What happened today in history
March
What happened on March 5
On March 5 history recorded 54 notable events. 160 people who left a mark were born on this day, and 93 died. Here is the full almanac.
- 54events
- 160births
- 93deaths
- 8observances
Highlights
Highlights
363
Roman–Persian Wars: Roman emperor Julian and his army set out from Antioch to attack the Sasanian Empire.
The Roman–Persian wars, also called the Roman–Iranian wars, took place between the Greco-Roman world and the Iranian world, beginning with the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire in 54 BC and ending with the Byzantine and the Sasanian empires in 628 AD. Whi
1279The Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order suffered a great loss when 71 knights died in the Battle of Aizkraukle.
The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561, it was a member of the "Livonian Confederation".
1770American Revolution: British soldiers fired into a crowd in Boston, killing five people.
The American Revolution (1765–1789) was a political movement in the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain. It began as a rebellion and turned into a revolution eventually creating the sovereign United States, which was the outcome of the associated American Revol
March 5
On this day
IV century
- 363
363Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
XI century
XIII century
XV century
XVII century
XVIII century
- 1766
1766Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans. - 1770
1770Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including Crispus Attucks, are fatally shot by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence) five years later.
XIX century
- 1811
1811Peninsular War: A French force under the command of Marshal Victor is routed while trying to prevent an Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese army from lifting the Siege of Cádiz in the Battle of Barrosa. - 1824
1824First Anglo-Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma. - 1825
1825Roberto Cofresí, one of the last successful Caribbean pirates, is defeated in combat and captured by authorities. - 1836
1836Samuel Colt establishes his first factory to produce the recently patented production-model revolver, the .34-caliber "Paterson". - 1850
1850The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened. - 1860
1860Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia. - 1868
1868Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito, receives its premiere performance at La Scala. - 1872
1872George Westinghouse patents the air brake.
XX century
- 1906
1906Moro Rebellion: United States Army troops bring overwhelming force against the native Moros in the First Battle of Bud Dajo, leaving only six survivors. - 1912
1912Italo-Turkish War: Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, employing them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines. - 1931
1931The British Raj: Gandhi–Irwin Pact is signed. - 1933
1933Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party receives 43.9% at the Reichstag elections, which allows the Nazis to later pass the Enabling Act and establish a dictatorship. - 1939
1939Spanish Civil War: The National Defence Council seizes control of the republican government in a coup d'etat, with the intention of negotiating an end to the war. - 1940
1940Six high-ranking members of the Soviet politburo, including Joseph Stalin, sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs, in what will become known as the Katyn massacre. - 1942
1942World War II: Japanese forces capture Batavia, capital of Dutch East Indies, which is left undefended after the withdrawal of the KNIL garrison and Australian Blackforce battalion to Buitenzorg and Bandung. - 1943
1943World War II: General strike and protest march in Athens against rumours of forced mobilization of Greek workers for work in Germany, resulting in clashes with the Axis occupation forces and collaborationist police. The decree is withdrawn on the next day. - 1944
1944World War II: The Red Army begins the Uman–Botoșani offensive in the western Ukrainian SSR. - 1946
1946Cold War: Winston Churchill delivers his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College, Missouri. - 1953
1953Joseph Stalin, the longest serving leader of the Soviet Union, dies at his Volynskoe dacha in Moscow after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage four days earlier. - 1957
1957Sutton Wick air crash: A Blackburn Beverley of 53 Squadron, Royal Air Forces, crashes into the village of Sutton Wick, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), killing most of the crew and passengers and two local residents. - 1960
1960Indonesian President Sukarno dismisses the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR), 1955 democratically elected parliament, and replaces it with DPR-GR, the parliament of his own selected members. - 1963
1963American country music stars Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and their pilot Randy Hughes are killed in a plane crash in Camden, Tennessee. - 1963
1963Aeroflot Flight 191 crashes while landing at Aşgabat International Airport, killing 12. - 1965
1965March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against the British colonial presence. - 1966
1966BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707 aircraft, breaks apart in mid-air due to clear-air turbulence and crashes into Mount Fuji, Japan, killing all 124 people on board. - 1967
1967Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 crashes near Marseilles, Ohio, killing 38. - 1968
1968Air France Flight 212 crashes into La Grande Soufrière, killing all 63 aboard. - 1970
1970The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations. - 1973
1973An Iberia McDonnell Douglas DC-9 collides in mid-air with a Spantax Convair 990 Coronado over Nantes, France, killing all 68 people aboard the DC-9, including music manager Michael Jeffery. - 1974
1974Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal. - 1978
1978The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. - 1979
1979Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the German-American solar satellite Helios II all are hit by "off the scale" gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters. - 1981
1981The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer, is launched by Sinclair Research and would go on to sell over 11⁄2 million units around the world. - 1982
1982Soviet probe Venera 14 lands on Venus. - 1991
1991Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 109 crashes in Venezuela, killing 45. - 1993
1993Palair Macedonian Airlines Flight 301 crashes at Skopje International Airport in Petrovec, North Macedonia, killing 83.
