March 5

This article is about the day. For the 1993 novel, see The Fifth of March.

March 5 in recent years

2024 (Tuesday)

2023 (Sunday)

2022 (Saturday)

2021 (Friday)

2020 (Thursday)

2019 (Tuesday)

2018 (Monday)

2017 (Sunday)

2016 (Saturday)

2015 (Thursday)

March 5 is the 64th day of the year (65th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 301 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 363 – Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
• 1046 – Naser Khosrow 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, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is banned by the Catholic Church
• 1766 – Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.
• 1770 – Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including Crispus Attucks and a boy, 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. At a subsequent trial the soldiers are defended by future U.S. president John Adams.
• 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 Isle 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 première 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, known also as the Katyn massacre.
• 1943 – First flight of Gloster Meteor jet aircraft in the United Kingdom.
• 1944 – World War II: The Red Army begins the Uman–Botoşani 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 – Cuban photographer Alberto Korda takes his iconic photograph of Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara.
• 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.
• 1975 – First meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club
• 1978 – The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
• 1979 – Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the 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 a Hamas suicide bomb in the Haifa bus 37 massacre.
• 2012 – Invisible Children launches the Stop Kony campaign with the release of Kony 2012.
• 2012 – At least 2 people are killed and 6 injured after a shooting in a hair salon in Bucharest, Romania.

