Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!
On this day in 363, Roman Emperor Julian moved from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a campaign which would ultimately bring about his own death. In 1046 on this day, Naser Khosrow began the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he later would describe in his book Safarnama. The Third Lateran Council (the 11th ecumenical council) opened in Rome on this day in 1179. On this day in 1750, the first American Shakespearean production, which was an "altered" Richard III, debuted in New York City. Don Antonio de Ulloa took possession of the Louisiana Territory from the French on this day in 1766. On this day in 1770, the Boston Massacre took place, as British troops killed five people in a crowd. Native African American Crispus Attucks was the first to die, and later came to be held up as an early black martyr. On this day in 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Iron Curtain" speech in Fulton, Missouri. It was one of the most iconic speeches of the Cold War period, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill condemned the Soviet Union's policies in Europe and declared, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent." On this day in 1953, Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union dating back to 1924, died in Moscow. On this day in 1969, Jimi Morrison, the frontman of legendary rock band The Doors, was charged with lewd behavior at a Miami concert. In 1997 on this day, North Korea and South Korea met for first time in 25 years for peace talks.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
• On this day in 363, Roman Emperor Julian moved from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a campaign which would ultimately bring about his own death.
• In 1046 on this day, Naser Khosrow began the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he later would describe in his book Safarnama.
• The Third Lateran Council (the 11th ecumenical council) opened in Rome on this day in 1179
• 1496 - English king Henry VII hires John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) to explore
• 1528 - Utrecht governor Maarten van Rossum plunders The Hague
• 1558 - Smoking tobacco introduced in Europe by Francisco Fernandes
• 1579 - Betuwe joins Union of Utrecht
Statue of Nicolaus Copernicus in Kraków, Poland
• Nicolaus Copernicus' "de Revolutionibus" was placed on the Catholic Forbidden index on this day in 1616.
• The first alcohol temperance law in the American colonies was enacted on this day in 1623 in Virginia.
• On this day 1624 in the American colony of Virginia, the upper class was exempted from whipping by legislation.
• 1651 - South Sea dike in Amsterdam breaks after storm
• 1684 - Emperor Leopold I, Poland & Venice sign Heilig Covenant of Linz
• 1743 - 1st US religious journal, The Christian History, published, Boston
• 1746 - Jakobijnse troops leave Aberdeen
• On this day in 1750, the first American Shakespearean production, which was an "altered" version of "King Richard III" was performed in New York City.
• Don Antonio de Ulloa took possession of the Louisiana Territory from the French on this day in 1766.
• On this day in 1770, the Boston Massacre took place, as British troops killed five people in a crowd. Native African American Crispus Attucks was the first to die, and later came to be held up as an early black martyr. On the cold, snowy night of March 5, 1770, a mob of American colonists gathers at the Customs House in Boston and begins taunting the British soldiers guarding the building. The protesters, who called themselves Patriots, were protesting the occupation of their city by British troops, who were sent to Boston in 1768 to enforce unpopular taxation measures passed by a British parliament that lacked American representation. British Captain Thomas Preston, the commanding officer at the Customs House, ordered his men to fix their bayonets and join the guard outside the building. The colonists responded by throwing snowballs and other objects at the British regulars, and Private Hugh Montgomery was hit, leading him to discharge his rifle at the crowd. The other soldiers began firing a moment later, and when the smoke cleared, five colonists were dead or dying—Crispus Attucks, Patrick Carr, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, and James Caldwell—and three more were injured. Although it is unclear whether Crispus Attucks, an African American, was the first to fall as is commonly believed, the deaths of the five men are regarded by some historians as the first fatalities in the American Revolutionary War. The British soldiers were put on trial, and patriots John Adams and Josiah Quincy agreed to defend the soldiers in a show of support of the colonial justice system. When the trial ended in December 1770, two British soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter and had their thumbs branded with an "M" for murder as punishment. The Sons of Liberty, a Patriot group formed in 1765 to oppose the Stamp Act, advertised the "Boston Massacre" as a battle for American liberty and just cause for the removal of British troops from Boston. Patriot Paul Revere made a provocative engraving of the incident, depicting the British soldiers lining up like an organized army to suppress an idealized representation of the colonist uprising. Copies of the engraving were distributed throughout the colonies and helped reinforce negative American sentiments about British rule. In April 1775, the American Revolution began when British troops from Boston skirmished with American militiamen at the battles of Lexington and Concord. The British troops were under orders to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington and to confiscate the Patriot arsenal at Concord. Neither missions were accomplished because of Paul Revere and William Dawes, who rode ahead of the British, warning Adams and Hancock and rousing the Patriot minutemen. Eleven months later, in March 1776, British forces had to evacuate Boston following American General George Washington's successful placement of fortifications and cannons on Dorchester Heights. This bloodless liberation of Boston brought an end to the hated eight-year British occupation of the city. For the victory, General Washington, commander of the Continental Army, was presented with the first medal ever awarded by the Continental Congress. It would be more than five years before the Revolutionary War came to an end with British General Charles Cornwallis' surrender to Washington at Yorktown, Virginia.
