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. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Tuesday or Wednesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Friday or Sunday (56).

Events

• 363 – Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
• 1046 – Nasir Khusraw 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.
• 1616 – Nicolaus Copernicus's book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres is added to the Index of Forbidden Books 73 years after it was first published.
• 1766 – Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.
• 1770 – Boston 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.
• 1811 – Peninsular 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 – First Anglo-Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.
• 1836 – Samuel Colt patents the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.
• 1850 – The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the island 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 – Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito receives its premiere performance at La Scala.
• 1872 – George Westinghouse patents the air brake.
• 1906 – Moro Rebellion: United States Army troops bring overwhelming force against the native Moros in the First Battle of Bud Dajo, leaving only six survivors.
• 1912 – Italo-Turkish War: Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, employing them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.
• 1931 – The British Viceroy of India, Governor-General Edward Frederick Lindley Wood and Mohandas Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) sign an agreement envisaging the release of political prisoners and allowing salt to be freely used by the poorest members of the population.
• 1933 – Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a "bank holiday", closing all U.S. banks and freezing all financial transactions.
• 1933 – Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party receives 43.9% at the Reichstag elections. This later allows the Nazis to pass the Enabling Act and establish a dictatorship.
• 1936 – First flight of Supermarine Spitfire advanced monoplane fighter aircraft in the United Kingdom.
• 1940 – Six high-ranking members of Soviet politburo, including General Secretary 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 – World War II: Japanese forces captures Batavia, capital of Dutch East Indies, which left undefended after the withdrawal of KNIL garrison and Australian Blackforce battalion to Buitenzorg and Bandung.
• 1943 – First flight of Gloster Meteor jet aircraft in the United Kingdom.
• 1944 – World War II: The Red Army begins the Uman–Botoșani Offensive in the western Ukrainian SSR.
• 1946 – Winston Churchill coins the phrase "Iron Curtain" in his speech at Westminster College, Missouri.
• 1946 – Hungarian Communists and Social Democrats co-found the Left Bloc.
• 1960 – Indonesian President Soekarno dismissed the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR), 1955 democratically elected parliament, and replaced with DPR-GR, the parliament of his own selected members.
• 1960 – Cuban photographer Alberto Korda takes his iconic photograph of Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara.
• 1963 – American country music stars Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and their pilot Randy Hughes are killed in a plane crash in Camden, Tennessee.
• 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.
• 1974 – Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal.
• 1978 – The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
• 1979 – Soviet 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.
• 1979 – America's Voyager 1 spacecraft has its closest approach to Jupiter, 172,000 miles.
• 1981 – The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer, is launched by Sinclair Research and would go on to sell over 1.5 million units around the world.
• 1982 – Soviet probe Venera 14 landed on Venus.
• 1984 – Six thousand miners in the United Kingdom begin their strike at Cortonwood Colliery.
• 2003 – In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed by in the Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing.

Births

• 1133 – Henry II of England (d. 1189)
• 1324 – David II of Scotland (d. 1371)
• 1326 – Louis I of Hungary (d. 1382)
• 1340 – Cansignorio della Scala, Italian lord (d. 1375)
• 1512 – Gerardus Mercator, Flemish mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher (d. 1594)
• 1523 – Rodrigo de Castro Osorio, Spanish cardinal (d. 1600)
• 1527 – Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1603)
• 1563 – John Coke, English civil servant and politician (d. 1644)