Births

• 1133 – Henry II of England (d. 1189)
• 1324 – David II of Scotland (d. 1371)
• 1326 – Louis I of Hungary (d. 1382)
• 1512 – Gerardus Mercator, Flemish mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher (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 and scholar (d. 1754)
• 1696 – Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Italian painter (d. 1770)
• 1703 – Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, Russian poet (d. 1768)
• 1713 – Edward Cornwallis, English general (d. 1776)
• 1713 – Frederick Cornwallis, English archbishop (d. 1783)
• 1723 – Princess Mary of Great Britain (d. 1773)
• 1739 – Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American physician and colonel (d. 1819)
• 1748 – Jonas C. Dryander, Swedish botanist (d. 1810)
• 1748 – William Shield, English violinist and composer (d. 1829)
• 1750 – Jean-Baptiste Gaspard d'Ansse de Villoison, French scholar (d. 1805)
• 1751 – Jan Křtitel Kuchař, Czech organist, composer, and educator (d. 1829)
• 1794 – Jacques Babinet, French physicist (d. 1872)
• 1794 – Robert Cooper Grier, American jurist (d. 1870)
• 1814 – Wilhelm von Giesebrecht, German historian (d. 1889)
• 1815 – John Wentworth, American politician, 19th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1888)
• 1817 – Austen Henry Layard, English archaeologist (d. 1894)
• 1836 – Charles Goodnight, American rancher (d. 1929)
• 1853 – Howard Pyle, American author and illustrator (d. 1911)
• 1862 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player (d. 1934)
• 1867 – Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian politician, 14th Premier of Quebec (d. 1952)
• 1869 – Michael von Faulhaber, German cardinal (d. 1952)
• 1870 – Frank Norris, American author (d. 1902)
• 1871 – Rosa Luxemburg, Russian economist and philosopher (d. 1919)
• 1873 – Olav Bjaaland, Norwegian skier and explorer (d. 1961)
• 1874 – Henry Travers, English actor (d. 1965)
• 1879 – William Beveridge, Indian-English economist (d. 1963)
• 1879 – Andres Larka, Estonian general and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of War (d. 1943)
• 1882 – Arthur Hussey, American golfer (d. 1915)
• 1882 – Dora Marsden, English author and activist (d. 1960)
• 1883 – Marius Barbeau, Canadian ethnographer (d. 1969)
• 1886 – Dong Biwu, Chinese politician (d. 1975)
• 1887 – Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer (d. 1959)
• 1897 – Set Persson, Swedish politician (d. 1960)
• 1898 – Zhou Enlai, Chinese politician, 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 1976)
• 1898 – Soong May-ling, Chinese wife of Chiang Kai-Shek, 2nd First Lady of China (d. 2003)
• 1898 – Misao Okawa, Japanese super-centenarian
• 1901 – Louis Kahn, American architect and academic (d. 1974)
• 1904 – Karl Rahner, German priest and theologian (d. 1984)
• 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)
• 1913 – Gangubai Hangal, Indian singer (d. 2009)
• 1914 – Philip Farkas, American horn player (d. 1992)
• 1914 – Ursula Reit, German actress (d. 1998)
• 1915 – Henry Hicks, Canadian academic and politician, 16th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 1990)
• 1915 – Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician (d. 2002)
• 1916 – Jack Hamm, American illustrator (d. 1996)
• 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, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
• 1920 – José Aboulker, Algerian surgeon and activist (d. 2009)
• 1920 – Virginia Christine, American actress (d. 1996)
• 1920 – Leontine T. Kelly, American bishop (d. 2012)
• 1921 – Elmer Valo, American baseball player (d. 1998)
• 1922 – James Noble, American actor
• 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)
• 1926 – Craig Hill, American-Spanish actor (d. 2014)
• 1927 – Jack Cassidy, American actor (d. 1976)
• 1929 – Erik Carlsson, Swedish race car driver
• 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 illustrator (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Anthony Hedges, English composer and academic
• 1931 – Jean-Paul Roussillon, French actor (d. 2009)
• 1931 – Barry Tuckwell, Australian horn player
• 1932 – Gertan Klauber, Czech-English actor (d. 2008)
• 1933 – Jef Eygel, Belgian basketball player (d. 2005)
• 1933 – Kostas Linoxilakis, Greek footballer
• 1933 – Tommy Tucker, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1982)
• 1934 – Daniel Kahneman, Israeli economist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1934 – James Sikking, American actor
• 1935 – Philip K. Chapman, Australian-American astronaut and engineer
• 1935 – Paul Sand, American actor
• 1936 – Canaan Banana, Zimbabwean 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 (d. 2011)
• 1938 – Fred Williamson, American football player, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1939 – Samantha Eggar, English actress
• 1939 – Benyamin Sueb, Indonesian comedian, actor, and singer (d. 1995)
• 1939 – Peter Woodcock, Canadian murderer (d. 2010)
• 1939 – Pierre Wynants, Belgian chef
• 1940 – Tom Butler, English bishop
• 1941 – Des Wilson, New Zealand-English businessman and activist
• 1942 – Felipe González, Spanish 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)
• 1943 – Hugh Scully, English television host
• 1944 – Peter Brandes, Danish painter and sculptor
• 1944 – Roy Gutman, American journalist
• 1946 – Richard Bell, Canadian pianist (Full Tilt Boogie Band, The Band, Crowbar, and Blackie and the Rodeo Kings) (d. 2007)
• 1946 – Mem Fox, Australian author
• 1946 – Murray Head, English actor and singer