• 1783 - King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski grants rights to Jews of Kovno
• 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.
• 1795 - Amsterdam celebrates Revolution on the Dam; Square of Revolution
• 1795 - Treaty of Basel-Prussia ends war with France
Bust of iconic German composer and musician Ludwig van Beethoven
• The first performance of Ludwig von Beethoven's 4th Symphony in B was performed on this day in 1807.
• 1820 - Dutch city of Leeuwarden forbids Jews to go to synagogues on Sundays
• 1821 - Monroe is 1st pres inaugurated on March 5th, because 4th was Sun
• 1824 - First Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.
• 1836 - Samuel Colt manufactures 1st pistol, 34-caliber "Texas" model
• 1841 - 1st continuous filibuster in US Senate began, lasting until March 11
• 1842 - Over 500 Mexican troops led by Rafael Vasquez invade Texas, briefly occupy San Antonio and then head back to the Rio Grande.
• 1845 - Congress appropriates $30,000 to ship camels to western US
• 1848 - Louis Antoine Garnier-Pages is named French minister of Finance.
• 1849 - Zachary Taylor sworn in as 12th president
• 1850 - The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened.
• 1856 - Covent Garden Opera House destroyed in a fire
• Georgia became the first state to regulate railroads on this day in 1856.
• 1860 - Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia.
A statue in Flemington, New Jersey, honoring veterans of the American Civil War.
• On this day in 1862 during the American Civil War, Union troops under Brigadier-General Wright occupied Fernandina, Florida.
• 1864 - 1st track meet between Oxford & Cambridge
• 1868 - Arrigo Boito's opera "Mefistofele," premieres in Milan
• 1868 - Stapler patented in England by C H Gould
• 1868 - US Senate organizes to decide charges against Pres Andrew Johnson
Entrepreneur and Engineer George WestinghouseEntrepreneur and Engineer George Westinghouse
• 1872 - George Westinghouse Jr patents triple air brake for trains
• 1877 - Rutherford B Hayes inaugurated as 19th US president
• 1894 - Seattle authorizes 1st municipal employment office in US
• 1894 - Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery becomes First Lord of the Treasury.
• 1896 - Italian premier Crispi resigns
• 1896 - Italians governor of Eritrea, Gen Baldissera, reaches Massawa
• 1897 - American Negro Academy forms
• 1899 - 1st performance of Edward MacDowell's 2nd Concerto in D
• 1900 - American Hall of Fame found
• 1901 - Germany and Britain began negotiations with hopes of creating an alliance.
• 1902 - In France, the National Congress of Miners decided to call for a general strike for an 8-hour day.
• 1903 - Definitive treaty for construction of Baghdad railway drawn
Bust of Nikola Tesla
• Nikola Tesla, in Electrical World and Engineer, described the process of the ball lightning formation on this day in 1904.
