History of Today in India – 05 March

Explore the history of today 05 March in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 05 March 2026, 04:22 AM

📜 Important Events on 05 March in World History

05 Mar 2023: The 2023 Estonian parliamentary election is held, with two centre-right liberal parties gaining an absolute majority for the first time. Read more
05 Mar 2023: A group of four prisoners escape from the Nouakchott Civil Prison, before being caught the next day. Read more
05 Mar 2021: Pope Francis begins a historic visit to Iraq amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more
05 Mar 2021: Twenty people are killed and 30 injured in a suicide car bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia. Read more
05 Mar 2018: Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pause the Deir ez-Zor campaign due to the Turkish-led invasion of Afrin. Read more
05 Mar 2012: Tropical Storm Irina kills over 75 as it passes through Madagascar. Read more
05 Mar 2012: Two people are killed and six more are injured in a shooting at a hair salon in Bucharest, Romania. Read more
05 Mar 2011: An Antonov An-148 crashes in Russia's Alexeyevsky District, Belgorod Oblast during a test flight, killing all seven aboard. Read more
05 Mar 2003: In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed in the Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing. Read more
05 Mar 2002: An earthquake in Mindanao, Philippines, kills 15 people and injures more than 100. Read more
05 Mar 2001: In Mina, Saudi Arabia, 35 pilgrims are killed in a stampede on the Jamaraat Bridge during the Hajj. Read more
05 Mar 1993: Palair Macedonian Airlines Flight 301 crashes at Skopje International Airport in Petrovec, North Macedonia, killing 83. Read more
05 Mar 1991: Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 109 crashes in Venezuela, killing 45. Read more
05 Mar 1982: Soviet probe Venera 14 lands on Venus. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 1978: The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Read more
05 Mar 1974: Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 1970: The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations. Read more
05 Mar 1968: Air France Flight 212 crashes into La Grande Soufrière, killing all 63 aboard. Read more
05 Mar 1967: Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 crashes near Marseilles, Ohio, killing 38. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 1965: March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against the British colonial presence. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 1963: Aeroflot Flight 191 crashes while landing at Aşgabat International Airport, killing 12. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 1946: Cold War: Winston Churchill delivers his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College, Missouri. Read more
05 Mar 1944: World War II: The Red Army begins the Uman–Botoșani offensive in the western Ukrainian SSR. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 1931: The British Raj: Gandhi–Irwin Pact is signed. Read more
05 Mar 1912: Italo-Turkish War: Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, employing them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more
05 Mar 1872: George Westinghouse patents the air brake. Read more
05 Mar 1868: Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito, receives its premiere performance at La Scala. Read more
05 Mar 1860: Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia. Read more
05 Mar 1850: The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened. Read more
05 Mar 1836: Samuel Colt established his first factory to produce recently patented production-model revolver, the .34-caliber "Paterson". Read more
05 Mar 1825: Roberto Cofresí, one of the last successful Caribbean pirates, is defeated in combat and captured by authorities. Read more
05 Mar 1824: First Anglo-Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma. Read more
05 Mar 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. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 05 March in World History

05 Mar 2007: Roman Griffin Davis, English actor Roman Griffin Davis is an English actor known in the film Jojo Rabbit (2019), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe. Read more
05 Mar 2000: Doug Edert, American basketball player Douglas Ryan Edert is an American college basketball player who last played for the Bryant Bulldogs of the America East Conference. He also played for the Saint Peter's Peacocks. Edert is best known for his integral role in Saint Peter's historic underdog run to the Elite Eight in the 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Read more
05 Mar 1999: Madison Beer, American singer-songwriter Madison Elle Beer is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained media attention after Canadian singer Justin Bieber posted a link to her cover of "At Last". In 2018, she released her debut extended play (EP), As She Pleases. Read more
05 Mar 1999: Justin Fields, American football player Justin Skyler Fields is an American professional football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with the Georgia Bulldogs, he played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, where he was twice named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and appeared in the 2021 National Championship Game. Read more
05 Mar 1999: Yeri, South Korean singer and actress Kim Ye-rim, better known by her stage name Yeri, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is a member of South Korean girl group Red Velvet. She made her acting debut with the drama Blue Birthday. Aside from her music and acting career, Yeri hosted Show! Music Core (2015) and The Viewable SM (2016). Yeri also appeared on variety show Secret Unnie (2018) and Law of the Jungle in Thailand (2019). In 2020, Yeri hosted her first reality-variety show Yeri's Room, which aired through the YouTube channel Dum Dum Studio. Read more
05 Mar 1998: Bo Bichette, American baseball player Bo Joseph Bichette is an American professional baseball infielder for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays. Bichette was selected by the Blue Jays in the second round of the 2016 MLB draft and made his MLB debut with them in 2019. He is a two-time MLB All-Star and twice led the American League (AL) in hits. His father, Dante Bichette, also played in MLB. Read more
05 Mar 1997: Milena Venega, Cuban rower Milena Venega Cancio is a Cuban rower. Read more
05 Mar 1996: Taylor Hill, American model Taylor Marie Hill is an American model. A former Victoria's Secret Angel, she appeared in the brand's annual fashion show from 2014 to 2018. She has worked for brands including Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, and Carolina Herrera. She has also appeared in magazines such as Vogue, Elle, and Harper's Bazaar. Read more
05 Mar 1996: Emmanuel Mudiay, Congolese-American basketball player Emmanuel Kabeya Mudiay is a Congolese-American professional basketball player for the Piratas de Quebradillas of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He played high school basketball for Grace Preparatory Academy and Prime Prep Academy in Texas, where he received media attention. He committed to play for the SMU Mustangs men's basketball team on August 24, 2013, but later made the decision to forgo college and joined the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China. After an injury-riddled season in China, he was selected with the seventh overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets. Read more
05 Mar 1994: Daria Saville, Russian-Australian tennis player Daria Saville is a Russian-born Australian professional tennis player. She competed under her maiden name until her marriage to Luke Saville in 2021. On 28 August 2017, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 20. On 25 September 2017, she peaked at No. 45 in the doubles rankings. Read more
05 Mar 1994: MJ, South Korean singer and actor Kim Myung-jun, known professionally as MJ (엠제이), is a South Korean singer and actor managed under the label of Fantagio. He debuted in 2016 as the main vocalist of the South Korean six-member boy group Astro. In August 2020, he debuted as one of the five members of an idol trot group named Super Five through MBC TV's reality trot show Favorite Entertainment. Read more
05 Mar 1993: El Hadji Ba, French footballer El Hadji Ba is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Spanish club Linense. Born in France, he plays for the Mauritania national team. Read more
05 Mar 1993: Joshua Coyne, American violinist and composer Joshua Coyne is an American musician and composer. Read more
05 Mar 1993: Fred, Brazilian footballer Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos, known as Fred, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe. Read more
