In 2008, March 5 is World Maths Day.
Events
- 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a campaign which will 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 (.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 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 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: LZ 33, a zeppelin, is damaged by enemy fire and stranded south of Ostend.
- 1916 - Spanish
football
club
Real Club Deportivo Mallorca
is founded. - 1918 - Bolshevist Russia moves the national capital from
Petrograd
to Moscow. - 1933 - Great Depression: President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
declares a "bank holiday", closing all United States 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: "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 - Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region
is established. - 1958 - Explorer 2 spacecraft launches, fails to reach Earth orbit.
- 1960 -
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. - 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 - U.S. launches Solar Explorer B, aka Explorer 37 from 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, 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 - British pound falls below $2 U.S. for the first time.
- 1978 - 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.
- 2001 - Santana High School shooting: A student shoots at other students at Santana High School in Santee, California, killing two and wounding thirteen.
- 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 1st National Convention
Births
- 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, Algerian anti-Nazi resistance fighter
- 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
- 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 - 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 - 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 - Å arūnas 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
- 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
- 1986 - Matty Fryatt, English footballer
- 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 -
E Gary Gygax
, Co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons (b. 1938)
Holidays and Observances
- Learn from Lei Feng Day in China.
- Approximate beginning of month of
jīngzhé
in Chinese calendar.
Liturgical Feasts
- St Piran's Day - Cornwall's national day.
- Saint Adrian (died 308)
- Feast of
St. Ciarán Saighir
, patron of the Diocese of Ossory, in Irish calendar. - Saint Theophile (d. 195)
- Saint Gerarda
- Saint Olivia (d. 308)
- March 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