1907 - 1st radio broadcast of a musical composition aired
• 1907 - The second Duma opens in St. Petersburg, Russia and 40,000 demonstrators have to be dispersed by Russian troops. 1907 - In St. Petersburg, Russia, the new Duma opened. 40,000 demonstrators were dispersed by troops.
1908 - 1st ascent of Mt Erebus, Antarctica
1910 - Ramon Inclan's "La Farsa Infantil de la Cabeza del Dragon," premieres
• 1910 - The Moroccan envoy signed the 1909 agreement with France.
1912 - Spanish steamer "Principe de Asturias" sinks NE of Spain, 500 die
• 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.
1917 - 1st jazz recording for Victor Records released
1919 - Louis Hirsch & Harold Atteridge's musical premieres in NYC
• 1922 - "Nosferatu" premieres in Berlin
• 1923 - 1st old age pension plans in US established by Montana & Nevada
1923 - Montana & Nevada become 1st states to enact old age pension laws
1924 - Computing-Tabulating-Recording Corp becomes IBM
1924 - Frank Carauna, becomes 1st to bowl 2 successive perfect 300 games
• 1924 - King Hussein of Hedzjaz appoints himself kalief
1927 - 1,000 US marines land in China to protect American property
1928 - Karl Zuckmayer's "Der Hauptmann von Köpenick," premieres in Berlin
1931 - Gandhi & British viceroy Lord Irwin sign pact
32nd US President Franklin D. Roosevelt32nd US President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.
• In 1933 on this day, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed a 10-day bank holiday.
• 1933 - Germany's Nazi Party wins majority in parliament (43.9%-17.2M votes) 1933 - The Nazi Party won 44 percent of the vote in German parliamentary elections.
1934 - Mother-in-law's day 1st celebrated (Amarillo, Tx)
1935 - 1st premature baby health law in US (Chicago)
1936 - Spitfire makes its 1st flight (Eastleigh Aerodrome in Southampton)
1942 - Bosnia Tito establishes 3rd Proletarit Brigade in Bosnia
1942 - Dmitri Shostakovitch' 7th Symphony, premieres in Siberia
1942 - Japanese troop march into Batavia
1943 - Anti fascist strikes in Italy
1943 - RAF bombs Essen Germany
1944 - 1st performance of Walter Piston's 2nd Symphony
1945 - Allies bombs The Hague, Netherlands
General Dwight Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States
• On this day in 1945 during World War II, Americans Generals Eisenhower, Patton & Patch met in Luneville.
• 1945 - US 7th Army Corps captures Cologne
• 1945 - World War II: The "Battle of the Ruhr" begins.
Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, London
• On this day in 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Iron Curtain" speech in Fulton, Missouri. It was one of the most iconic speeches of the Cold War period, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill condemned the Soviet Union's policies in Europe and declared, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent." Churchill's speech is considered one of the opening volleys announcing the beginning of the Cold War. Churchill, who had been defeated for re-election as prime minister in 1945, was invited to Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri where he gave this speech. President Harry S. Truman joined Churchill on the platform and listened intently to his speech. Churchill began by praising the United States, which he declared stood "at the pinnacle of world power." It soon became clear that a primary purpose of his talk was to argue for an even closer "special relationship" between the United States and Great Britain—the great powers of the "English-speaking world"—in organizing and policing the postwar world. In particular, he warned against the expansionistic policies of the Soviet Union. In addition to the "iron curtain" that had descended across Eastern Europe, Churchill spoke of "communist fifth columns" that were operating throughout western and southern Europe. Drawing parallels with the disastrous appeasement of Hitler prior to World War II, Churchill advised that in dealing with the Soviets there was "nothing which they admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for military weakness." Truman and many other U.S. officials warmly received the speech. Already they had decided that the Soviet Union was bent on expansion and only a tough stance would deter the Russians. Churchill's "iron curtain" phrase immediately entered the official vocabulary of the Cold War. U.S. officials were less enthusiastic about Churchill's call for a "special relationship" between the United States and Great Britain. While they viewed the English as valuable allies in the Cold War, they were also well aware that Britain's power was on the wane and had no intention of being used as pawns to help support the crumbling British empire. In the Soviet Union, Russian leader Joseph Stalin denounced the speech as "war mongering," and referred to Churchill's comments about the "English-speaking world" as imperialist "racism." The British, Americans, and Russians-allies against Hitler less than a year before the speech—were drawing the battle lines of the Cold War.