• 1574 – Frederick IV, Elector Palatine, German husband Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau (d. 1610)
• 1575 – William Oughtred, English minister and mathematician (d. 1660)
• 1585 – John George I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1656)
• 1585 – Frederick I, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (d. 1638)
• 1637 – Jan van der Heyden, Dutch painter and engineer (d. 1712)
• 1658 – Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, French explorer and politician, 3rd Colonial Governor of Louisiana (d. 1730)
• 1693 – Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian and scholar (d. 1754)
• 1696 – Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Italian painter (d. 1770)
• 1703 – Vasily Trediakovsky, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1768)
• 1713 – Edward Cornwallis, English general and politician, Governor of Gibraltar (d. 1776)
• 1713 – Frederick Cornwallis, English archbishop (d. 1783)
• 1723 – Princess Mary of Great Britain (d. 1773)
• 1733 – Vincenzo Galeotti, Italian-Danish dancer and choreographer (d. 1816)
• 1739 – Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American colonel and physician (d. 1819)
• 1748 – Jonas Carlsson Dryander, Swedish botanist and biologist (d. 1810)
• 1748 – William Shield, English violinist and composer (d. 1829)
• 1750 – Jean-Baptiste Gaspard d'Ansse de Villoison, French scholar and academic (d. 1805)
• 1751 – Jan Křtitel Kuchař, Czech organist, composer, and educator (d. 1829)
• 1774 – Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse, Danish organist and composer (d. 1842)
• 1779 – Benjamin Gompertz, English mathematician and statistician (d. 1865)
• 1785 – Carlo Odescalchi, Italian cardinal (d. 1841)
• 1794 – Jacques Babinet, French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (d. 1872)
• 1794 – Robert Cooper Grier, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1870)
• 1814 – Wilhelm von Giesebrecht, German historian and academic (d. 1889)
• 1800 – Georg Friedrich Daumer, German poet and philosopher (d. 1875)
• 1815 – John Wentworth, American journalist and politician, 19th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1888)
• 1817 – Austen Henry Layard, English archaeologist, academic, and politician, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (d. 1894)
• 1827 – Duke William of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1879)
• 1830 – Étienne-Jules Marey, French physiologist and chronophotographer (d. 1904)
• 1830 – Charles Wyville Thomson, Scottish historian and zoologist (d. 1882)
• 1834 – Félix de Blochausen, Luxembourgian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1915)
• 1834 – Marietta Piccolomini, Italian soprano (d. 1899)
• 1836 – Charles Goodnight, American rancher and soldier (d. 1929)
• 1853 – Howard Pyle, American author and illustrator (d. 1911)
• 1855 – Archduchess Sophie of Austria (d. 1857)
• 1862 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player and theoretician (d. 1934)
• 1867 – Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 14th Premier of Quebec (d. 1952)
• 1869 – Michael von Faulhaber, German cardinal (d. 1952)
• 1870 – Frank Norris, American journalist and author (d. 1902)
• 1870 – Evgeny Paton, French-Ukrainian engineer (d. 1953)
• 1871 – Rosa Luxemburg, Polish-Russian economist and philosopher (d. 1919)
• 1871 – Konstantinos Pallis, Greek general and politician, Minister Governor-General of Macedonia (d. 1941)
• 1873 – Olav Bjaaland, Norwegian skier and explorer (d. 1961)
• 1874 – Henry Travers, English-American actor (d. 1965)
• 1876 – Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote, English lawyer and politician, 8th Lord Chief Justice of England (d. 1947)
• 1879 – William Beveridge, Bangladeshi-English economist and academic (d. 1963)
• 1879 – Andres Larka, Estonian general and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of War (d. 1943)
• 1880 – Sergei Natanovich Bernstein, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1968)
• 1882 – Dora Marsden, English author and activist (d. 1960)
• 1883 – Marius Barbeau, Canadian ethnographer and academic (d. 1969)
• 1886 – Dong Biwu, Chinese judge and politician, Chairman of the People's Republic of China (d. 1975)
• 1886 – Freddie Welsh, Welsh boxer (d. 1927)
• 1887 – Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian guitarist and composer (d. 1959)
• 1894 – Henry Daniell, English-American actor (d. 1963)
• 1898 – Zhou Enlai, Chinese soldier and politician, 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 1976)
• 1898 – Misao Okawa, Japanese super-centenarian (d. 2015)
• 1901 – Louis Kahn, American architect and academic (d. 1974)
