan Clark, English keyboardist (Dire Straits)
• 1953 – Michael Sandel, American philosopher
• 1954 – Marsha Warfield, American actress
• 1954 – Barry Lee Fairchild, American convicted murderer (d. 1995)
• 1955 – Penn Jillette, American magician and comedian
• 1955 – Julien Dray, French politician
• 1955 – Georgios Papastamkos, Greek politician
• 1956 – Adriana Barraza, Mexican actress
• 1956 – Teena Marie, American singer
• 1956 – Marco Paolini, Italian stage actor and author
• 1957 – Mark E. Smith, English singer (The Fall)
• 1957 – Ray Suarez, American journalist and author
• 1958 – Andy Gibb, English-born Australian singer and teen idol (d. 1988)
• 1959 – Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenian politician and 7th Prime Minister of Armenia(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)
• 1963 – Joel Osteen, American religious figure
• 1964 – Bertrand Cantat, French singer and murderer
• 1966 – Michael Irvin, American football player
• 1966 – Bob Halkidis, Canadian hockey player
• 1966 – Aasif Mandvi, Indian-born American actor and comedian
• 1968 – Gordon Bajnai, Hungarian politician
• 1969 – Paul Blackthorne, British actor
• 1969 – Danny King, British author
• 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 and author
• 1971 – Filip Meirhaeghe, Belgian mountainbiker
• 1971 – Scott Mosier, American producer
• 1972 – Brian Grant, American basketball player
• 1972 – Luca Turilli, Italian musician (Rhapsody)
• 1973 – Yannis Anastasiou, Greek footballer
• 1973 – Ryan Franklin, American baseball player
• 1974 – Kevin Connolly, American 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
• 1976 – Tim Sylvia, American mixed martial artist
• 1977 – Bryan Berard, American ice hockey player
• 1977 – Mike MacDougal, American baseball player
• 1977 – Wally Szczerbiak, American basketball player
• 1978 – Jared Crouch, Australian rules footballer
• 1978 – Mike Hessman, American baseball player
• 1978 – Kimberly McCullough, American actress
• 1978 – Papoose, American rapper
• 1979 – Tang Gonghong, Chinese weightlifter
• 1981 – Barret Jackman, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1981 – Paul Martin, American ice hockey player
• 1981 – Shugo Oshinari, Japanese actor
• 1981 – Andreas Wiig, Norwegian snowboarder
• 1982 – Daniel Carter, New Zealand rugby player
• 1982 – Giorgia Palmas, Italian television personality and model
• 1984 – Ryan Crowley, Australian rules footballer
• 1985 – Brad Mills, American baseball player
• 1985 – Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Japanese actor
• 1985 – David Marshall, Scottish footballer
• 1986 – Matty Fryatt, English footballer
• 1986 – Kimberlee Green, Australian netball player
• 1986 – Ellen Whitaker, English show jumper
• 1987 – Anna Chakvetadze, Russian tennis player
• 1988 – Trevor Carson, Northern Irish footballer
• 1988 – Bjarni Viðarsson, Icelandic footballer
• 1989 – Sterling Knight, American actor
• 1989 – Jake Lloyd, American actor
• 1990 – Alex Smithies, English footballer (Huddersfield Town)

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
• 1770 – Crispus Attucks, American Revolution figure
• 1776 – Yeongjo of Joseon of Korea (b. 1694)
• 1778 – Thomas Arne, English composer (b. 1710)
• 1815 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologist (b. 1734)
• 1827 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician (b. 1749)
• 1827 – Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist (b. 1745)
• 1829 – John Adams, British 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)
• 1904 – John Lowther du Plat Taylor, British Army officer (b. 1829)
• 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 executive (b. 1854)
• 1931 – Fr. Arthur Tooth, British religious figure (b. 1839)
• 1940 – Cai Yuanpei, Chinese educator (b. 1868)
• 1944 – Max Jacob, French poet and writer (b. 1876)
• 1945 – Lena Baker, American convicted 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. 1878)
• 1953 – Herman J. Mankiewicz, American screenwriter (b. 1897)
• 1955 – Antanas Merkys, Lithuanian politician (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, Canadian politician (b. 1888)
• 1967 – Mohammad Mossadegh, Iranian Prime Minister (b. 1882)
• 1973 – Michael Jeffery, British music manager (b. 1933)
• 1974 – Billy De Wolfe, American actor (b. 1907)
• 1974 – Sol Hurok, Russian-born American impresario (b. 1888)
• 1977 – Tom Pryce, Welsh race car driver (b. 1949)
• 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 dietician and author (b. 1909)
• 1999 – Richard Kiley, American actor (b. 1922)
• 2000 – Lolo Ferrari, French pornographic actress (b. 1962)
• 2004 – Walt Gorney, American actor (b. 1912)
• 2006 – Richard Kuklinski, American organized crime figure (b. 1935)
• 2008 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German-born American computer science professor (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

• CCHR Day (Scientology)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Ciarán of Saigir (Irish calendar)
  • Olivia
  • Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea
  • March 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Learn from Lei Feng Day (China)
• St Piran's Day (Cornwall)

External links

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