Historical Events on Thursday, 5th March

05/03/2023

The 2023 Estonian parliamentary election is held, with two centre-right liberal parties gaining an absolute majority for the first time.

Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 5 March 2023 to elect all 101 members of the Riigikogu. The officially published election data indicate the victory of the Reform Party, which won 37 seats in total, while the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) placed second with 17 seats. The Centre Party won 16 seats, a loss of 10, while Estonia 200 won 14 seats, gaining representation in the Riigikogu.

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A group of four prisoners escape from the Nouakchott Civil Prison, before being caught the next day.

The 2023 Nouakchott prison break was the result of a prison riot in the Nouakchott Civil Prison, the central prison of Mauritania. Four AQMI members managed to escape from the Nouakchott civil prison, leading to Nouakchott entering a high-alert situation for the next days.

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05/03/2021

Pope Francis begins a historic visit to Iraq amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pope Francis was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 13 March 2013 until his death in 2025. He was the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III.

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Twenty people are killed and 30 injured in a suicide car bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia.

On 5 March 2021, a suicide car bombing occurred outside Luul Yemeni restaurant in Mogadishu, Somalia. The attack killed at least 20 people and injured another 30. Later the same day, jihadist group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

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05/03/2018

Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pause the Deir ez-Zor campaign due to the Turkish-led invasion of Afrin.

The Syrian civil war was an armed conflict that began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring. The Assad regime responded to the protests with lethal force, which led to a series of defections, the emergence of armed opposition groups, and the civilian uprising descending into a civil war. The war lasted almost 14 years and culminated in the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Many sources regard this as the end of the civil war. Post-war clashes and disputes have continued into 2026.

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05/03/2012

Tropical Storm Irina kills over 75 as it passes through Madagascar.

Severe Tropical Storm Irina was a large tropical cyclone that brought gusty winds and torrential rain across Madagascar, Mozambique, and South Africa. Irina is considered one of the most devastating systems of the 2011–12 season. Irina formed from a tropical wave that was located north of Madagascar. The disturbance continued to move south and became Irina on February 27. Irina moved parallel to the Madagascar coast, causing extreme flooding which claimed 77 lives. The system still has an unknown damage total.

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Two people are killed and six more are injured in a shooting at a hair salon in Bucharest, Romania.

On 5 March 2012, a man opened fire at a hair salon in Bucharest, Romania, killing two people and wounding six more.

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05/03/2011

An Antonov An-148 crashes in Russia's Alexeyevsky District, Belgorod Oblast during a test flight, killing all seven aboard.

The Antonov An-148 is a regional jet designed and primarily built by the Ukrainian aerospace manufacturer Antonov of Ukraine. Between 2009 and 2018, the An-148 was also being produced on a second production line in Russia by Voronezh Aircraft Production Association; however, production of the type in Russia was discontinued as a consequence of the wider souring political relations between Ukraine and Russia. While the last Russian-built An-148 was completed in October 2018, Ukraine continued to both produce and develop the type.

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05/03/2003

In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed in the Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing.

Haifa is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of 297,082 in 2024. The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area in Israel. It is home to the Baháʼí Faith's Baháʼí World Centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and destination for Baháʼí pilgrimage.

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05/03/2002

An earthquake in Mindanao, Philippines, kills 15 people and injures more than 100.

The 2002 Mindanao earthquake struck the Philippines at 05:16:09 Philippine Standard Time on March 6. The world's sixth most powerful earthquake of the year, it registered a magnitude of 7.5 and was a megathrust earthquake. It originated near the Cotabato Trench, a zone of deformation situated between the Philippine Sea plate and the Sunda plate, and occurred very near to the Philippines' strongest earthquake for the 20th century, the 1918 Celebes Sea earthquake.

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05/03/2001

In Mina, Saudi Arabia, 35 pilgrims are killed in a stampede on the Jamaraat Bridge during the Hajj.

Mina, nicknamed the "City of the Tents", is a valley located 8 kilometres southeast of the city of Mecca, in the district of Masha'er, Province of Makkah in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia. Covering an area of approximately 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi), Mina incorporates the tents, the area of Jamarat, and the slaughterhouses just outside the tents.