05 Mar 1993: Ahmed Hassan, Egyptian footballer Ahmed Hassan Mohamed Abdelmonem Mohamed Mahgoub, known as Kouka or Koka, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Saudi club Al-Ettifaq and the Egypt national team. Read more
05 Mar 1993: Harry Maguire, English footballer Harry Jacob Maguire is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team. Read more
05 Mar 1993: Kyle Schwarber, American baseball player Kyle Joseph Schwarber is an American professional baseball left fielder and designated hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals, and Boston Red Sox. Internationally, Schwarber represents the United States. Read more
05 Mar 1992: Sam Bankman-Fried, American businessman and fraudster Samuel Benjamin Bankman-Fried, commonly known as SBF, is an American entrepreneur who was convicted of fraud and related crimes in November 2023. Bankman-Fried founded the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and was celebrated as a "poster boy" for crypto, with FTX having a global reach with more than 130 international affiliates. At the peak of his net worth, he was ranked the 41st-richest American in the Forbes 400. Read more
05 Mar 1991: Ramiro Funes Mori, Argentine footballer José Ramiro Funes Mori is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defender for Argentine Primera División club Estudiantes. He plays primarily as a centre-back but can also operate as a left-back and defensive midfielder. Read more
05 Mar 1991: Daniil Trifonov, Russian pianist and composer Daniil Olegovich Trifonov is a Russian pianist and composer. Described by The Globe and Mail as "arguably today's leading classical virtuoso" and by The Times as "without question the most astounding pianist of our age", Trifonov's honors include a Grammy Award win in 2018 and the Gramophone Classical Music Awards' Artist of the Year Award in 2016. Read more
05 Mar 1990: Danny Drinkwater, English footballer Daniel Noel Drinkwater is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Read more
05 Mar 1990: Mason Plumlee, American basketball player Mason Alexander Plumlee, nicknamed "Plumdog Millionaire", is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He primarily plays the center position. As a freshman in 2009–10, he was a back-up forward for the Duke Blue Devils national championship team, playing with his older brother Miles. He was a 2009 McDonald's All-American in high school. During his senior year at Duke, he also played with his younger brother Marshall. He was selected with the 22nd overall pick by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2013 NBA draft. Plumlee was also a member of the United States national team that won a gold medal in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Read more
05 Mar 1990: Alex Smithies, English footballer Alexander Smithies is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Read more
05 Mar 1989: Sterling Knight, American actor, singer, and dancer Sterling Sandmann Knight is an American actor, singer, and dancer. He is known for his role as Chad Dylan Cooper in the Disney Channel sitcom Sonny with a Chance and its spinoff So Random!, Zander Carlson in Melissa & Joey, and Christopher Wilde in the Disney Channel Original Movie Starstruck. Read more
05 Mar 1989: Jake Lloyd, American actor Jacob Matthew Lloyd is an American former actor who portrayed young Anakin Skywalker in the film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) and Jamie Langston in Jingle All the Way (1996). Read more
05 Mar 1988: Jovana Brakočević, Serbian volleyball player Jovana Brakočević Canzian is a Serbian volleyball player, who was a member of the Serbia women's national volleyball team that won the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and also the silver medal at the 2007 European Championship in Belgium and Luxembourg. There she was named Best server of the tournament. She was also a member of the Serbia women's national volleyball team that won the gold medal at the 2011 European Championship in Serbia and Italy. There she was voted MVP of the tournament. Read more
05 Mar 1988: Liassine Cadamuro-Bentaïba, Algerian footballer Liassine Cadamuro-Bentaïba is a professional footballer who plays for Berre SPC. A versatile defender, he can operate as a right back, central defender or left back. Read more
05 Mar 1987: Anna Chakvetadze, Russian tennis player Anna Djambuliovna Chakvetadze is a Russian former professional tennis player. Read more
05 Mar 1987: Chris Cohen, English footballer Christopher David Cohen is an English former professional footballer. He is assistant head coach at Lincoln City. Read more
05 Mar 1986: Alexandre Barthe, French footballer Alexandre Barthe is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He has won the Bulgarian league championship on six occasions in a row. Read more
05 Mar 1986: Corey Brewer, American basketball player and coach Corey Wayne Brewer is an American former professional basketball player who serves as an assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans. He played college basketball for the Florida Gators, winning back-to-back NCAA national championships in 2006 and 2007. He was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2007 NCAA tournament. Read more
05 Mar 1986: Matty Fryatt, English footballer Matthew Charles Fryatt is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who played as a striker. Read more
05 Mar 1986: Shikabala, Egyptian footballer Mahmoud Abdelrazek Hassan Fadlala, nicknamed Shikabala, is an Egyptian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is considered one of the best Egyptian football players of all time, having been named "Best Player in Egypt" in numerous polls on various football seasons. His playing style is characterized by dribbling, penetrating, playmaking, and shooting powerfully from long range with his left foot. Read more
05 Mar 1985: David Marshall, Scottish footballer David James Marshall is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Read more
05 Mar 1985: Kenichi Matsuyama, Japanese actor Kenichi Matsuyama is a Japanese actor. He is known for his affinity for strange character roles, and he is best known internationally for playing L in the 2006 films Death Note, Death Note 2: The Last Name and L: Change the World in 2008. He was cast to play lead character Toru Watanabe in the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami's novel Norwegian Wood, which was released in December 2010. Read more
05 Mar 1985: Brad Mills, American baseball player Bradley Aaron Mills is an American former professional baseball pitcher and current coach. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Oakland Athletics and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Orix Buffaloes. Read more
05 Mar 1984: Branko Cvetković, Serbian basketball player Branko Cvetković is a retired Serbian professional basketball player. He also represented the Serbian national team internationally. He is 2.00 m tall and plays at the shooting guard and small forward positions. Read more
05 Mar 1984: Guillaume Hoarau, French footballer Guillaume Hoarau is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. Read more
05 Mar 1983: Édgar Dueñas, Mexican footballer Edgar Esteban Dueñas Peñaflor is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defender. Read more
05 Mar 1982: Dan Carter, New Zealand rugby player Daniel William Carter is a New Zealand retired rugby union player. Carter played for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in test match rugby, and is considered by many experts as the greatest ever first five-eighth (fly-half) in the history of the game. He was named the International Rugby Board Player of the Year in 2005, 2012 and 2015. Read more
05 Mar 1982: Philipp Haastrup, German footballer Philipp Haastrup is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. Read more
05 Mar 1981: Barret Jackman, Canadian ice hockey player Barret D. Jackman is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues and the Nashville Predators. Jackman was selected 17th overall in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues. Jackman was born in Trail, British Columbia and grew up in Salmo, British Columbia & later Fruitvale, British Columbia. Jackman was often known for his physical style of play and fighting abilities. Read more
05 Mar 1981: Paul Martin, American ice hockey player Paul Joseph Martin is an American former ice hockey defenseman. He was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the second round, 62nd overall, of the 2000 NHL entry draft, playing six seasons for the organization before joining the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2010 and later the San Jose Sharks in 2015. Read more