• 1946 – Lova Moor, French singer, dancer, and actress
• 1946 – Michael Warren, American basketball player and actor
• 1947 – Eddie Hodges, American actor and singer
• 1947 – Clodagh Rodgers, Irish singer and actress
• 1947 – Tom Russell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1947 – Kent Tekulve, American baseball player
• 1948 – Paquirri, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1984)
• 1948 – Eddy Grant, Guyanese-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Equals)
• 1948 – Richard Hickox, English conductor (d. 2008)
• 1948 – Elaine Paige, English singer and actress
• 1948 – A. Rafiq, Indonesian singer and actor (d. 2013)
• 1949 – Leszek Błażyński, Polish boxer (d. 1992)
• 1949 – Franz Josef Jung, German politician
• 1951 – Lat, Malaysian cartoonist
• 1951 – Jim Dowd, German-English politician
• 1951 – Burkhard Segler, German footballer
• 1952 – Alan Clark, English keyboard player (Dire Straits)
• 1953 – Michael Sandel, American philosopher and educator
• 1954 – Barry Lee Fairchild, American murderer (d. 1995)
• 1954 – Jack Stamp, American conductor and composer
• 1954 – Marsha Warfield, American actress
• 1955 – Julien Dray, Algerian-French politician
• 1955 – Penn Jillette, American magician, actor, and author
• 1955 – Georgios Papastamkos, Greek politician
• 1956 – Adriana Barraza, Mexican actress and director
• 1956 – Teena Marie, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
• 1956 – Marco Paolini, Italian actor and author
• 1956 – Christopher Snowden, English engineer and academic
• 1957 – Mark E. Smith, English singer-songwriter (The Fall and Von Südenfed)
• 1957 – Ray Suarez, American journalist and author
• 1958 – Andy Gibb, English-Australian singer (d. 1988)
• 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
• 1960 – David Tibet, English singer-songwriter (Current 93 and Death in June)
• 1962 – Jonathan Penner, American actor
• 1962 – Charlie Reid, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Proclaimers)
• 1962 – Craig Reid, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Proclaimers)
• 1963 – Joel Osteen, American pastor, author, and television host
• 1964 – Bertrand Cantat, French singer-songwriter (Noir Désir)
• 1964 – Egon Flad, German footballer
• 1966 – Mark Z. Danielewski, American author
• 1966 – Oh Eun-sun, South-Korean mountaineer
• 1966 – Bob Halkidis, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Michael Irvin, American football player
• 1966 – Aasif Mandvi, Indian-American actor and comedian
• 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
• 1969 – Danny King, English author and playwright
• 1969 – Moussa Saïb, Algerian footballer
• 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 (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Swahili Blonde, and Ataxia)
• 1971 – Jeffrey Hammonds, American baseball player
• 1971 – Yuri Lowenthal, American voice actor
• 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 (Rhapsody of Fire, and Luca Turilli's Rhapsody, and Luca Turilli's Dreamquest)
• 1973 – Yannis Anastasiou, Greek footballer
• 1973 – Nelly Arcan, Canadian author (d. 2009)
• 1973 – Ryan Franklin, American baseball player
• 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 actress
• 1974 – Jill Ritchie, American actress
• 1975 – Jolene Blalock, American actress
• 1975 – Luciano Burti, Brazilian race car driver
• 1975 – Sasho Petrovski, Australian footballer
• 1975 – Niki Taylor, American model
• 1976 – Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1976 – Paul Konerko, American baseball player
• 1976 – Chiwoniso Maraire, Zimbabwean singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
• 1976 – Katerina Matziou, Greek actress
• 1976 – Tim Sylvia, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
• 1977 – Bryan Berard, American ice hockey player
• 1977 – Mike MacDougal, American baseball player
• 1977 – Wally Szczerbiak, American basketball player
• 1978 – Jared Crouch, Australian footballer
• 1978 – Mike Hessman, American baseball player
• 1978 – Kimberly McCullough, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1978 – Carlos Ochoa, Mexican footballer
• 1979 – Tang Gonghong, Chinese weightlifter
• 1980 – Shay Carl, American businessman, co-founded Maker Studios
• 1981 – Barret Jackman, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1981 – Paul Martin, American ice hockey player
• 1981 – Shugo Oshinari, Japanese actor
• 1981 – Andreas Wiig, Norwegian snowboarder
• 1982 – Daniel Carter, New Zealand rugby player
• 1982 – Giorgia Palmas, Italian model and television host
• 1983 – Edgar Dueñas, Mexican footballer
• 1984 – Ryan Crowley, Australian footballer
• 1984 – Guillaume Hoarau, French footballer
• 1985 – David Marshall, Scottish footballer
• 1985 – Kenichi Matsuyama, Japanese actor
• 1985 – Brad Mills, American baseball player
• 1986 – Matty Fryatt, English footballer
• 1986 – Kimberlee Green, Australian netball player
• 1986 – Ellen Whitaker, English horse rider
• 1987 – Anna Chakvetadze, Russian tennis player
• 1988 – Trevor Carson, Irish footballer
• 1988 – Bjarni Viðarsson, Icelandic footballer
• 1989 – Sterling Knight, American actor and singer
• 1989 – Jake Lloyd, American actor
• 1990 – Alex Smithies, English footballer
• 1991 – Daniil Trifonov, Russian pianist
• 1993 – El-Hadji Ba, French footballer
• 1993 – Joshua Coyne, American violinist and composer
• 1993 – Alexa Dectis, American singer and actress
• 1994 – Daria Gavrilova, Russian tennis player
• 1994 – Aislinn Paul, Canadian actress