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05/03/1993

Palair Macedonian Airlines Flight 301 crashes at Skopje International Airport in Petrovec, North Macedonia, killing 83.

Palair Macedonian Airlines Flight 301 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Skopje to Zurich, operated by Palair Macedonian, the then-flag carrier of Macedonia. On 5 March 1993, the aircraft operating the flight, a Fokker 100, crashed shortly after taking off from Skopje Airport in snowy conditions. Out of the 97 passengers and crew members on board, only 14 survived. At the time, it was the deadliest air disaster in North Macedonia.

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05/03/1991

Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 109 crashes in Venezuela, killing 45.

Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 109 was a short-haul flight from La Chinita International Airport in Maracaibo, Venezuela to Santa Barbara Ed-L Delicias Airport that crashed on March 5, 1991.

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05/03/1982

Soviet probe Venera 14 lands on Venus.

Venera 14 was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus.

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05/03/1981

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.

The ZX81 is a home computer developed by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public. It was hugely successful; more than 1.5 million units were sold. In the United States it was initially sold as the ZX-81 under licence by Timex. Timex later produced its own versions of the ZX81: the Timex Sinclair 1000 and Timex Sinclair 1500. Unauthorized ZX81 clones were produced in several countries.

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05/03/1979

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.

The Venera 11 was a Soviet uncrewed space mission which was part of the Venera program to explore the planet Venus. Venera 11 was launched on 9 September 1978 at 03:25:39 UTC.

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05/03/1978

The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Landsat 3 is the third satellite of the Landsat program. It was launched on March 5, 1978, with the primary goal of providing a global archive of satellite imagery. Unlike later Landsat satellites, Landsat 3 was managed solely by NASA. Landsat 3 decommissioned on September 7, 1983, beyond its design life of one year. The data collected during Landsat 3's lifetime was used by 31 countries. Countries that cannot afford their own satellite are able to use the data for ecological preservation efforts and to determine the location of natural resources.

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05/03/1974

Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal.

The Yom Kippur War, also known as the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, the fourth Arab–Israeli War, the October War, or the Ramadan War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria. Most of the fighting occurred in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, territories occupied by Israel in 1967. Some combat also took place in mainland Egypt and northern Israel.

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05/03/1973

An Iberia McDonnell Douglas DC-9 collides in mid-air with a Spantax Convair 990 Coronado over Nantes, France, killing all 68 people aboard the DC-9, including music manager Michael Jeffery.

Iberia, legally incorporated as Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A. Operadora, Sociedad Unipersonal, is the flag carrier of Spain. Founded in 1927 and based in Madrid, it operates an international network of services from its main base of Madrid–Barajas Airport. Iberia, with Iberia Regional and with Iberia Express, is a part of International Airlines Group. In addition to transporting passengers and freight, Iberia Group carries out related activities, such as aircraft maintenance, handling in airports, IT systems and in-flight catering. Iberia Group airlines fly to over 109 destinations in 39 countries, and a further 90 destinations through code-sharing agreements with other airlines.

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05/03/1970

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty, the objective of which is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. Between 1965 and 1968, the treaty was negotiated by the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament, a United Nations-sponsored organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.

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05/03/1968

Air France Flight 212 crashes into La Grande Soufrière, killing all 63 aboard.

Air France Flight 212 was a scheduled passenger flight from Santiago, Chile to Paris with scheduled stops at Lima, Quito, Bogotá, Caracas, Pointe-à-Pitre, Vila do Porto, and Lisbon. On March 6, 1968, the Boeing 707 operating the flight, named "Chateau de Lavoute Polignac", crashed while approaching Le Raizet Airport in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, killing all 63 occupants of the plane.

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05/03/1967

Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 crashes near Marseilles, Ohio, killing 38.

Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 was a regularly scheduled Convair 580 flight on March 5, 1967, from Chicago, Illinois to Detroit, Michigan with stops at Lafayette, Indiana, Cincinnati, Ohio, Columbus, Ohio and Toledo, Ohio. The aircraft crashed near Marseilles, Ohio, killing all 38 passengers and crew on board. This remains the deadliest aviation accident in the state of Ohio.