• Hungarian Communists and Social Democrats co-founded the Left Bloc on this day in 1946.
• 1948 - US rocket flies record 4800 KPH to 126k height
• 1949 - The Jharkhand Party is founded in India.
1952 - Terence Rattigan's "Deep Blue Sea," premieres in London
• On this day in 1953, Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union dating back to 1924, died in Moscow. Like his right-wing counterpart, Hitler, who was born in Austria, Joseph Stalin was not a native of the country he ruled with an iron fist. Isoeb Dzhugashvili was born in 1889 in Georgia, then part of the old Russian empire. The son of a drunk who beat him mercilessly and a pious washerwoman mother, Stalin learned Russian, which he spoke with a heavy accent all his life, in an Orthodox Church-run school. While studying to be a priest at Tiflis Theological Seminary, he began secretly reading Karl Marx and other left-wing revolutionary thinkers. The "official" communist story is that he was expelled from the seminary for this intellectual rebellion; in reality, it may have been because of poor health. In 1900, Stalin became active in revolutionary political activism, taking part in labor demonstrations and strikes. Stalin joined the more militant wing of the Marxist Social Democratic movement, the Bolsheviks, and became a student of its leader, Vladimir Ilich Lenin. Stalin was arrested seven times between 1902 and 1913, and subjected to prison and exile. Stalin's first big break came in 1912, when Lenin, in exile in Switzerland, named him to serve on the first Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party—now a separate entity from the Social Democrats. The following year, Stalin (finally dropping Dzugashvili and taking the new name Stalin, from the Russian word for "steel") published a signal article on the role of Marxism in the destiny of Russia. In 1917, escaping from an exile in Siberia, he linked up with Lenin and his coup against the middle-class democratic government that had supplanted the czar's rule. Stalin continued to move up the party ladder, from commissar for nationalities to secretary general of the Central Committee—a role that would provide the center of his dictatorial takeover and control of the party and the new USSR. In fact, upon Lenin's death in 1924, Stalin began the consolidation of his power base, conducting show trials to purge enemies and rivals, even having Leon Trotsky assassinated during his exile in Mexico. Stalin also abandoned Lenin's New Economic Policy, which would have meant some decentralization of industry. Stalin demanded—and got—absolute state control of the economy, as well as greater swaths of Soviet life, until his totalitarian grip on the new Russian empire was absolute. The outbreak of World War II saw Stalin attempt an alliance with Adolf Hitler for purely self-interested reasons, and despite the political fallout of a communist signing an alliance with a fascist, they signed a nonaggression pact that allowed each dictator free reign in their respective spheres of influence. Stalin then proceeded to annex parts of Poland, Romania, and Finland, and occupy Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In May 1941, he made himself chairman of the Council of People's Commissars; he was now the official head of the government and no longer merely head of the party. One month later, Germany invaded the USSR, making significant early inroads. As German troops approached, Stalin remained in the capital, directing a scorched-earth defensive policy and exercising personal control over the strategies of the Red Army. As the war progressed, Stalin sat in on the major Allied conferences, including those in Tehran (1943) and Yalta (1945). His iron will and deft political skills enabled him to play the loyal ally while never abandoning his vision of an expanded postwar Soviet Empire. In fact, after Germany's surrender in April 1945, Stalin oversaw the continued occupation and domination of much of Eastern Europe, despite "promises" of free elections in those countries. Stalin did not mellow with age; he prosecuted a reign of terror, purges, executions, exiles to the Gulag Archipelago (a system of forced-labor camps in the frozen north), and persecution in the postwar USSR, suppressing all dissent and anything that smacked of foreign, especially Western European, influence. To the great relief of many, he died of a massive heart attack on March 5, 1953. He is remembered to this day as the man who helped save his nation from Nazi domination—and as the mass murderer of the century, having overseen the deaths of between 8 million and 10 million of his own people.