Deaths

• 254 – Pope Lucius I (b. 200)
• 1239 – Hermann Balk, German knight
• 1534 – Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter (b. 1489)
• 1539 – Nuno da Cunha, Portuguese admiral and politician, Governor of Portuguese India (b. 1487)
• 1592 – Michael Coxcie, Flemish painter (b. 1499)
• 1611 – Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese daimyo (b. 1533)
• 1622 – Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1569)
• 1695 – Henry Wharton, English librarian and author (b. 1664)
• 1726 – Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, English politician (b. 1655)
• 1731 – Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, Syrian scholar (b. 1641)
• 1770 – Crispus Attucks, American slave (b. 1723)
• 1776 – Yeongjo of Joseon (b. 1694)
• 1778 – Thomas Arne, English composer (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 (b. 1745)
• 1829 – John Adams, English sailor (b. 1766)
• 1849 – David Scott, Scottish painter (b. 1806)
• 1876 – Marie d'Agoult, German-French 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)
• 1903 – George Francis Robert Henderson, English colonel and author (b. 1854)
• 1904 – John Lowther du Plat Taylor, English colonel (b. 1829)
• 1907 – Friedrich Blass, German scholar (b. 1843)
• 1925 – Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician and engineer (b. 1859)
• 1926 – Clément Ader, French engineer, designed the Ader Avion III (b. 1841)
• 1927 – Franz Mertens, German mathematician (b. 1840)
• 1929 – David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-American businessman, founded Buick (b. 1854)
• 1931 – Arthur Tooth, English priest (b. 1839)
• 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)
• 1945 – Lena Baker, American murderer (b. 1901)
• 1945 – János Garay, Jewish Hungarian 1923 Summer Olympics gold medalist in fencing, murdered at Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp]] (b. 1889)
• 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 (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, Russian marshal and politician, 3rd leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1878)
• 1955 – Antanas Merkys, Lithuanian politician, 14th Prime Minister of Lithuania (b. 1888)
• 1962 – Libero Liberati, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1926)
• 1963 – Patsy Cline, American singer-songwriter (b. 1932)
• 1963 – Cowboy Copas, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1913)
• 1963 – Hawkshaw Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1921)
• 1965 – Chen Cheng, Chinese general and politician (b. 1897)
• 1965 – Pepper Martin, American baseball player (b. 1904)
• 1966 – Anna Akhmatova, Russian poet (b. 1889)
• 1967 – Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian 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 manager (b. 1933)
• 1973 – Robert C. O'Brien, American author (b. 1918)
• 1974 – John Samuel Bourque, Canadian 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 Ministers of Estonia (b. 1889)
• 1977 – Tom Pryce, Welsh race car driver (b. 1949)
• 1980 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian actor (b. 1912)
• 1980 – Winifred Wagner, English-German wife of Siegfried Wagner (b. 1897)
• 1981 – Yip Harburg, American songwriter and composer (b. 1896)
• 1981 – Vidrik Rootare, Estonian chess player (b. 1906)
• 1982 – John Belushi, American actor (b. 1949)
• 1984 – Pierre Cochereau, French organist and composer (b. 1924)
• 1984 – Tito Gobbi, Italian opera singer (b. 1915)
• 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 – Gregg Hansford, Australian motorcycle racer (b. 1952)
• 1995 – Vivian Stanshall, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Bonzo Dog Band and Grimms) (b. 1943)
• 1996 – Whit Bissell, American actor (b. 1909)
• 1997 – Samm Sinclair Baker, American author (b. 1909)
• 1997 – Jean Dréville, French director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
• 1999 – Richard Kiley, American actor (b. 1922)
• 2000 – Rena Dor, Greek actress and singer (b. 1917)
• 2000 – Lolo Ferrari, French porn actress and singer (b. 1962)
• 2004 – Walt Gorney, Polish-American actor (b. 1912)
• 2006 – Richard Kuklinski, American murderer (b. 1935)
• 2008 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German computer scientist and author (b. 1923)
• 2011 – Manolis Rasoulis, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
• 2012 – Bill Green, American sprinter (b. 1961)
• 2012 – Paul Haines, New Zealand-Australian author (b. 1970)
• 2012 – Zahir Howaida, Afghan-German singer (b. 1946)
• 2012 – William Heirens, American serial killer (b. 1928)
• 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)
• 2013 – Gorō Naya, Japanese voice actor (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Melvin Rhyne, American organist and composer (b. 1936)
• 2014 – Geoff Edwards, American actor and game show host (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Scott Kalvert, American director and producer (b. 1964)
• 2014 – Ailsa McKay, Scottish economist and academic (b. 1963)
• 2014 – Leopoldo María Panero, Spanish poet (b. 1948)
• 2014 – Hank Rieger, American journalist and publicist (b. 1918)
• 2014 – Dave Sampson, English singer (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • John Joseph of the Cross
  • Ciarán of Saigir (Irish calendar)
  • Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea
  • Thietmar of Minden
  • March 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Custom Chief's Day (Vanuatu)
• 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
• On This Day in Canada