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05/03/1966

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.

BOAC Flight 911 was a round-the-world flight operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) that crashed near Mount Fuji in Japan on 5 March 1966, with the loss of all 113 passengers and 11 crew members. The Boeing 707 flying the route disintegrated mid-air shortly after departing from Tokyo Haneda Airport as a result of severe clear-air turbulence.

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05/03/1965

March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against the British colonial presence.

The March Intifada was an uprising that broke out in Bahrain in March 1965. The uprising was led by Leftist groups, the National Liberation Front – Bahrain calling for the end of the British presence in Bahrain and numerous notable individuals participated in the uprising, including Wa'ad political activist Ali Rabea. The uprising was sparked by the laying-off of hundreds of Bahraini workers at the Bahrain Petroleum Company on March 5, 1965. Several people died in the sometimes violent clashes between protesters and police.

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05/03/1963

American country music stars Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and their pilot Randy Hughes are killed in a plane crash in Camden, Tennessee.

Patsy Cline was an American singer. One of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century, she was known as one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music. Cline had several major hits during her eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart.

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Aeroflot Flight 191 crashes while landing at Aşgabat International Airport, killing 12.

Aeroflot Flight 191 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight from Vnukovo International Airport to Ashkhabad International Airport, with a stopover in Krasnovodsk Airport. On 5 March 1963, the Ilyushin Il-18 crashed while landing at Ashgabat International Airport as a result of a dust storm. 12 of the 54 people on board were killed.

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05/03/1960

Indonesian President Sukarno dismisses the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR), 1955 democratically elected parliament, and replaces it with DPR-GR, the parliament of his own selected members.

The president of the Republic of Indonesia is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president is the leader of the executive branch of the Indonesian government and the commander-in-chief of the Indonesian National Armed Forces and the Indonesian National Police. Since 2004, the president and vice president have been directly elected to a five-year term, once renewable, allowing for a maximum of ten years in office.

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05/03/1957

Sutton Wick air crash: A Blackburn Beverley of 53 Squadron, Royal Air Forces, crashes into the village of Sutton Wick, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), killing most of the crew and passengers and two local residents.

The Sutton Wick air crash occurred on 5 March 1957 when a Blackburn Beverley C Mk 1 heavy transport aircraft, serial number XH117, of No. 53 Squadron RAF crashed at Sutton Wick, Drayton, Berkshire, England, following a shut-down of one engine and partial loss of power on another. Shortly after take-off, No. 1 engine was shut down as a precautionary measure then whilst on final approach back to RAF Abingdon, No. 2 engine failed to respond to throttle inputs. The aeroplane struck cables and trees 18 minutes after lifting off.

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05/03/1953

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.

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Soviet revolutionary and politician who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held office as general secretary of the Communist Party from 1922 to 1952 and as premier from 1941 until his death. Despite initially governing the country as part of a collective leadership, he eventually consolidated power to become a dictator by the 1930s. Stalin codified the party's official interpretation of Marxism as Marxism–Leninism, and his version of it is referred to as Stalinism.

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05/03/1946

Cold War: Winston Churchill delivers his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College, Missouri.

The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.

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05/03/1944

World War II: The Red Army begins the Uman–Botoșani offensive in the western Ukrainian SSR.

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often referred by its shortened name as the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars to oppose the military forces of the new nation's adversaries during the Russian Civil War, especially the various groups collectively known as the White Army. In February 1946, the Red Army was renamed the "Soviet Army". Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union it was split between the post-Soviet states, with its bulk becoming the Russian Ground Forces, commonly considered to be the successor of the Soviet Army.

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05/03/1943

World War II: General strike and protest march in Athens against rumours of forced mobilization of Greek workers for work in Germany, resulting in clashes with the Axis occupation forces and collaborationist police. The decree is withdrawn on the next day.