05 Mar 1981: Karolina Wydra, Polish-American actress and model Karolina Wydra is a Polish-American actress and model. She is best known for her television roles as Dominika Petrova in House, the vampire Violet Mazurski in True Blood, detective Dianne Kubek in Wicked City, the alien Izel in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Zosia in Pluribus. Her film work includes leading parts in After (2012) and the sci-fi thriller Europa Report (2013). Read more
05 Mar 1980: Shay Carl, American businessman, co-founded Maker Studios Shay Carl Butler is an American YouTuber. He has three YouTube channels, two of which have over three million subscribers. Butler and Corey Vidal developed a documentary called Vlogumentary on a $200,000+ budget that was funded with an Indiegogo campaign and raised by mostly from his viewers. Vlogumentary was released on April 20, 2016. Forbes called Butler one of the "most successful video entrepreneurs on YouTube" and in 2011 The New York Times featured Butler's production company Maker Studios. Read more
05 Mar 1979: Martin Axenrot, Swedish drummer Erik Martin "Axe" Axenrot is a Swedish death metal drummer, best known as the former drummer for progressive metal band Opeth (2005-2021). Since 2004, he is the drummer for Bloodbath. Known for his intricate playing style, his drumming has been highly praised by Opeth members and fans, with Mikael Åkerfeldt calling him "a joy to play with." Axenrot has also been jokingly referred to as The Lord of the Rings character Legolas by band members and fans. Read more
05 Mar 1979: Érik Bédard, Canadian baseball player Érik Joseph Bédard is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, and Tampa Bay Rays. Bédard was the staff ace with Baltimore in 2007, setting the franchise single-season strikeouts per nine innings record and record for strikeouts since relocating to Baltimore. He was traded after that season to the Mariners for a package that included future All-Stars Adam Jones and George Sherrill. After several injury-filled seasons, Seattle traded him to Boston in 2011. Read more
05 Mar 1979: Lee Mears, English rugby player Lee Mears is an English former professional rugby union player who played as a hooker. He played his club rugby for Bath from 1998 until his retirement in 2013. He also played for the England national team from 2004 to 2012; he earned 42 caps and played in two Rugby World Cups, and played for the British & Irish Lions on their 2009 tour to South Africa. Read more
05 Mar 1978: Jared Crouch, Australian footballer Jared Crouch is a former Australian football player with the Sydney Swans of the Australian Football League (AFL), who is colloquially known as "Crouchie" to Swans fans and the media. He currently serves as a development coach at the Sydney Swans. Read more
05 Mar 1978: Mike Hessman, American baseball player and coach Michael Steven Hessman is an American former professional baseball first baseman and third baseman. He is currently a hitting coach for the Toledo Mud Hens. He played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, and New York Mets, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Orix Buffaloes. Read more
05 Mar 1978: Kimberly McCullough, American actress, singer, and dancer Kimberly Anne McCullough is an American actress and television director. She is best known for her role as Robin Scorpio on the soap opera General Hospital, a role which she originated at age seven, playing the character on and off from 1985 to 2000 and 2004 to 2018, in addition to 2021. She has subsequently taken a step back from acting in order to focus on directing. Read more
05 Mar 1978: Carlos Ochoa, Mexican footballer Carlos Augusto Ochoa Mendoza is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a striker. Read more
05 Mar 1977: Taismary Agüero, Cuban-Italian volleyball player Taismary Agüero Leiva is a Cuban-born Italian volleyball player. She is the only player to have represented two women's national volleyball teams that won major titles. Read more
05 Mar 1977: Bryan Berard, American ice hockey player Bryan Wallace Berard is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. Berard was the first overall pick in the 1995 NHL entry draft by the Ottawa Senators. He is most noted for a debilitating eye injury he received early in his career. Berard underwent several operations, and played 619 games in his NHL career despite the seriousness of the injury. Read more
05 Mar 1977: Wally Szczerbiak, American basketball player and sportscaster Walter Robert Szczerbiak Jr. is an American former professional basketball player and current color analyst for the New York Knicks on MSG Network. He played 10 seasons for four teams in the National Basketball Association. Szczerbiak played college basketball for the Miami RedHawks, and is one of five basketball players whose jerseys have been retired by the university. Read more
05 Mar 1976: Neil Jackson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter Neil Jackson is an English actor, singer, musician and writer who has appeared in several television series and films, but is probably best known for his role as Marcus van Sciver on Blade: The Series and Sasha on Make It or Break It. Read more
05 Mar 1976: Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach Šarūnas "Šaras" Jasikevičius is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for Fenerbahçe Beko of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi and the EuroLeague. During his playing career, standing at a height of 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) tall, he played at the point guard position. Read more
05 Mar 1976: Paul Konerko, American baseball player Paul Henry Konerko is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman from 1997 to 2014, most prominently as a member of the Chicago White Sox, where he was a six-time American League All-Star and team captain for the 2005 World Series winning team. Konerko began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds. In 2014, Konerko was named the recipient of the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award. Read more
05 Mar 1976: Norm Maxwell, New Zealand rugby player Norman Michael Clifford Maxwell is a former New Zealand rugby union player. Read more
05 Mar 1975: Jolene Blalock, American model and actress Jolene Blalock is an American actress and model. She is best known for playing the Vulcan first officer and science officer T'Pol on the science-fiction series Star Trek: Enterprise. Her other work includes guest-star appearances on television series and in films. Read more
05 Mar 1975: Luciano Burti, Brazilian race car driver and sportscaster Luciano Pucci Burti is a Brazilian former racing driver who raced in Formula One in 2000 and 2001. He was later a commentator for TV Globo. Read more
05 Mar 1975: Sasho Petrovski, Australian footballer Sasho Petrovski is a former Australian football (soccer) player who last played for Bankstown City. Petrovski has two caps for the Australian national team. Petrovski was known in the A-League as one of the most prolific strikers, scoring 41 goals between the 3 clubs. Read more
05 Mar 1975: Chris Silverwood, English cricketer and coach Christopher Eric Wilfred Silverwood is an English former international cricketer and coach. He is a former head coach of the Sri Lanka Cricket Team and previously the England Cricket Team. Read more
05 Mar 1974: Kevin Connolly, American actor and director Kevin Connolly is an American actor and director. He is best known for his role as Eric Murphy in the HBO series Entourage, and his role as the eldest son Ryan Malloy in the 1990s television sitcom Unhappily Ever After. Connolly is also a director, having directed many television episodes as well as the films Gardener of Eden, Dear Eleanor, and Gotti. Read more
05 Mar 1974: Jens Jeremies, German footballer Jens Jeremies is a German former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Read more
05 Mar 1974: Matt Lucas, English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality Matthew Richard Lucas is an English actor, comedian, writer and television host. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006) and Come Fly with Me (2010–2011). Read more
05 Mar 1974: Eva Mendes, American model and actress Eva de la Caridad Méndez, known professionally as Eva Mendes, is an American former actress. Her acting career began in the late 1990s with a series of roles in films such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) and Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000). Read more
05 Mar 1973: Yannis Anastasiou, Greek footballer and manager Giannis Anastasiou is a Greek professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Super League club Panetolikos. Read more
