On This Day - What Happened On March 5 | Britannica

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1770 Boston Massacre Harassed by a mob, British troops on this day in 1770 opened fire, killing Crispus Attucks and four others in the Boston Massacre, an event that galvanized anti-British feelings in the lead-up to the American Revolution. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, gift of Mrs. Russell Sage, 1910 (accession no. 10.125.103); www.metmuseum.org

Featured Biography

Soong Mei-ling Chinese political figure bornMarch 5, 1898Shanghai, China(Birthday in 6 days)diedOctober 23, 2003 (aged 105)New York City, New YorkBettmann/Getty Images 1963 Joel Osteen American televangelist, theologian, and author 1934 Daniel Kahneman Israeli-born psychologist 1922 Pier Paolo Pasolini Italian author and director 1908 Rex Harrison British actor 1898 Zhou Enlai premier of China See All Biographies On This Day

More Events On This Day

2013 Venezuelan politician Hugo Chávez—who served (1999–2013) as the populist president of Venezuela and adopted an ideology, chavismo, that was rooted in the socialist political program of South American independence hero Simón Bolívar—died at age 58. Sort fact from fiction in our South America quiz© Victor5490/Dreamstime.com 1979 The U.S. space probe Voyager 1 flew by Io, the innermost of Jupiter's satellites, and observed nine active volcanoes on its surface. Take our space exploration quizPhoto NASA/JPL/Caltech (NASA photo # PIA00343) 1963 American country and western singer Patsy Cline—who was one of the classic performers of the genre, known for such ballads as I Fall to Pieces and Crazy—died in an airplane crash at age 30. Test your musical knowledgeEverett Collection Historical/Alamy 1955 Chinese author Mo Yan, who won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature for his imaginative and humanistic fiction, was born. Discover how well you know the Nobel laureates in literature 1953 Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin died at age 74 and was succeeded by Georgy Malenkov. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about RussiaSovfoto 1946 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill popularized the term “Iron Curtain”—describing the separation of the Soviet Union and its eastern and central European allies from Western nations—in a speech at Fulton, Missouri. Take our quiz about notable prime ministersKarsh/Woodfin Camp and Associates 1887 Brazilian musician and Latin American composer Heitor Villa-Lobos was born in Rio de Janeiro. Take our composers quizH. Roger-Viollet 1871 Polish German activist Rosa Luxemburg, who played a key role in the founding of the Polish Social Democratic Party and the Spartacus League, was born in Zamość. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about famous Europeans© Universal History Archive—Universal Images Group/Getty Images 1798 Napoleon invaded Switzerland and occupied Bern, ending the ancient ruling system of that country, the Confederation of the Thirteen Cantons. Was Napoleon short?Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.15 SIGN UP FOR History's Biggest Headlines Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors. SIGN UP Thanks for signing up for Today in History. Your first newsletter will arrive soon! SIGN UP By clicking "Sign Up" you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.