In February–March 1943, a series of large-scale protests took place in Athens against the intended forcible mobilization of occupied Greece's labour force for work in Nazi Germany. The protests, organized spontaneously or by the National Liberation Front (EAM), led to repeated clashes with the occupation troops and the collaborationist Greek police that left several dead. As a result of the protests, especially those of on 24 February and 5 March, the forced labour mobilization was never implemented in Greece. The protests, stoppages and other acts of civil disobedience alarmed the Germans about EAM's increasing influence; the collaborationist prime minister, Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, who was perceived as too weak by the Germans, was replaced by Ioannis Rallis in April, paving the way for a concerted anti-communist drive on behalf of the collaborationist government.

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05/03/1942

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.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

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05/03/1940

Six high-ranking members of the Soviet politburo, including 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.

The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, abbreviated as Politburo, was the de facto highest executive authority in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). While elected by and formally accountable to the Central Committee, in practice the Politburo operated as the ruling body of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union from its creation in 1919 until the party's dissolution in 1991. Full members and candidate (non-voting) members held among the most powerful positions in the Soviet hierarchy, often overlapping with top state roles. Its duties, typically carried out at weekly meetings, included formulating state policy, issuing directives, and ratifying appointments.

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05/03/1939

Spanish Civil War: The National Defence Council seizes control of the republican government in a coup d'etat, with the intention of negotiating an end to the war.

The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalist rebels. Republicans were loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic and included socialists, anarchists, communists, and separatists, supported by the Soviet Union. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of fascist Falangists, monarchists, conservatives, and traditionalists, supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and initially led by a military junta, until General Francisco Franco was appointed supreme leader on 1 October 1936 for what he called the Spanish State. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war was variously viewed as class struggle, religious struggle, or struggle between republican democracy and dictatorship, revolution and counterrevolution, or fascism and communism. The Nationalists won the war in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.

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05/03/1933

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.

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany during the Nazi era, which lasted from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 under his leadership marked the outbreak of the Second World War. Throughout the ensuing conflict, Hitler was closely involved in the direction of German military operations as well as the perpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.

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05/03/1931

The British Raj: Gandhi–Irwin Pact is signed.

British Raj was a transregional dependental country that spanned much of the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia and Middle East, existing from 1857 until its partition in 1947. It was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent and thus, it was also called Crown rule in India, direct rule in India, and British India. The region under British control was commonly called India in contemporaneous usage and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, and areas ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British paramountcy, called the princely states. The region was sometimes called the Indian Empire or the British Indian Empire, though not officially. As India, it was a founding member of the League of Nations and a founding member of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945. India was a participating state in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, and 1936. At its time, it was the second-most populated country and the most populated colony within Britain, and also bordered over 5 countries. Its capital was at Kolkata but later changed to New Delhi.

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05/03/1912

Italo-Turkish War: Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, employing them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.

The Italo-Turkish War, also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captured coastal areas of the Ottoman Tripolitania Vilayet, of which the main sub-provinces were Fezzan, Cyrenaica, and Tripoli itself. These territories became the colonies of Italian Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, which would later merge into Italian Libya.

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05/03/1906

Moro Rebellion: United States Army troops bring overwhelming force against the native Moros in the First Battle of Bud Dajo, leaving only six survivors.

The Moro Rebellion (1902–1913) was an armed conflict between the Moro people and the United States military during the Philippine–American War. The rebellion occurred after the conclusion of the conflict between the United States and First Philippine Republic, and saw the US move to impose its authority over the Muslim states in Mindanao, Jolo and the neighboring Sulu Archipelago.

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05/03/1872

George Westinghouse patents the air brake.

George Westinghouse Jr. was a prolific American inventor, engineer, and entrepreneurial industrialist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his creation of the railway air brake and for being a pioneer in the development and use of alternating current (AC) electrical power distribution. During his career, he received 360 patents for his inventions and established 61 companies, many of which still exist today.

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05/03/1868

Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito, receives its premiere performance at La Scala.

Mefistofele is an Italian opera in a prologue and five acts, later reduced to four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera with music by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito. It is an adaptation of the German legend of Faust. The opera was given its premiere on 5 March 1868 at La Scala, Milan, under the baton of the composer, despite his lack of experience and skill as a conductor.