1954 - "Girl in Pink Tights" opens at Mark Hellinger NYC for 115 perfs
1955 - Elvis Presley's 1st TV appearance on "Louisiana Hayride" show
1955 - WBBJ TV channel 7 in Jackson, TN (ABC) begins broadcasting
1956 - "King Kong," 1st televised
1956 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Jacksonville Golf Open
1957 - Eamon de Valera's Fianna Fail-party wins election in Ireland
1957 - Sgt Bilko satirizes Elvis Presley (Elvis Pelvin)
1958 - Explorer 2 fails to reach Earth orbit
Singer & Cultural Icon Elvis PresleySinger & Cultural Icon Elvis Presley 1958 - KDUH TV channel 4 in Scottsbluff-Hay Spring, NB (ABC) 1st broadcast
• 1959 - Iran & US sign economic & military treaty
1960 - Elvis Presley ends 2-year hitch in US Army
1960 - Ice Dance Championship at Vancouver won by Denny & Jones (GRB)
1960 - Ice Pairs Championship at Vancouver won by Wagner & Paul (CAN)
1960 - Men's Fig Skating Championship in Vancouver won by Alain Giletti (FRA)
1960 - Worlds Ladies Fig Skating Champions in Vanc won by Carol E Heiss (USA)
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.
1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• The Beatles recorded "From Me to You" & "Thank You Girl" on this day in 1963.
1964 - Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr, announces a baseball team is moving there
1964 - Emergency crisis proclaimed in Ceylon due to social unrest
1965 - 1st performance of Walter Piston's 8th Symphony
1965 - Ernie Terrel beats Eddie Machen in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1965 - March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against British colonial presence.
1966 - 75 MPH air currents causes BOAC 707 crash into Mount Fuji, 124 die
1966 - Bob Seagren pole vaults 5.19m indoor world record
1966 - Player reps elect Marvin Miller, as exec dir of Players' Association
1966 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1967 - WEDN TV channel 53 in Norwich, CT (PBS) begins broadcasting
1968 - US launches Solar Explorer 2 to study the Sun
1969 - Gold reaches then record high ($47 per ounce) in Paris
Flag of Germany (formerly West Germany during the Cold War)
• On this day in 1969 - Gustav Heinemann was elected to become the President of West Germany.
• On this day in 1969, Jimi Morrison, the frontman of legendary rock band The Doors, was charged with lewd behavior at a Miami concert. The Dade County Sheriff's Office issues an arrest warrant for Doors' lead singer Jim Morrison. He is charged with a single felony count and three misdemeanors for his stage antics at a Miami concert a few days earlier. When Morrison first got word of the charges for lewd and lascivious behavior, indecent exposure, profanity, and drunkenness, he thought it was a practical joke. But he soon learned that Miami authorities were entirely serious. In fact, they later added an additional charge, simulated oral copulation on guitarist Robbie Krieger during the concert. The trial did not begin until September 1970, when the prosecution trotted out witnesses who claimed to be shocked at the scene they had witnessed at the Doors concert. However, virtually every witness was somehow connected to the police or the district attorney's office. There was some question as to whether the popular singer had ever actually exposed himself on stage. But there was little doubt that he was so drunk that he had been able to do little more than mumble during the show. Morrison turned down a plea bargain arrangement where the band would play a free concert in Miami. This turned out to be a mistake as he was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison and a $500 fine. Morrison died in Paris before he could serve the sentence. Twenty years later, Dade County, Florida, once again placed itself in the middle of rock concert controversy when they prosecuted 2 Live Crew for alleged obscenity on stage. In December 2010, Jim Morrison received a posthumous pardon by the state of Florida, thanks in part to the efforts of outgoing governor Charlie Crist, who cited lingering doubts about the singer's actions.