• 1901 – Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg (d. 1971)
• 1901 – Julian Przyboś, Polish poet, essayist and translator (d. 1970)
• 1904 – Karl Rahner, German priest and theologian (d. 1984)
• 1905 – László Benedek, Hungarian-American director and cinematographer (d. 1992)
• 1908 – Fritz Fischer, German historian and author (d. 1999)
• 1908 – Irving Fiske, American author and playwright (d. 1990)
• 1908 – Rex Harrison, English actor (d. 1990)
• 1910 – Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese businessman, founded Nissin Foods (d. 2007)
• 1910 – Ennio Flaiano, Italian author, screenwriter, and critic (d. 1972)
• 1912 – Jack Marshall, New Zealand colonel, lawyer, and politician, 28th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1988)
• 1915 – Henry Hicks, Canadian academic and politician, 16th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 1990)
• 1915 – Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician and academic (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Milt Schmidt, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
• 1918 – Red Storey, Canadian football player, referee, and sportscaster (d. 2006)
• 1918 – James Tobin, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
• 1920 – José Aboulker, Algerian surgeon and activist (d. 2009)
• 1920 – Virginia Christine, American actress (d. 1996)
• 1921 – Elmer Valo, American baseball player and coach (d. 1998)
• 1922 – James Noble, American actor and producer (d. 2016)
• 1922 – Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1975)
• 1923 – Juan A. Rivero, Puerto Rican biologist and academic, founded Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Laurence Tisch, American businessman, co-founded the Loews Corporation (d. 2003)
• 1924 – Roger Marche, French footballer (d. 1997)
• 1927 – Jack Cassidy, American actor and singer (d. 1976)
• 1927 – Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, Scottish businessman and politician
• 1928 – J. Hillis Miller, American academic and critic
• 1929 – Erik Carlsson, Swedish race car driver (d. 2015)
• 1929 – J. B. Lenoir, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1967)
• 1930 – John Ashley, Canadian ice hockey player and referee (d. 2008)
• 1930 – Del Crandall, American baseball player and manager
• 1931 – Fred, French author and illustrator (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Barry Tuckwell, Australian horn player and educator
• 1933 – Walter Kasper, German cardinal and theologian
• 1933 – Tommy Tucker, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1982)
• 1934 – Daniel Kahneman, Israeli-American economist and psychologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1934 – Halit Refiğ, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2009)
• 1934 – James Sikking, American actor
• 1935 – Letizia Battaglia, Italian photographer and journalist
• 1935 – Philip K. Chapman, Australian-American astronaut and engineer
• 1935 – Paul Sand, American actor
• 1936 – Canaan Banana, Zimbabwean minister and politician, 1st President of Zimbabwe (d. 2003)
• 1936 – Dean Stockwell, American actor
• 1937 – Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerian general and politician, 5th President of Nigeria
• 1938 – Paul Evans, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1938 – Lynn Margulis, American biologist and academic (d. 2011)
• 1938 – Fred Williamson, American football player, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1939 – Samantha Eggar, English actress
• 1940 – Tom Butler, English bishop
• 1940 – Ken Irvine, Australian rugby player (d. 1990)
• 1940 – Graham McRae, New Zealand race car driver
• 1940 – Sepp Piontek, German footballer and manager
• 1941 – Des Wilson, New Zealand-English businessman and activist
• 1942 – Felipe González, Spanish lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Spain
• 1942 – Mike Resnick, American author
• 1943 – Billy Backus, American boxer
• 1943 – Lucio Battisti, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998)
• 1944 – Peter Brandes, Danish painter and sculptor
• 1944 – Roy Gutman, American journalist and author
• 1946 – Richard Bell, Canadian pianist (d. 2007)
• 1946 – Mem Fox, Australian author and academic
• 1946 – Murray Head, English actor, singer, and guitarist
• 1946 – Guerrino Boatto, Italian illustrator and painter
• 1946 – Graham Hawkins, English footballer and manager
• 1947 – Clodagh Rodgers, Northern Irish singer and actress
• 1947 – Tom Russell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1947 – Kent Tekulve, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1948 – Paquirri, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1984)