05 Mar 1973: Nelly Arcan, Canadian author (died 2009) Nelly Arcan was a Canadian novelist. Arcan was born Isabelle Fortier at Lac-Mégantic in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Read more
05 Mar 1973: Juan Esnáider, Argentine footballer and manager Juan Eduardo Esnáider Belén is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. Read more
05 Mar 1973: Ryan Franklin, American baseball player Ryan Ray Franklin is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and St. Louis Cardinals. Franklin currently works in the Cardinals’ front office. Read more
05 Mar 1973: Nicole Pratt, Australian tennis player, coach, and sportscaster Nicole Pratt is a retired tennis player from Australia. Read more
05 Mar 1973: Špela Pretnar, Slovenian skier Špela Pretnar is a Slovenian former alpine skier. Read more
05 Mar 1972: Brian Grant, American basketball player Brian Wade Grant is an American former professional basketball player. He played the power forward and center positions for five teams during 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He was known for his tenacious rebounding and blue-collar defense. During his career, he played with the Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, and Phoenix Suns. Read more
05 Mar 1971: Greg Berry, English footballer and coach Greg Berry is an English retired footballer who played as a winger. He is the head coach and technical director at Peace Arch Soccer Club and is also coaching at Coastal WFC in British Columbia, Canada. Read more
05 Mar 1971: Jeffrey Hammonds, American baseball player and scout Jeffrey Bryan Hammonds is an American former professional baseball player. Hammonds was an outfielder and played for the Baltimore Orioles (1993–1998), Cincinnati Reds (1998–1999), Colorado Rockies (2000), Milwaukee Brewers (2001–2003), San Francisco Giants (2003–2004) and the Washington Nationals (2005) in Major League Baseball (MLB). Before playing professionally, Hammonds played for Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey and Stanford University. Read more
05 Mar 1971: Yuri Lowenthal, American voice actor, producer, and screenwriter Yuri Lowenthal is an American voice actor known for his work in cartoons, anime, and video games. Some of his prominent voice roles in video games include Peter Parker / Spider-Man in various video games associated with the character, notably the incarnation featured in the Marvel's Spider-Man series by Insomniac Games and in Marvel Rivals by NetEase Games, Lorath Nahr in Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo III, The Prince in Ubisoft's Prince of Persia, Hayate/Ein in Dead or Alive, Courier 6 in Obsidian Entertainment's Fallout: New Vegas, Matt Miller in Saints Row: The Third and Saints Row IV, The Protagonist in Persona 3, Yosuke Hanamura in Persona 4, Pure Vanilla Cookie in Cookie Run: Kingdom, and Dainsleif in Genshin Impact. His roles in animation include Sasuke Uchiha in Naruto, teenage Ben Tennyson in Ben 10, Jinnosuke in Afro Samurai, Simon in Gurren Lagann and Suzaku Kururugi in Code Geass. Read more
05 Mar 1971: Filip Meirhaeghe, Belgian cyclist Filip Meirhaeghe is a retired Belgian racing cyclist. His primary focus was in mountain bike racing, however, he has also taken part in elite road, cyclo-cross and track cycling. He has won four Mountain Bike World Championships medals, one Olympic medal and a total of eleven mountain bike World Cup events. In the final years of his racing career he raced for the bicycle manufacturer Specialized Bicycle Components on the mountain bike and for the professional team Domina Vacanze-Elitron on the road. Read more
05 Mar 1971: Mark Protheroe, Australian rugby league player Mark Protheroe is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. He played most of his career at the Eastern Suburbs Roosters, but he also played for South Queensland Crushers. He started his career on the wing, but he later shifted to the forwards playing mostly in the second-row. Read more
05 Mar 1970: Mike Brown, American basketball player and coach Michael Burton Brown is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Brown was previously the head coach of the Sacramento Kings, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers, as well as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors. He also served as the head coach of the Nigerian national team from 2020 until 2022, coaching the team at the 2020 Olympic Games. Read more
05 Mar 1970: John Frusciante, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer John Anthony Frusciante is an American musician who is the guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic guitar to electronic music. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Chili Peppers in 2012. Rolling Stone named Frusciante among the greatest guitarists of all time. Read more
05 Mar 1970: Yuu Watase, Japanese illustrator Yuu Watase is a Japanese manga artist. She debuted in 1989 at the age of 18 with the short story "Pajama de Ojama" and has since published more than 50 volumes of one-shots and long-running manga series. One of her most popular titles is Fushigi Yûgi. In 1998, Watase won the 43rd Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōjo (girls') category for Ceres, Celestial Legend. In 2008, she began her first shōnen (boys') serialization, Arata: The Legend. Read more
05 Mar 1970: Aleksandar Vučić, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, First Deputy Prime Minister from 2012 to 2014, and Prime Minister of Serbia from 2014 to 2017. Read more
05 Mar 1969: Paul Blackthorne, English actor and producer Paul Blackthorne is an English actor. Although born in Shropshire, he spent his early childhood on UK military bases in Britain and Germany. Read more
05 Mar 1969: Danny King, English author and playwright
Daniel Michael King is a British writer. Read more
05 Mar 1969: Moussa Saïb, Algerian footballer and manager Moussa Saïb is an Algerian football manager and former player. Read more
05 Mar 1969: M.C. Solaar, Senegalese-French rapper Claude Honoré M'Barali, professionally known as MC Solaar, is a French rapper of Senegalese and Chadian origin. He is one of France's most famous and influential hip hop artists. Some consider him the best French rapper of all time. Read more
05 Mar 1968: Gordon Bajnai, Hungarian businessman and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Hungary György Gordon Bajnai is a Hungarian entrepreneur and economist, who served as the Prime Minister of Hungary from 2009 to 2010. Prior to that, he functioned as Minister of Local Government and Regional Development from 2007 to 2008, then as Minister of National Development and Economy from 2008 to 2009. In March 2009, following Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány's announced resignation, Bajnai was nominated by the ruling Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) to become Hungary's next head of government. Bajnai became prime minister when the parliament passed a constructive motion of no-confidence against Ferenc Gyurcsány on 14 April 2009. He held the office until the formation of the Second Orbán Government following the 2010 parliamentary election. Read more
05 Mar 1968: Theresa Villiers, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Dame Theresa Anne Villiers is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chipping Barnet from 2005 to 2024, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005. A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020. Read more
05 Mar 1966: Oh Eun-sun, South Korean mountaineer Oh Eun-sun is a South Korean mountaineer. She was the first South Korean woman to climb the Seven Summits. On April 27, 2010, she reached the summit of Annapurna; upon doing so, she claimed to have climbed all fourteen eight-thousanders, which would have made her the first woman to achieve this feat. However, her claim to have ascended Kangchenjunga was disputed by multiple experts. Oh later admitted that she had stopped a few hundred meters before the summit of Kangchenjunga, and so the Korean Alpine Federation ruled that she had not summited. The mountaineering site ExplorersWeb officially considers the Basque Edurne Pasaban as the first woman to have successfully climbed all fourteen peaks. Read more
05 Mar 1966: Bob Halkidis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach Robert H. Halkidis is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Read more
05 Mar 1966: Michael Irvin, American football player, sportscaster, and actor Michael Jerome Irvin is an American sports commentator and former professional football player. He played as a wide receiver for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007. Read more
