General events on March 5th

In 1558, smoking tobacco was introduced in Europe by Francisco Fernandes.
In 1770, the Boston Massacre took place as British soldiers who had been taunted by a crowd of colonists opened fire, killing five people. Two British soldiers were later convicted of manslaughter. Crispus Attackus becomes 1st black to die for American freedom.
In 1867, an abortive Fenian uprising against English rule took place in Ireland.
In 1900, The American Hall of Fame For Great Americans was founded. It opened to the public on May 30, 1901.
In 1908, First ascent of Mt. Erebus, Antarctica.
In 1912, the Oreo Cookie was born.
In 1924, Computing-Tabulating-Recording Corp became IBM.
In 1933, a week-long national bank holiday is approved on this day, Sunday, by a special session of Congress (begins the next day). FDR proclaims 10-day bank holiday.
In 1934, The first Mother-in-Law Day is celebrated in Amarillo, Texas.
In 1968, Sales of "Simon Says" by the 1910 Fruitgum Company, passes the million mark, trumpeting the arrival of the short-lived term but immensely successful "bubblegum" craze.
In 1969, Gold reached a then record high ($47 per ounce) in Paris.
In 1975, The Prime Interest Rate went to 8.25 percent
In 1976, the British pound fell below the equivalent of $2 for the first time. Talk about losing weight.
In 1984, the Standard Oil Co. of California, also known as Chevron, gulped down Gulf Corp. as it bought the company for over $13 billion in the largest business merger in U.S. history.
In 1986, The U.S. dollar made its largest one-day gain against other world currencies since 1978 as it closed up 2-1/2 points or just over 2.2 percent from the previous day's closing mark.
In 1986, in Lebanon, Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying it had "executed" French hostage Michel Seurat, who had been abducted almost a year earlier.
In 1989, 19th Easter Seal Telethon raises $37,002,000.
In 1989, machinists striking Eastern Airlines withdrew an immediate threat to picket the nation's railroads, after a federal judge issued an order tem orarily prohibiting rail workers from honoring the Eastern picket lines.
In 1989, Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. decide to merge into a world-leading media and entertainment giant.
In 1990, To the cheers of onlookers, workers in Bucharest, Romania, finally succeeded in removing a 25-foot, seven-ton bronze statue of Vladimir Lenin from its foundation.
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Government and Politics on March 5th