• 1948 – Richard Hickox, English conductor and scholar (d. 2008)
• 1948 – Elaine Paige, English singer and actress
• 1948 – Jan van Beveren, Dutch footballer and coach
• 1949 – Bernard Arnault, French businessman, philanthropist, and art collector
• 1949 – Franz Josef Jung, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Defence
• 1951 – Lat, Malaysian cartoonist
• 1951 – Rodney Hogg, Australian cricketer and coach
• 1952 – Petar Borota, Serbian footballer and coach (d. 2010)
• 1952 – Alan Clark, English keyboard player
• 1952 – Mike Squires, American baseball player and scout
• 1953 – Michael J. Sandel, American philosopher and academic
• 1953 – Tokyo Sexwale, South African businessman and politician, 1st Premier of Gauteng
• 1953 – Katarina Frostenson, Swedish poet and author
• 1953 – Richard Sanderson, English singer
• 1954 – Steve Prestwich, English-Australian drummer and songwriter (d. 2011)
• 1954 – Jack Stamp, American conductor and composer
• 1954 – Marsha Warfield, American actress and comedian
• 1955 – Penn Jillette, American magician, actor, and author
• 1956 – Adriana Barraza, Mexican actress and director
• 1956 – Teena Marie, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
• 1956 – Christopher Snowden, English engineer and academic
• 1957 – Mark E. Smith, English singer-songwriter
• 1957 – Ray Suarez, American journalist and author
• 1958 – Volodymyr Bezsonov, Ukrainian footballer and manager
• 1958 – Bob Forward, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1958 – Andy Gibb, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1988)
• 1959 – Mike Byster, American mathematician and academic
• 1959 – David Fury, American screenwriter and producer
• 1959 – Tsukasa Hojo, Japanese illustrator
• 1959 – Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenian colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. 1999)
• 1960 – Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson, English businessman and politician, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology
• 1963 – Joel Osteen, American pastor, author, and television host
• 1964 – Bertrand Cantat, French singer-songwriter
• 1964 – Gerald Vanenburg, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1965 – José Semedo, Portuguese footballer and coach
• 1966 – Mark Z. Danielewski, American author
• 1966 – Oh Eun-sun, South Korean mountaineer
• 1966 – Bob Halkidis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1966 – Michael Irvin, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
• 1966 – Aasif Mandvi, Indian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1968 – Gordon Bajnai, Hungarian businessman and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Hungary
• 1968 – Theresa Villiers, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
• 1969 – Paul Blackthorne, English actor and producer
• 1969 – Danny King, English author and playwright
• 1969 – Moussa Saïb, Algerian footballer and manager
• 1969 – MC Solaar, Senegalese-French rapper
• 1970 – Rome, American singer
• 1970 – Mike Brown, American basketball player and coach
• 1970 – John Frusciante, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1970 – Yuu Watase, Japanese illustrator
• 1971 – Greg Berry, English footballer and coach
• 1971 – Jeffrey Hammonds, American baseball player and scout
• 1971 – Yuri Lowenthal, American voice actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1971 – Filip Meirhaeghe, Belgian cyclist
• 1971 – Scott Mosier, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1972 – Brian Grant, American basketball player
• 1972 – Luca Turilli, Italian guitarist and songwriter
• 1973 – Yannis Anastasiou, Greek footballer and manager
• 1973 – Nelly Arcan, Canadian author (d. 2009)
• 1973 – Juan Esnáider, Argentinian footballer and manager
• 1973 – Ryan Franklin, American baseball player
• 1973 – Nicole Pratt, Australian tennis player and coach
• 1974 – Kevin Connolly, American actor and director
• 1974 – Jens Jeremies, German footballer
• 1974 – Matt Lucas, English comedian, actor, singer, and screenwriter
• 1974 – Eva Mendes, American model and actress
• 1975 – Luciano Burti, Brazilian race car driver and sportscaster
• 1975 – Sasho Petrovski, Australian footballer
• 1975 – Chris Silverwood, English cricketer and coach
• 1976 – Neil Jackson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1976 – Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
• 1976 – Paul Konerko, American baseball player
• 1976 – Chiwoniso Maraire, Zimbabwean singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
• 1976 – Tim Sylvia, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
• 1977 – Taismary Agüero, Cuban-Italian volleyball player
• 1977 – Bryan Berard, American ice hockey player