05 Mar 1966: Aasif Mandvi, Indian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter Aasif Hakim Mandviwala, known professionally as Aasif Mandvi, is a British actor. He was a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2006 to 2017. Mandvi's other television work includes the HBO comedy series The Brink and the CBS/Paramount+ psychological drama Evil. His film roles include playing Mr. Aziz in Spider-Man 2 and Commander Zhao in The Last Airbender. His stage work includes appearing on Broadway as Ali Hakim in Oklahoma! and in productions of Disgraced (2012), which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013. Read more
05 Mar 1966: Zachary Stevens, American singer-songwriter Zachary Trussell, known professionally as Zachary "Zak" Stevens, is an American singer, best known as the second lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Savatage. He currently performs with the heavy metal bands Circle II Circle and Archon Angel. Stevens has a degree in psychology, but is not a practicing psychologist. Read more
05 Mar 1965: José Semedo, Portuguese footballer and coach José Orlando Vinha Rocha Semedo is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a central midfielder. Read more
05 Mar 1964: Bertrand Cantat, French singer-songwriter Bertrand Lucien Bruno Cantat is a French singer, and songwriter. Known for being the former frontman of the rock band Noir Désir, in 2003, he was proven guilty and convicted of the manslaughter of French actress Marie Trintignant, which occurred in a hotel room in Vilnius. To some controversy, Cantat returned to Noir Désir after his release from prison in 2007, playing with the group until it disbanded in 2010. He subsequently formed a musical duo with Pascal Humbert, calling themselves Détroit. Read more
05 Mar 1964: Scott Skiles, American basketball player and coach Scott Allen Skiles Sr. is an American former professional basketball coach and player. A first-round draft pick from the Michigan State Spartans, Skiles played ten seasons as a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He holds the NBA record for assists in one game with 30, set with the Orlando Magic during a December game in the 1990-1991 season. After that season, he earned the NBA Most Improved Player Award. Skiles also played in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Washington Bullets and Philadelphia 76ers before he finished his playing career with PAOK Thessaloniki of Greece in 1997. He became a coach after his playing retirement and was the head coach for the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic. Read more
05 Mar 1964: Gerald Vanenburg, Dutch footballer and manager Gerald Mervin Vanenburg is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who was most recently the assistant coach of the Indonesia national team and the head coach of the Indonesia under-23 national team. Read more
05 Mar 1964: Reggie Williams, American basketball player and coach Reggie Williams is an American former professional basketball player who played ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an All-American college player at Georgetown University and was a member of their 1983–84 National Championship team. Read more
05 Mar 1963: Joel Osteen, American pastor, author, and television host Joel Scott Osteen is an American pastor, televangelist, businessman, and author based in Houston, Texas, United States. Known for his weekly televised services and several best-selling books, Osteen is one of the more prominent figures associated with prosperity theology and the Word of Faith movement. Read more
05 Mar 1960: Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson, English businessman and politician, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology Paul Rudd Drayson, Baron Drayson is a British businessman, amateur racing driver and Labour politician. He was Minister of Science in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills until May 2010, where he replaced Ian Pearson. In June 2009 he was additionally appointed as Minister of State for Strategic Defence Acquisition Reform at the Ministry of Defence. After losing his ministerial positions in the General Election 2010 he decided to devote himself totally towards his motorsports company Drayson Racing Technology. He is chairman and CEO of Drayson Technologies Ltd. Read more
05 Mar 1960: Mike Munchak, American football player and coach Michael Anthony Munchak is an American former professional football player and coach. After playing college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, he played as a guard for the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1982 to 1993 and was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection. Munchak was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001. Read more
05 Mar 1959: Talia Balsam, American actress Talia Balsam is an American television and film actress. Read more
05 Mar 1959: Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenian colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Armenia (died 1999) Vazgen Zaveni Sargsyan was an Armenian military commander and politician. He was the first Defence Minister of Armenia from 1991 to 1992 and then from 1995 to 1999. He served as Armenia's prime minister from 11 June 1999 until his assassination on 27 October of that year. He rose to prominence during the mass movement for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia in the late 1980s and led Armenian volunteer groups during the early clashes with Azerbaijani forces. Appointed defence minister by President Levon Ter-Petrosyan soon after Armenia's independence from the Soviet Union in late 1991, Sargsyan became the most prominent commander of Armenian forces during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. In different positions, he regulated the military operations in the war area until 1994, when a ceasefire was reached ending the war with Armenian forces controlling almost all of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts. Read more
05 Mar 1958: Volodymyr Bezsonov, Ukrainian footballer and manager Volodymyr Vasylyovych Bezsonov is a Ukrainian football manager and former player who played for the former Soviet Union national team. The most recent team he was managing was FC Dnipro in the Ukrainian Premier League. Read more
05 Mar 1958: Bob Forward, American director, producer, and screenwriter Robert D. Forward is an American writer, producer, and director. He is the production director and president of his independent company, Detonation Films. Forward has been the writer of many animated television series, as well as a film, The Owl, based on his novel of the same name, which was republished in 2014. Read more
05 Mar 1958: Andy Gibb, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (died 1988) Andrew Roy Gibb was an English singer and musician. He rose to international fame in the late 1970s as a teen idol and pop star. The younger brother of Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees, Gibb achieved major success in close collaboration with his brothers. He was the first solo artist to have his first three singles reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. Read more
05 Mar 1957: Mark E. Smith, English singer, songwriter and musician (died 2018) Mark Edward Smith was an English singer-songwriter best known as the lead vocalist, lyricist and only constant member of the post-punk group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the Sex Pistols' 20 July 1976 gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester and was its leader until his death. During their 42-year existence, the Fall's line-up included some sixty musicians, with whom Smith released 32 studio albums and numerous singles and EPs. Read more
05 Mar 1957: Ray Suarez, American journalist and author Rafael Suarez, Jr., known as Ray Suarez, is an American broadcast journalist and author. He is currently host of the PBS series "Wisdom Keepers" set to premiere on the public network in June 2025. He was a visiting professor at NYU Shanghai in 2022, and was previously the John J. McCloy Visiting professor of American Studies at Amherst College. For 7 years from 2018 to 2025, Suarez hosted a radio program and several podcast series: On Shifting Ground for KQED-FM, Going for Broke for the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and "The Things I Thought About When My Body Was Trying to Kill Me" on cancer and recovery for Evergreen Podcasts. His latest book, on modern American immigration to the US, "We Are Home: Becoming American in the 21st Century," was published by Little, Brown in 2024. He was the host of Inside Story on Al Jazeera America Story, a daily news program on Al Jazeera America, until that network ceased operation in 2016. Suarez joined the PBS NewsHour in 1999 and was a senior correspondent for the evening news program on the PBS television network until 2013. He was also host of the international news and analysis public radio program America Abroad from Public Radio International. He was the host of the National Public Radio program Talk of the Nation from 1993 to 1999. In his more than 40-year career in the news business, he has also worked as a radio reporter in London and Rome, as a Los Angeles correspondent for CNN, and as a reporter for the NBC-owned station WMAQ-TV in Chicago. From 2020-2022, he was one of the US correspondents for Euronews. Read more