XXI century
- 2001
2001In Mina, Saudi Arabia, 35 pilgrims are killed in a stampede on the Jamaraat Bridge during the Hajj. - 2002
2002An earthquake in Mindanao, Philippines, kills 15 people and injures more than 100. - 2003
2003In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed in the Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing. - 2011
2011An Antonov An-148 crashes in Russia's Alexeyevsky District, Belgorod Oblast during a test flight, killing all seven aboard. - 2012
2012Tropical Storm Irina kills over 75 as it passes through Madagascar. - 2012
2012Two people are killed and six more are injured in a shooting at a hair salon in Bucharest, Romania. - 2018
2018Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pause the Deir ez-Zor campaign due to the Turkish-led invasion of Afrin. - 2021
2021Pope Francis begins a historic visit to Iraq amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. - 2021
2021Twenty people are killed and 30 injured in a suicide car bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia. - 2023
2023The 2023 Estonian parliamentary election is held, with two centre-right liberal parties gaining an absolute majority for the first time. - 2023
2023A group of four prisoners escape from the Nouakchott Civil Prison, before being caught the next day.
Best known
Born on March 5
1936Canaan Banana
President of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987
1937Olusegun Obasanjo
Nigerian head of state (1976–79; 1999–2007)
1938Lynn Margulis
American evolutionary biologist
1938Fred Williamson
American football player and actor (born 1938)
1939Samantha Eggar
British actress
1939Tony Rundle
Australian politician
Best known
Died on March 5
254Pope Lucius I
Head of the Catholic Church from 253 to 254
1239Hermann Balk
Landmeister in Livland (d. 1239)
1534Antonio da Correggio
Italian Renaissance painter
1539Nuno da Cunha
Portuguese colonial administrator
1599Guido Panciroli
Italian jurist, professor, historian and antiquarian
1611Shimazu Yoshihisa
Japanese feudal lord of Satsuma Province
Holidays and observances
- Christian feast day: Ciarán of Saigir
- Christian feast day: John Joseph of the Cross
- Christian feast day: Piran
- Christian feast day: Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea
- Christian feast day: Thietmar of Minden
- Christian feast day: March 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Learn from Lei Feng Day (China)
- St Piran's Day (Cornwall)
Frequently asked questions
What happened on March 5?
54 documented historical events happened on March 5, from antiquity to the present day. The best known is this: Roman–Persian Wars: Roman emperor Julian and his army set out from Antioch to attack the Sasanian Empire. On the same day, in another year: The Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order suffered a great loss when 71 knights died in the Battle of Aizkraukle. On Almanaccolo every event is listed in chronological order, grouped by century, and links to the Wikipedia article it comes from, so you can always read further or check the source. Alongside the events you find who was born and who died on this date, and which observances are celebrated around the world.
Who was born on March 5?
160 people with a Wikipedia article were born on March 5, including Canaan Banana, Olusegun Obasanjo, Lynn Margulis. The list spans every era and every field — art, science, politics, sport, entertainment — ordered by year of birth, from the earliest to the most recent. The six featured people are those most has been written about: the ordering uses the length of their Wikipedia article as an indicator of prominence. For each one you find their occupation, year of birth and a link to the full biography.
Who died on March 5?
93 people with a Wikipedia article died on March 5, including Pope Lucius I, Hermann Balk, Antonio da Correggio. The list is in chronological order by year of death and spans all of documented history, from antiquity to the present day. For each person you find their occupation, the year and a link to the Wikipedia biography, where the full story and its sources can be read.
What is celebrated on March 5?
8 observances are celebrated on March 5 around the world: Christian feast day: Ciarán of Saigir, Christian feast day: John Joseph of the Cross, Christian feast day: Piran, Christian feast day: Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea, Christian feast day: Thietmar of Minden, Christian feast day: March 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics). The list gathers national holidays, international days and religious or civil observances falling on this date in different countries, as recorded on Wikipedia. Some are fixed and recur on the same day every year; others depend on the local calendar. Each links to the article explaining its origin and meaning.
Keep exploring
Free app
Every day’s history, in your pocket
Almanaccolo greets you each morning with the almanac of the day, sunrise and sunset times and your saved events.
- Today’s almanac, every morning
- Save the events that strike you
- Sunrise, sunset and weather for your city
- Free, no account required
Source: Wikipedia · Calendar