• 1977 – Mike MacDougal, American baseball player
• 1977 – Wally Szczerbiak, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1978 – Jared Crouch, Australian footballer
• 1978 – Mike Hessman, American baseball player and coach
• 1978 – Kimberly McCullough, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1978 – Carlos Ochoa, Mexican footballer
• 1979 – Martin Axenrot, Swedish drummer
• 1979 – Lee Mears, English rugby player
• 1980 – Andrea Bari, Italian volleyball player
• 1980 – Shay Carl, American businessman, co-founded Maker Studios
• 1980 – Renan Luce, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1981 – Barret Jackman, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1981 – Paul Martin, American ice hockey player
• 1982 – Daniel Carter, New Zealand rugby player
• 1982 – Giorgia Palmas, Italian model and television host
• 1983 – Édgar Dueñas, Mexican footballer
• 1983 – Mickaël Antoine-Curier, French-Guadeloupean footballer
• 1984 – Aarthi Agarwal, American actress (d. 2015)
• 1984 – Ryan Crowley, Australian footballer
• 1984 – Branko Cvetković, Serbian basketball player
• 1984 – Guillaume Hoarau, French footballer
• 1985 – David Marshall, Scottish footballer
• 1985 – Brad Mills, American baseball player
• 1986 – Alexandre Barthe, French footballer
• 1986 – Matty Fryatt, English footballer
• 1987 – Anna Chakvetadze, Russian tennis player
• 1987 – Chris Cohen, English footballer
• 1987 – Ishmael Miller, English footballer
• 1988 – Jovana Brakočević, Serbian volleyball player
• 1988 – Liassine Cadamuro-Bentaïba, Algerian footballer
• 1988 – Bjarni Viðarsson, Icelandic footballer
• 1989 – Jonatan Cristaldo, Argentinian footballer
• 1989 – Sterling Knight, American actor and singer
• 1989 – Jake Lloyd, American actor
• 1990 – Danny Drinkwater, English footballer
• 1990 – İlham Tanui Özbilen, Kenyan-Turkish runner
• 1990 – Alex Smithies, English footballer
• 1991 – Ramiro Funes Mori, Argentinian footballer
• 1991 – Daniil Trifonov, Russian pianist and composer
• 1993 – El-Hadji Ba, French footballer
• 1993 – Joshua Coyne, American violinist and composer
• 1993 – Harry Maguire, English footballer
• 1994 – Daria Gavrilova, Russian tennis player

Deaths

• 254 – Pope Lucius I (b. 200)
• 1239 – Hermann Balk, German knight
• 1534 – Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter and educator (b. 1489)
• 1539 – Nuno da Cunha, Portuguese admiral and politician, Governor of Portuguese India (b. 1487)
• 1611 – Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese daimyo (b. 1533)
• 1622 – Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1569)
• 1726 – Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, English politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1655)
• 1770 – Crispus Attucks, American slave (b. 1723)
• 1776 – Yeongjo of Joseon (b. 1694)
• 1778 – Thomas Arne, English composer and educator (b. 1710)
• 1815 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologist (b. 1734)
• 1827 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (b. 1749)
• 1827 – Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1745)
• 1829 – John Adams, English sailor (b. 1766)
• 1876 – Marie d'Agoult, German-French historian and author (b. 1805)
• 1893 – Hippolyte Taine, French historian and critic (b. 1828)
• 1895 – Nikolai Leskov, Russian author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1831)
• 1895 – Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, English general and scholar (b. 1810)
• 1907 – Friedrich Blass, German philologist, scholar, and academic (b. 1843)
• 1918 – Abdón Porte, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1893)
• 1923 – Dora Pejačević, Croatian composer (b. 1885)
• 1925 – Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician and engineer (b. 1859)
• 1926 – Clément Ader, French engineer, designed the Ader Avion III (b. 1841)
• 1927 – Franz Mertens, Polish-Austrian mathematician and academic (b. 1840)
• 1929 – David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-American businessman, founded Buick (b. 1854)
• 1931 – Arthur Tooth, English priest (b. 1839)
• 1934 – Reşit Galip, Turkish academic and politician, 6th Turkish Minister of National Education (b. 1893)
• 1935 – Roque Ruaño, Spanish priest and engineer (b. 1877)
• 1940 – Cai Yuanpei, Chinese philosopher and academic (b. 1868)
• 1944 – Max Jacob, French poet and author (b. 1876)
• 1947 – Alfredo Casella, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1883)
• 1950 – Edgar Lee Masters American poet, author, and playwright (b. 1868)
• 1950 – Roman Shukhevych, Ukrainian general and politician (b. 1907)
• 1953 – Herman J. Mankiewicz, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1897)