05 Mar 1956: Adriana Barraza, Mexican actress Adriana Barraza González is a Mexican actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Babel (2006). Read more
05 Mar 1956: Teena Marie, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2010) Mary Christine Brockert, known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before taking the stage name Teena Marie and later acquired the nickname Lady T, given to her by her collaborator and friend Rick James. Read more
05 Mar 1956: Christopher Snowden, English engineer and academic Sir Christopher Maxwell Snowden, is a British electronic engineer and academic. He was the former Vice-Chancellor of Surrey University (2005–2015), and of the University of Southampton (2015–2019). He was president of Universities UK for a two-year term until 31 July 2015. He is currently the chairman of the ERA Foundation. Read more
05 Mar 1955: Penn Jillette, American magician, actor, and author Penn Fraser Jillette is an American magician, entertainer and author, best known for his work with fellow magician Teller. Known as Penn & Teller, the duo has been featured in numerous stage and television shows, such as Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, and is as of 2026, celebrating 25 years headlining in Las Vegas at The Rio. Jillette serves as the act's orator and raconteur. Read more
05 Mar 1954: João Lourenço, Angolan politician, 3rd President of Angola João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço is an Angolan politician who is currently serving as the third president of Angola since 26 September 2017. Previously, he was the minister of defence from 2014 to 2017. In September 2018, he became the chairman of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the ruling party. He was the party's secretary-general from 1998 to 2003. Read more
05 Mar 1954: Marsha Warfield, American actress Marsha Francine Warfield is an American actress and comedian. She grew up on Chicago's South Side, graduating from Calumet High School. She is best known for playing tough, no-nonsense bailiff Roz Russell on the NBC sitcom Night Court from 1986 to 1992, reprising the role on a guest basis for its 2023 revival. Warfield also starred in the sitcom Empty Nest as Dr. Maxine Douglas (1993–95). Before Night Court, she was a writer and performer on the short-lived Richard Pryor Show. Read more
05 Mar 1953: Katarina Frostenson, Swedish poet and author Alma Katarina Frostenson Arnault is a Swedish poet and writer. She was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1992 to 2019. In 2003, Frostenson was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in France in recognition of her services to literature. Read more
05 Mar 1953: Michael J. Sandel, American philosopher and academic Michael Joseph Sandel is an American political philosopher and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University, where his course Justice was the university's first course to be made freely available online and on television. It has been viewed by tens of millions of people around the world, including in China, where Sandel was named the 2011 "most influential foreign figure of the year". Read more
05 Mar 1953: Tokyo Sexwale, South African businessman and politician, 1st Premier of Gauteng Mosima Gabriel "Tokyo" Sexwale is a South African businessman, politician, anti-apartheid activist, and former political prisoner. For many years, Sexwale was imprisoned on Robben Island for his anti-apartheid activities, alongside figures such as Nelson Mandela. After the 1994 general election—the first fully democratic election in South Africa—Sexwale became the Premier of Gauteng Province. Read more
05 Mar 1952: Petar Borota, Serbian footballer and coach (died 2010) Petar Borota was a Serbian footballer who played as a goalkeeper, most notably for Serbian clubs OFK Beograd and Partizan and English club Chelsea. Read more
05 Mar 1952: Alan Clark, English musician and songwriter Alan Clark is an English musician who was the first keyboardist and co-producer of the rock band Dire Straits. In 2018, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a significant member of the band. Read more
05 Mar 1952: Robin Hobb, American author Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden, known by her pen names Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm, is an American writer of speculative fiction. As Hobb, she is best known for her fantasy novels set in the Realm of the Elderlings, which comprise the Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, the Rain Wild Chronicles, and the Fitz and the Fool trilogy. Lindholm's writing includes the urban fantasy novel Wizard of the Pigeons and science fiction short stories, among other works. As of 2018, her fiction has been translated into 22 languages and sold more than 4 million copies. Read more
05 Mar 1952: Mike Squires, American baseball player and scout Michael Lynn Squires is an American former Major League Baseball player who played for the Chicago White Sox primarily as a first baseman in 1975 and from 1977 to 1985. He won the American League Gold Glove Award at first base in 1981. Squires was best known as a defensive player, often coming on in late inning situations when the White Sox had a slim lead. He did not have the typical power associated with a corner infielder, never hitting more than two home runs in a season. Nonetheless, he was a valuable member of the White Sox of the early Tony La Russa era, particularly in their 1983 AL West championship run. Read more
05 Mar 1951: Rodney Hogg, Australian cricketer and coach Rodney Malcolm Hogg is an Australian former cricketer. He was a fast bowler. Hogg played in 38 Test matches and 71 One Day Internationals between 1978 and 1985. In Tests he took 123 wickets at an average of 28.47. He is best remembered for taking 41 wickets in his first six tests during the 1978–79 Ashes. Read more
05 Mar 1950: Bernard Vera, French politician Bernard Vera is a former member of the Senate of France, representing the Essonne department from 2004 to 2011 and from 2016 to 2017. He is a member of the Communist, Republican, and Citizen Group. Read more
05 Mar 1949: Bernard Arnault, French businessman, philanthropist, and art collector Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault is a French businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods company. Arnault is one of the richest individuals in the world; as of December 2025, he has an estimated net worth of US$190.4 billion according to Forbes and US$203 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Read more
05 Mar 1949: Franz Josef Jung, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Defence Franz Josef Jung is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He became Federal Minister of Defence in the Grand coalition cabinet of Angela Merkel on 22 November 2005. In October 2009 he became Minister of Labour and Social Affairs but resigned a month later. Read more
05 Mar 1949: Tom Russell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Thomas George Russell is an American singer-songwriter. Although most strongly identified with the Americana music tradition, his music also incorporates elements of folk, rock, and the cowboy music of the American West. Many of his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Johnny Cash, The Texas Tornados, k.d. lang, Guy Clark, Joe Ely, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Jason Boland, Nanci Griffith, Katy Moffatt, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Sailcat, Iris Dement, Dave Alvin, and Suzy Bogguss. Read more
05 Mar 1948: Eddy Grant, Guyanese-British singer-songwriter and musician Edmond Montague Grant is a Guyanese-British singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer who resides in Barbados. Noted for his genre-blending style and socially conscious lyrics, he is the creator of the musical genre known as ringbang. Read more
05 Mar 1948: Richard Hickox, English conductor and scholar (died 2008) Richard Sidney Hickox was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music. Read more
05 Mar 1948: Elaine Paige, English singer and actress Dame Elaine Paige is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16. Her appearance in the 1968 production of Hair marked her West End debut. Read more