In 1623, The first temperance law in the colonies was enacted in Virginia.
In 1766, Spanish official Don Antonio de Ulloa arrived in New Orleans to take possession of the Louisiana Territory from the French.
In 1821, James Monroe became the first President of the United States to be inaugurated on March 5th. The reason? The usual inauguration date of March 4th fell on a Sunday that year and a President cannot be inaugurated on the Sabbath. It's still the law, even though the Inauguration Day was officially set back to January 20th (Sundays are not included).
In 1836, the City of Cleveland is incorporated.
In 1849, Zachary Taylor took the oath of office at his presidential inauguration.
In 1868, the U.S. Senate was organized into a Court of Impeachment to decide charges against President Andrew Johnson.
In 1877, 125 years ago, Rutherford B. Hayes was inaugurated as the 19th U.S. president.
In 1923, the first old age pension plans in the U.S. were established by the states of Montana and Nevada ($25 per month).
In 1933, in German parliamentary elections, the Nazi Party won 44 percent of the vote, enabling it to join with the Nationalists to gain a slender majority in the Reichstag.
In 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri: "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent."
In 1953, the Soviet Union announced that dictator Josef Stalin had died at age 73. On that same day, Science Digest magazine hit the newsstands with an article entitled "Why Stalin May Live To Be 100".
In 1959, Iran & US sign economic & military treaty.
In 1962, 40 years ago, the Supreme Court rules airports must compensate neighbors for noise and vibrations.
In 1970, The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty comes into force with 45 countries, including the three main nuclear powers, having signed the agreement.
In 1977, 25 years ago, "Ask President Carter," was born as President Jimmy Carter joined CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite for the first ever "Dial-a-President" radio talk show. It was carried on 260 CBS Radio Network stations, with the President answering a variety of questions from folks across the United States. Uh, Mr. President? How much money did you spend on toothpaste?
In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that a city could use public funds to build a Nativity scene as part of an official display without violating the Constitution's separation of church and state.
In 1984, US accuse Iraq of using poison gas.
In 1987, 15 years ago, President Reagan called on Congress to approve the final installment of a 100 (M) million-dollar aid package for Nicaraguan Contra rebels.
In 1988, Vice President Bush won the South Carolina Republican primary, with Kansas Sen. Bob Dole running a distant second, followed by Pat Robertson and New York Rep. Jack Kemp.
In 1988, Vice President George Bush won the South Carolina Republican primary, with Kansas Senator Bob Dole running a distant second, followed by Pat Robertson and New York Congressman Jack Kemp.
In 1990, in Washington, Republican national chairman Lee Atwater suffered a seizure caused by a brain tumor.
In 1992, 10 years ago, Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. The other candidates staged a lively debate in Dallas, repeatedly scoring Paul Tsongas' pro-business plan as more "trickle- down" economics.
In 1993, the White House sought new ways to inflict what a spokesman called "real pain and real price" on Serb aggressors in Bosnia by tightening the United Nations blockade on supplies and money to the region.
In 1994, a jury in Pensacola, Florida, convicted anti-abortion a tivist Michael F. Griffin of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Dr. David Gunn; Griffin was sentenced to life in prison.
In 1994, White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum resigned in the wake of turmoil over the Clinton administration's handling of questions related to Whitewater.
In 1996, Representative Enid Greene Waldholtz (Republican, Utah), tangled in a financial mess that she blamed on her estranged husband, announced she would not seek a second term.
In 1996, Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole won the GOP primaries in Colorado, Maryland, Georgia and several New England states.
In 1997, 5 years ago, North Korea and South Korea met for first time in 25 years to talk peace.
In 1997, 5 years ago, Switzerland announced plans to establish a $4.7 billion government-financed fund, using interest from its gold reserves, to compensate survivors of the Nazi Holocaust and their descendants.
In 1998, Details of President Clinton's deposition testimony in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case against him were published in The Washington Post, prompting an angry denunciation from the president for the news leak.
In 1999, Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema met at the White House with President Clinton, a day after a military jury in North Carolina acquitted a Marine pilot in the Italian cable car accident that killed 20 people; D'Alema demanded justice, while Clinton expressed profound regret.
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War, Crime and Disaster events on March 5th

In 1912, the Italians are the first to use dirigibles for military purposes (reconnaissance.).
In 1916, The Army Reorganization Act is passed by Congress.
In 1927, 75 years ago, 1,000 US marines land in China to protect American property.
In 1942, 60 years ago, Japanese troop march into Batavia.
In 1943, Anti fascist strike in Italy.
In 1943, RAF bombs Essen Germany.
In 1945, Allies bombs The Hague, Netherlands.
In 1945, US seventh Army Corps captures Cologne.
In 1966, 75 MPH air currents causes BOAC 707 crash into Mount Fuji, 124 die.
In 1991, Iraq repealed its annexation of Kuwait. The Iraqis turned over 35 prisoners of war, including 15 Americans, to the Red Cross. An anti-Saddam Hussein uprising was reported sweeping city after city in Iraq.
In 1991, Just days after the end of the Gulf War, rebellions against Saddam Hussein were reported in southeastern Iraq. U.S. military officials predicted the unrest probably would lead to his overthrow. It didn't.
In 1992, 10 years ago, the trial of four Los Angeles police officers charged with beating motorist Rodney King opened in Simi Valley, California.
In 1995, An Australian yacht broke in two and sank in heavy wind and fierce winds off the Southern California coast, the first sinking in the history of America's Cup racing; all 17 crew members were rescued.
In 1997, 5 years ago, the Ohio River rose to its highest level in a generation, flooding the Louisville, Kentucky, area.
In 1998, Pakistani officials announced that at least 300 people were killed by flash floods in a remote southwestern region earlier in the week and more than 1,500 were still missing. They said 175 bodies were recovered from Turbat district but they had confirmed reports of about 300 deaths. Army and navy helicopters were evacuating stranded people and dropping food for the sufferers of the floods, which also made some 25,000 people homeless.
In 2000, 2 years ago, Israel's Cabinet voted unanimously to withdraw its troops from south Lebanon by the following July.
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