✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 64th day of the year

March 5

A look at March 5 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Gerardus Mercator and Rosa Luxemburg, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♓ZodiacPisces ◈BirthstoneAquamarine ❀Birth flowerDaffodil
Advertisement 728 × 90 leaderboard

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1981

    ZX81

    The 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.

    1981 home computer
  2. 1966

    BOAC Flight 911

    BOAC 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.

    1966 aviation accident in
  3. 1953

    Joseph Stalin

    Joseph Stalin, the longest serving leader of the Soviet Union, dies at his Volynskoe dacha in Moscow after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage four days earlier.

    Leader of the Soviet
  4. 1942

    World War II

    World 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.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  5. 1933

    Adolf Hitler

    Adolf 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.

    Dictator of Germany from
  6. 1825

    Roberto Cofresí

    Roberto Cofresí, one of the last successful Caribbean pirates, is defeated in combat and captured by authorities.

    Puerto Rican pirate (1791–1825)
  7. 1824

    First Anglo-Burmese War

    First Anglo-Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.

    1824–1826 war in Southeast
  8. 1811

    Peninsular War

    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.

    1807–1814 war against Napoleon
  9. 1616

    Nicolaus Copernicus

    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.

    Mathematician and astronomer (1473–1543)
  10. 1279

    Livonian Order

    The Livonian Order is defeated in the Battle of Aizkraukle by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

    Branch of the Teutonic
Advertisement Responsive in-content unit

Famous birthday twins

Born on March 5

Gerardus Mercator

b. 1512

Flemish mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher

Rosa Luxemburg

b. 1871

Polish-Russian economist and philosopher

Zhou Enlai

b. 1898

Chinese politician, 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China

Pier Paolo Pasolini

b. 1922

Italian actor, director, and screenwriter

Bernard Arnault

b. 1949

French businessman, philanthropist, and art collector

Walter Kasper

b. 1933

German cardinal and theologian

Michael von Faulhaber

b. 1869

German cardinal

Louis I of Hungary

b. 1326

King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 to 1382

Deaths

  • 2013Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan colonel and politician, President of Venezuela
  • 1982John Belushi, American actor
  • 1953Joseph Stalin, Soviet dictator and politician of Georgian descent, 2nd leader of the Soviet Union
  • 1940Cai Yuanpei, Chinese philosopher and academic
  • 1827Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist and academic
  • 1534Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter and educator

Holidays & 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)

Born on this day?

Make your birthday card.

Drop in your birth year and we'll work out your exact age, the day of the week you were born, your Chinese zodiac, your generation, and the countdown to your next candle.