05 Mar 1948: Paquirri, Spanish bullfighter (died 1984) Francisco Rivera Pérez, better known as Paquirri, was a Spanish bullfighter. He died after being gored by a bull named Avispado at the Pozoblanco bullring. During his career, he was six times borne shoulder-high out through the Great Gate at Las Ventas. Read more
05 Mar 1948: Jan van Beveren, Dutch footballer and coach (died 2011) Jan van Beveren was a Dutch footballer and coach, who played as a goalkeeper. Read more
05 Mar 1947: Clodagh Rodgers, Northern Irish singer and actress (died 2025) Clodagh Rodgers was a Northern Irish singer, best known for her hit singles including "Come Back and Shake Me", "Goodnight Midnight" and "Jack in the Box" and albums including You Are My Music, It's Different Now and Save Me. Read more
05 Mar 1947: Kent Tekulve, American baseball player and sportscaster Kenton Charles Tekulve, nicknamed "Teke", is an American former professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds. Pitching with an unusual submarine delivery, Tekulve was known as a workhorse relief pitcher who holds several records for number of games pitched and innings pitched. Read more
05 Mar 1946: Richard Bell, Canadian pianist (died 2007) Richard Bell was a Canadian musician best known as the pianist for Janis Joplin and her Full Tilt Boogie Band. He was also a keyboardist with the Band during the 1990s. Read more
05 Mar 1946: Guerrino Boatto, Italian illustrator and painter (died 2018) Guerrino Boatto was an Italian illustrator and painter, specialized in Airbrush or spray painting. Read more
05 Mar 1946: Graham Hawkins, English footballer and manager (died 2016) Graham Norman Hawkins was an English football player and manager. During a 16-year playing career in the English Football League, he made 502 league and cup appearances, scoring eleven goals. He spent 14 years coaching and eight years in management and spent the later years of his life working as a football administrator. Read more
05 Mar 1946: Murray Head, English actor and singer Murray Seafield St George Head is an English actor and singer. Head has appeared in a number of films, including a starring role as the character Bob Elkin in the BAFTA award winning and Oscar-nominated 1971 film Sunday Bloody Sunday. As a musician, he is most recognised for his international hit songs "Superstar" and "One Night in Bangkok". He has been involved in several projects since the 1960s and continues to record music, perform concerts, and make appearances on television either as himself or as a character actor. Read more
05 Mar 1945: Wilf Tranter, English footballer Wilfred Tranter is an English former footballer who played as a half-back. Born in Pendlebury, Lancashire, he played for Manchester United, Brighton & Hove Albion, Fulham, Baltimore Bays and St. Louis Stars. He made his Football League debut for Manchester United two days after his 19th birthday on 7 March 1964, when regular centre-half Bill Foulkes missed the trip to West Ham United due to injury; Tranter was praised for his defensive handling of West Ham forward Johnny Byrne as Manchester United won 2–0. It proved to be his only appearance for the club and he left for Brighton in May 1966. He spent two and a half years on the south coast, including a four-month loan spell with the Baltimore Bays in the North American Soccer League (NASL) between April and August 1968, before joining Fulham in January 1969. At the end of his three-and-a-half-year stay in London, he went back on loan to the United States during the 1972 NASL season to play for the St. Louis Stars. Read more
05 Mar 1944: Peter Brandes, Danish painter and sculptor Peter Brandes was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and photographer. Read more
05 Mar 1944: Roy Gutman, American journalist and author Roy Gutman is an American journalist and author. Read more
05 Mar 1943: Lucio Battisti, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1998) Lucio Battisti was an Italian singer-songwriter and composer. He is widely recognized for songs that defined the late 1960s and 1970s era of Italian songwriting. Read more
05 Mar 1942: Felipe González, Spanish lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Spain Felipe González Márquez is a retired Spanish politician who was Prime Minister of Spain from 1982 to 1996 and leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. He is the longest-serving democratically elected prime minister of Spain. Read more
05 Mar 1942: Mike Resnick, American author and editor (died 2020) Michael Diamond Resnick was an American science fiction writer and editor. He won five Hugo awards and a Nebula award, and was the guest of honor at Chicon 7. He was the executive editor of the defunct magazine Jim Baen's Universe, and the creator and editor of Galaxy's Edge magazine. Read more
05 Mar 1941: Des Wilson, New Zealand-English businessman and activist

Des Wilson is a New Zealand-born British campaigner, political activist, businessman, sports administrator, author and poker player. He was one of the founders of the British homelessness charity Shelter and was for a while an activist in, and President of, the British Liberal Party. Read more
05 Mar 1940: Tom Butler, English bishop Thomas Frederick Butler is a British retired Anglican bishop. He was the ninth Anglican Bishop of Southwark. He was enthroned in Southwark Cathedral on 12 September 1998. He retired from this position on 5 March 2010. In 2014, Butler was involved in the transition process for the new Diocese of Leeds as "mentor bishop"; he remains an honorary assistant bishop of that diocese. Read more
05 Mar 1940: Ken Irvine, Australian rugby league player (died 1990) Kenneth John Irvine, also nicknamed "Mongo", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He holds the standing Australian record for the most tries in a first-grade career – 212. Read more
05 Mar 1940: Graham McRae, New Zealand race car driver (died 2021) Graham Peter McRae was a racing driver from New Zealand. Read more
05 Mar 1940: Sepp Piontek, German footballer and manager (died 2026) Josef Emanuel Hubertus "Sepp" Piontek was a German football player and manager. Most famous for his time as the head coach of the Denmark national team, he was included in the Danish Football hall of fame in 2011 as the first foreigner to be so. Read more
05 Mar 1939: Samantha Eggar, English actress (died 2025) Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar was an English actress. After beginning her career in Shakespearean theatre she rose to fame for her performance in William Wyler's thriller The Collector (1965), which earned her a Golden Globe Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Read more
05 Mar 1939: Tony Rundle, Australian politician, Premier of Tasmania (died 2025) Anthony Maxwell Rundle AO was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Tasmania from March 1996 until September 1998. He succeeded Ray Groom and was succeeded himself by Jim Bacon. He was a Liberal who held the seat of Braddon between 1986 and 2002. A former journalist, he was married to Caroline Watt. He had twin daughters from his first marriage. Read more
05 Mar 1939: Benyamin Sueb, Indonesian actor and comedian (died 1995) Benyamin Sueb was an Indonesian comedian, actor and singer. He released 46 studio albums and starred in more than 50 films. He received two Citra Awards for Intan Berduri in 1973 and Si Doel Anak Modern in 1977. Read more
05 Mar 1939: Peter Woodcock, Canadian serial killer (died 2010) David Michael Krueger, best known by his birth name Peter Woodcock, was a Canadian serial killer, child rapist and diagnosed psychopath. He gained notoriety for the murders of three young children in Toronto in the late 1950s, as well as for a murder in 1991 on his first day of unsupervised release from the psychiatric institution in which he had been incarcerated for his earlier crimes. Read more
05 Mar 1939: Pierre Wynants, Belgian chef Pierre Wynants is a Belgian chef. He owned and led the Comme chez Soi restaurant in Brussels. Read more
05 Mar 1938: Paul Evans, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Paul Evans is an American rock and roll singer and songwriter, who was most prominent in the 1950s and 1960s. As a performer, he had hits with the songs "Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Backseat", "Midnight Special," and "Happy-Go-Lucky Me". Read more
05 Mar 1938: Lynn Margulis, American biologist and academic (died 2011) Lynn Margulis was an American evolutionary biologist, who was the primary modern proponent for the significance of symbiosis in evolution. In particular, Margulis transformed and fundamentally framed biologists' understanding of the evolution of the Eukaryotes, organisms with nuclei in their cells.