1970 - Edison Theater opens at 240 W 47th St NYC
1970 - Nuclear non-proliferation treaty goes into effect
1970 - SDS Weathermen terrorist group bomb 18 West 11th St in NYC
1970 - Dubnium atoms are first detected conclusively.
1972 - Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis leaves communist party
1973 - Yankee pitchers Peterson & Kekich announce they swapped wives
1974 - "Candide" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 740 performances
1974 - Ralph Stewart failed in 2nd Islander penalty shot
1976 - British pound falls below $2 for 1st time
American President Jimmy Carter
• In 1977 on this day, U.S. President Jimmy Carter appeared on CBS News with Walter Cronkite for the first "Dial-a-President" radio talk show.
1978 - "Hello, Dolly!" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 152 perfs
1978 - Landsat 3 launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif
• 1979 - Voyager I's closest approach to Jupiter (172,000 miles)
• 1980 - Earth satellites record gamma rays from remnants of supernova N-49
1981 - "Bring Back Birdie" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 4 perfs
1981 - Ice Dance Championship at Hartford won by Jayne Torvill & C Dean (GRB)
1981 - Ice Pairs Champ at Hartford won by Irina Vorobieva & I Lisovski (URS)
1981 - Men's Figure Skating Champions in Hartford won by Scott Hamilton (USA)
1981 - US government grants Atlanta $1 million to search for black boy murderer
1982 - Gaylord Perry (with 297 wins) signs with Seattle Mariners
• 1982 - Russian spacecraft Venera 14 lands on Venus sends back data
• In Australian elections held on this day in 1983, Bob Hawke of the Labour Party defeated Australian incumbent Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser of the Conservative Party.
• 1984 - Supreme Court (5-4): city may use public money for Nativity scene
• 1984 - US accuse Iraq of using poison gas
• 1985 - Mexican authorities find the body of US drug agent Enrique "Kike" Camarena Salaazar
1986 - "Today" tabloid launched (Britain's 1st national color newspaper)
• 1988 - Constitution of Turks and Caicos Islands is restored and revised.
• Iraq repealed its annexation of Kuwait on this day in 1991.
1991 - Reggie Miller (Indiana) begins NBA free throw streak of 52 games
1992 - Ethic committee votes to reveal congressmen who bounced checks
NBA Legend Larry BirdNBA Legend Larry Bird 1993 - Boston Celtic Larry Bird undergoes backfusion surgery
1993 - Fokker 100 crashes at Skopje Macedonia, 81 die
1993 - Former Wash DC Mayor Marion Barry divorces his wife Effi
1993 - Marlins beat Astros 12-8 in their 1st spring training game
1994 - Dottie Mochrie wins Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament of Golf Championship
1994 - Largest milkshake (1,955 gallons of chocolate-Nelspruit South Africa)
1994 - PBA National Championship won by David Traber
1994 - Singer Grace Slick arrested for pointing a gun at a cop
1995 - 21st People's Choice Awards: Tim Allen wins
1995 - Estonia Centrumlinkse Coalition party wins parliamentary election
1995 - Graves of Tsar Nicholas II and family found in St Petersburg
1995 - Marc Velzeboer skates world record 3 km short track (5:00.26)
1996 - Earl Weaver & Jim Bunning, elected to Hall of Fame
1997 - Tommy Lasorda, Nellie Fox & Willie Wells for Hall of Fame
• In 1997 on this day, North Korea and South Korea met for first time in 25 years for peace talks. 1997 North and South Korean representatives met for the first time in 25 years for peace talks.
• 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.