• 1953 – Sergei Prokofiev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1891)
• 1953 – Joseph Stalin, Soviet dictator and politician of Georgian descent, 2nd leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1878)
• 1955 – Antanas Merkys, Lithuanian lawyer and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Lithuania (b. 1888)
• 1963 – Patsy Cline, American singer-songwriter (b. 1932)
• 1963 – Hawkshaw Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1921)
• 1965 – Chen Cheng, Chinese general and politician, 27th Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1897)
• 1965 – Pepper Martin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1904)
• 1966 – Anna Akhmatova, Ukrainian-Russian poet, author, and translator (b. 1889)
• 1967 – Mischa Auer, Russian-American actor and singer (b. 1905)
• 1967 – Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian political scientist and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1882)
• 1967 – Georges Vanier, Canadian general and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (b. 1888)
• 1971 – Allan Nevins, American journalist and author (b. 1890)
• 1973 – Michael Jeffery, English talent manager (b. 1933)
• 1973 – Robert C. O'Brien, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
• 1974 – John Samuel Bourque, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1894)
• 1974 – Billy De Wolfe, American actor (b. 1907)
• 1974 – Sol Hurok, Ukrainian-American businessman (b. 1888)
• 1976 – Otto Tief, Estonian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1889)
• 1977 – Tom Pryce, Welsh race car driver (b. 1949)
• 1980 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (b. 1912)
• 1980 – Winifred Wagner, English-German wife of Siegfried Wagner (b. 1897)
• 1981 – Yip Harburg, American songwriter and composer (b. 1896)
• 1982 – John Belushi, American actor (b. 1949)
• 1984 – Pierre Cochereau, French organist and composer (b. 1924)
• 1984 – William Powell, American actor (b. 1892)
• 1988 – Alberto Olmedo, Argentinian comedian and actor (b. 1933)
• 1990 – Gary Merrill, American actor and director (b. 1915)
• 1993 – Cyril Collard, French author, actor, and director (b. 1957)
• 1995 – Vivian Stanshall, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and Grimms) (b. 1943)
• 1997 – Jean Dréville, French director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
• 1999 – Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (b. 1922)
• 2004 – Walt Gorney, Polish-American actor (b. 1912)
• 2006 – Richard Kuklinski, American murderer (b. 1935)
• 2007 – Ivan Supek, Croatian physicist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1915)
• 2008 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German computer scientist and author (b. 1923)
• 2010 – Charles B. Pierce, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
• 2011 – Manolis Rasoulis, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
• 2012 – Paul Haines, New Zealand-Australian author (b. 1970)
• 2012 – Philip Madoc, Welsh-English actor (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter and screenwriter (b. 1925)
• 2012 – William O. Wooldridge, American sergeant (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Rajasulochana, Indian actress and dancer (b. 1935)
• 2013 – Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (b. 1954)
• 2013 – Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan colonel and politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1954)
• 2013 – Duane Gish, American biochemist and academic (b. 1921)
• 2014 – Geoff Edwards, American actor and game show host (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Ailsa McKay, Scottish economist and academic (b. 1963)
• 2014 – Leopoldo María Panero, Spanish poet and translator (b. 1948)
• 2015 – Vlada Divljan, Serbian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
• 2015 – Edward Egan, American cardinal (b. 1932)
• 2015 – Dirk Shafer, American model, actor, and director (b. 1962)
• 2016 – Hassan Al-Turabi, Sudanese activist and politician (b. 1932)
• 2016 – Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer and engineer (b. 1941)
• 2016 – Al Wistert, American football player and coach (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Ciarán of Saigir
  • John Joseph of the Cross
  • Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea
  • Thietmar of Minden
  • March 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Custom Chief's Day (Vanuatu)
• Day of Physical Culture and Sport (Azerbaijan)
• Learn from Lei Feng Day (China)
• National Tree Planting Day (Iran)
• St Piran's Day (Cornwall)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Today in Canadian History