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05/03/1860

Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Parma is a city in the region of Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy, known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 202,111 inhabitants as of 2025, Parma is the second most populous city in Emilia-Romagna after Bologna, the region's capital. The city is home to the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world. Parma is divided into two parts by the stream of the same name. The district on the west side of the river is Oltretorrente, meaning The other side of the stream. Parma's Etruscan name was adapted by Romans to describe the round shield called Parma.

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05/03/1850

The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened.

Britannia Bridge is a bridge in Wales that crosses the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and the city of Bangor. It was originally designed and built by the noted railway engineer Robert Stephenson as a tubular bridge of wrought iron rectangular box-section spans for carrying rail traffic. Its importance was to form a critical link of the Chester and Holyhead Railway's route, enabling trains to directly travel between London and the port of Holyhead, thus facilitating a sea link to Dublin, Ireland.

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05/03/1836

Samuel Colt establishes his first factory to produce the recently patented production-model revolver, the .34-caliber "Paterson".

Samuel Colt was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company and made the mass production of revolvers commercially viable.

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05/03/1825

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

Roberto Cofresí y Ramírez de Arellano, also known as El Pirata Cofresí, was a Puerto Rican pirate. He was born into a noble family, but the political and economic difficulties faced by the island as a colony of the Spanish Empire during the regional independence wars against the metropole meant that his household was poor. Cofresí worked at sea from an early age, which familiarized him with the region's geography, but provided him with only a modest salary. He eventually decided to abandon the sailor's life and become a pirate. He had previous links to land-based criminal activities, but the reason for Cofresí's change of vocation is unknown; historians speculate that he may have worked as a privateer aboard El Scipión, a ship owned by one of his cousins.

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05/03/1824

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

The First Anglo-Burmese War, also known as the First Burma War in English language accounts and First English Invasion War in Burmese language accounts, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese empires in the 19th century. The war, which began primarily over the control of what is now Northeastern India, ended in a costly but decisive British victory, giving the British total control of Assam, Cachar, Manipur and Jaintia as well as Arakan Province and Tenasserim. The Burmese submitted to a British demand to pay an indemnity of one million pounds sterling, and signed a commercial treaty.

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05/03/1811

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.

The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by the Iberian nations Spain and Portugal, along with the United Kingdom, against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, it is considered to overlap with the Spanish War of Independence. It overlapped with the War of the Fifth Coalition (1809) and the War of the Sixth Coalition (1812–1814).

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05/03/1770

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.

The Boston Massacre, known in Great Britain as the Incident on King Street, was a confrontation on March 5, 1770 during the American Revolution in Boston in what was then the colonial-era Province of Massachusetts Bay.

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05/03/1766

Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.

Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre-Guiral was a Spanish Navy officer. He spent much of his career in the Americas, where he carried out important scientific work. As a scientist, Ulloa is regarded as one of the major figures of the Enlightenment in Spain. As a military officer, Ulloa achieved the rank of vice admiral. He also served the Spanish Empire as an administrator in the Viceroyalty of Peru and in Spanish Louisiana.

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05/03/1616

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.

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center. The publication of Copernicus's model in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, just before his death in 1543, was a major event in the history of science, triggering the Copernican Revolution and making a pioneering contribution to the Scientific Revolution. Though a similar heliocentric model had been developed eighteen centuries earlier by Aristarchus of Samos, an ancient Greek astronomer, Copernicus likely arrived at his model independently.

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05/03/1496

King Henry VII of England issues letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorising them to explore unknown lands.

Henry VII, also known as Henry Tudor, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.

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05/03/1279

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

The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561, it was a member of the "Livonian Confederation".

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05/03/1046

Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama.

Nasir Khusraw was a Persian Isma'ili poet, philosopher, traveler, and missionary for the Isma'ili Fatimid Caliphate.

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05/03/0363

Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.

The Roman emperor was the ruler and monarchical head of state of the Roman Empire, starting with the granting of the title augustus to Octavian in 27 BC. The title of imperator, originally a military honorific, was usually used alongside caesar, originally a cognomen. When a given Roman is described as becoming emperor in English, it generally reflects his accession as augustus, and later as basileus. Early emperors also used the title princeps alongside other Republican titles, notably consul and pontifex maximus.

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