• 2012 - 27 members of Iraq's security force are killed by gunmen disguised as police in Haditha
• 2012 - Tropical Storm Irina kills 65 in Madagascar
• 2013 - The Dow Jones surpasses its 2007 pre-financial crisis levels for the first time
• 2013 - Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolás Maduro assumes the presidency after the death of Hugo Chavez
• 2013 - Willcom announces the world’s smallest mobile phone, weighing 32 grams
1766 - The first Spanish governor of Louisiana, Antonio de Ulloa, arrived in New Orleans. 1770 - "The Boston Massacre" took place when British troops fired on a crowd in Boston killing five people. Two British troops were later convicted of manslaughter. 1793 - Austrian troops defeated the French and recaptured Liege. 1842 - A Mexican force of over 500 men under Rafael Vasquez invaded Texas for the first time since the revolution. They briefly occupied San Antonio, but soon headed back to the Rio Grande. 1845 - The U.S. Congress appropriated $30,000 to ship camels to the western U.S. 1864 - For the first time, Oxford met Cambridge in track and field competition in England. 1867 - An abortive Fenian uprising against English rule took place in Ireland. 1868 - The U.S. Senate was organized into a court of impeachment to decide charges against President Andrew Johnson. 1872 - George Westinghouse patented the air brake. 1900 - Two U.S. battleships left for Nicaragua to halt revolutionary disturbances. 1910 - In Philadelphia, PA, 60,000 people left their jobs to show support for striking transit workers. 1912 - The Italians became the first to use dirigibles for military purposes. They used them for reconnaissance flights behind Turkish lines west of Tripoli. 1918 - The Soviets moved the capital of Russia from Petrograd to Moscow. 1922 - "Annie Oakley" (Phoebe Ann Moses) broke all existing records for women's trap shooting. She hit 98 out of 100 targets. 1923 - Old-age pension laws were enacted in the states of Montana and Nevada. 1924 - Frank Caruana of Buffalo, NY, became the first bowler to roll two perfect games in a row. 1933 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered a four-day bank holiday in order to stop large amounts of money from being withdrawn from banks. 1934 - In Amarillo, TX, the first Mother's-In-Law Day was celebrated. 1943 - Germany called fifteen- and sixteen-year-olds for military service due to war losses. 1946 - Winston Churchill delivered his "Iron Curtain Speech". 1946 - The U.S. sent protests to the U.S.S.R. on incursions into Manchuria and Iran. 1953 - Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin died. He had been in power for 29 years. 1956 - The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the ban on segregation in public schools. 1970 - A nuclear non-proliferation treaty went into effect after 43 nations ratified it. 1976 - The British pound fell below the equivalent of $2 for the first time in history. 1984 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities had the right to display the Nativity scene as part of their Christmas display. 1984 - The U.S. accused Iraq of using poison gas. 1985 - Mike Bossy (New York Islanders) became the first National Hockey League player to score 50 goals in eight consecutive seasons. 1993 - Cuban President Fidel Castro said that Hillary Clinton was "a beautiful woman." 1993 - Sprinter Ben Johnson was banned from racing for life by the Amateur Athletic Association after testing positive for banned performance-enhancing substances for a second time. 1997 - North Korea and South Korea met for first time in 25 years for peace talks. 1997 - Chuck Niles received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1998 - NASA announced that an orbiting craft had found enough water on the moon to support a human colony and rocket fueling station. 1998 - It was announced that Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins would lead crew of Columbia on a mission to launch a large X-ray telescope. She was the first woman to command a space shuttle mission.
1770 The Boston Massacre, a pre-Revolutionary incident that grew out of anger towards British troops, occurred. Five anti-British rioters were killed. 1933 In the last free elections in Germany until after World War II, the Nazi Party received 44% of the vote. 1946 Winston Churchill delivered his famous Iron curtain speech, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has descended across the continent." 1953 Soviet dictator Josef Stalin died at age 73, after 29 years in power. 1963 Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hankshaw Hawkins were killed in a plane crash.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/mar05.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
