Historical Events on March 5
- 1770: British troops fatally shoot 5 Americans in Boston. This event – which would later be called the Boston Massacre – would be a contributing factor to the start of the American Revolutionary War 5 years later.
- 1824: The British declare war on Burma. This is the beginning of the First Anglo-Burmese War.
- 1872: A patent is given to George Westinghouse for air brakes.
- 1933:S President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes all banks in the United States and freezes all financial transactions during the Great Depression.
- 1933: The Nazi Party gets almost 44% of votes at the Reichstag elections. This allows them to later pass a piece of legislation called the Enabling Act; An act that would establish a dictatorship.
- 1940: An order is signed by the Soviets that calls for the execution of over twenty-five thousand Polish intelligentsia and over fourteen thousand Polish prisoners-of-war. This event is known as the Katyn Massacre.
- 1942: The capital of the Dutch East Indies – Batavia – is captured by Japanese forces.
- 1944: In Western Ukraine, Soviet forces start the Uman Botosani Offensive.
- 1946: At Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gives the Iron Curtain Speech.
- 1963: Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas, Patsy Cline and their pilot – Randy Hughes – is killed in Camden, Tennessee when their plane crashes.
Famous Birthdays on March 5
- German author and historian, Fritz Fischer is born in 1908.
- American author and playwright, Irving Fiske is born in 1908.
- English actor Rex Harrison is born in 1908.
- American actress Virginia Christine is born in 1920.
- American actor James Noble is born in 1922.
- Israeli-American economist and Nobel Prize laureate, Daniel Kahneman is born in 1934.
- American actor Paul Sand is born in 1935.
- American actor Dean Stockwell is born in 1936.
- English actress Samantha Eggar is born in 1939.
- American actor and director, Kevin Connolly is born in 1974.
- American actress and model, Eva Mendes is born in 1974.