She proposed that they came into being by symbiotic mergers of bacteria. Margulis was the co-developer of the Gaia hypothesis with the British chemist James Lovelock, proposing that the Earth functions as a unified self-regulating system, and the principal defender and promulgator of the five kingdom classification of Robert Whittaker. Read more
05 Mar 1938: Fred Williamson, American football player, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Frederick Robert Williamson, nicknamed "the Hammer", is an American actor, filmmaker, and former football player. He played professional football as a defensive back, primarily in the American Football League (AFL) during the 1960s. He was a top sports star during the decade, and became a leading man in blaxploitation and action films beginning in the 1970s. Read more
05 Mar 1937: Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerian general and politician, 5th President of Nigeria Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo is a Nigerian politician, statesman, agriculturalist, and former army general who served as Nigeria's Military Head of State from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 2007. Ideologically a Nigerian nationalist, he was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from 1998 to 2015, and since 2018. Read more
05 Mar 1936: Canaan Banana, Zimbabwean minister and politician, 1st President of Zimbabwe (died 2003) Canaan Sodindo Banana was a Zimbabwean Methodist minister, theologian, and politician who served as the first President of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987. He was Zimbabwe's first head of state, a ceremonial president, after the Lancaster House Agreement that led to the country's independence. In 1987, he stepped down as president and was succeeded by Prime Minister Robert Mugabe, who became the country's executive president. In 1997, Banana was accused of being a homosexual, and after a highly publicised trial, was convicted of 11 counts of sodomy and "unnatural acts", serving six months in prison. Read more
05 Mar 1936: Dale Douglass, American golfer (died 2022) Dale Dwight Douglass was an American professional golfer who won tournaments at both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour level. Read more
05 Mar 1936: Dean Stockwell, American actor (died 2021) Robert Dean Stockwell was an American actor, whose career in film and television spanned seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he appeared in Anchors Aweigh (1945), Song of the Thin Man (1947), The Green Years (1946), Gentleman's Agreement (1947), The Boy with Green Hair (1948), The Secret Garden (1949), and Kim (1950). As a young adult, he played a lead role in the 1957 Broadway play Compulsion and its 1959 film version; and in 1962 he played Edmund Tyrone in the film version of Long Day's Journey into Night, for which he won two Best Actor Awards at the Cannes Film Festival. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his starring role in the 1960 film version of D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers. Read more
05 Mar 1935: Letizia Battaglia, Italian photographer and journalist (died 2022) Letizia Battaglia was an Italian photographer and photojournalist. Although her photos document a wide spectrum of Sicilian life, she is best known for her work on the Mafia. Read more
05 Mar 1935: Philip K. Chapman, Australian-American astronaut and engineer (died 2021) Philip Kenyon Chapman was an Australian-born American astronaut, serving for about five years in NASA Astronaut Group 6 (1967). Read more
05 Mar 1935: Shamsuddin Qasemi, Bangladeshi Islamic scholar and politician (died 1996) Shamsuddin Qasemi was a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, politician, author and educationist. He was the founding president of the Khatme Nabuwwat Andolan Council, former secretary-general of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh, former principal of Jamia Madania Chittagong and Jamia Hussainia Arzabad, and the founding chief-editor of the monthly Paygam-e-Haqq and weekly Jamiat magazines. He is also noted for his contributions during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. Read more
05 Mar 1934: Daniel Kahneman, Israeli-American economist and psychologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2024) Daniel Kahneman was an Israeli-American psychologist best known for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making as well as behavioral economics, for which he was awarded the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences together with Vernon L. Smith. Kahneman's published empirical findings challenge the assumption of human rationality prevailing in modern economic theory. Kahneman became known as the "grandfather of behavioral economics." Read more
05 Mar 1934: James B. Sikking, American actor (died 2024) James Barrie Sikking was an American actor, best known for his roles as Lt. Howard Hunter on the 1980s television series Hill Street Blues and Dr. David Howser on Doogie Howser, M.D. His career spanned six decades. Read more
05 Mar 1933: Walter Kasper, German cardinal and theologian Walter Kasper is a German Catholic prelate who served as President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity from 2001 to 2010. He was previously Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart from 1989 to 1999. Read more
05 Mar 1932: Paul Sand, American actor Paul Sand is an American actor and comedian. Read more
05 Mar 1931: Fred, French author and illustrator (died 2013) Frédéric Othon Théodore Aristidès, known by his pseudonym Fred, was a French cartoonist in the Franco-Belgian comics tradition. He is best known for his series Philémon. Read more
05 Mar 1931: Barry Tuckwell, Australian horn player and educator (died 2020) Barry Emmanuel Tuckwell, was an Australian French horn player who spent most of his professional life in the UK and the United States. He is generally considered to have been one of the world's leading horn players. Read more
05 Mar 1930: John Ashley, Canadian ice hockey player and referee (died 2008) John George Ashley was a Canadian referee in the National Hockey League. Read more
05 Mar 1930: Del Crandall, American baseball player and manager (died 2021) Delmar Wesley Crandall was an American professional baseball player and manager. Crandall played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1966, most prominently as a member of the Boston / Milwaukee Braves where, he was an 11-time All-Star player and was a member of the 1957 World Series winning team. Read more
05 Mar 1929: Erik Carlsson, Swedish race car driver (died 2015) Erik Hilding Carlsson was a Swedish rally driver for Saab. He was nicknamed "Carlsson på taket" as well as Mr. Saab. Read more
05 Mar 1929: J. B. Lenoir, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1967) J. B. Lenoir was an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter, active in the Chicago blues scene in the 1950s and 1960s. Read more
05 Mar 1928: J. Hillis Miller, American academic and critic (died 2021) Joseph Hillis Miller Jr. was an American literary critic and scholar who advanced theories of literary deconstruction. He was part of the Yale School along with scholars including Paul de Man, Jacques Derrida, and Geoffrey Hartman, who advocated deconstruction as an analytical means by which the relationship between literary text and the associated meaning could be analyzed. Through his career, Miller was associated with the Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, and University of California, Irvine, and wrote over 50 books studying a wide range of American and British literature using principles of deconstruction. Read more
05 Mar 1927: Jack Cassidy, American actor and singer (died 1976) John Joseph Edward Cassidy was an American actor, singer and theatre director. He received multiple Tony Award nominations and a win, as well as a Grammy Award, for his work on the Broadway production of the musical She Loves Me. He also received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He was the father of teen idols David Cassidy and Shaun Cassidy. Read more
05 Mar 1927: Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, Scottish businessman and politician (died 2023) Robert Alexander Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, 12th Earl of Balcarres, Baron Balniel,, known by courtesy as Lord Balniel between 1940 and 1975, was a Scottish hereditary peer and Conservative politician who was a member of Parliament from 1955 to 1974. He was chief of Clan Lindsay and also acted, from 1975 to 2019, as Premier Earl of Scotland. Read more
05 Mar 1924: Roger Marche, French footballer (died 1997) Roger Gaston Louis Marche was a French footballer who played as a defender. He was part of the France national team during the 1954 and 1958 World Cup tournaments. He was nicknamed Le Sanglier des Ardennes for the region from which he came. Read more
05 Mar 1923: Juan A. Rivero, Puerto Rican biologist and academic (died 2014) Dr. Juan Arturo Rivero Quintero was a Puerto Rican biologist who founded the Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo at the University of Puerto Rico's Mayagüez Campus. Read more
05 Mar 1923: Laurence Tisch, American businessman, co-founded the Loews Corporation (died 2003) Laurence Alan Tisch was an American billionaire businessman and investor. He was the CEO of CBS television network from 1986 to 1995. With his brother Bob Tisch, he was part owner of Loews Corporation. Read more
05 Mar 1922: James Noble, American actor (died 2016) James Wilkes Noble was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of sweet-natured, dense, naive Governor Eugene X. Gatling on ABC's 1979–1986 sitcom Benson. Read more
05 Mar 1922: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1975) Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian poet, writer, film director, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist and a political figure. He is known for directing The Gospel According to St. Matthew, the films from Trilogy of Life and Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom. Read more
05 Mar 1921: Arthur A. Oliner, American physicist and electrical engineer (died 2013) Arthur Aaron Oliner was an American physicist and electrical engineer, who was professor emeritus at department of electrical and computer engineering at New York University-Polytechnic. Best known for his contributions to engineering electromagnetics and antenna theory, he is regarded as a pioneer of leaky wave theory and leaky wave antennas. Read more
05 Mar 1921: Elmer Valo, American baseball player and coach (died 1998) Elmer William Valo, born Imrich Valo, was a Slovak American professional baseball right fielder, coach, and scout in Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Read more
05 Mar 1920: José Aboulker, Algerian surgeon and activist (died 2009) José Aboulker was an Algerian Jew and the leader of the anti-Nazi resistance in French Algeria during World War II. He received the U.S. Medal of Freedom, the Croix de Guerre, and was made a Companion of the Liberation and a Commander of the Légion d'honneur. After the war, he became a neurosurgeon and a political figure in France, who advocated for the political rights of Algerian Muslims. Read more
05 Mar 1920: Virginia Christine, American actress (died 1996) Virginia Christine was an American stage, radio, film, television, and voice actress. Though Christine had a long career as a character actress in film and television, she may be best remembered as "Mrs. Olson" in a string of television commercials for Folgers Coffee during the 1960s and 1970s. Read more
05 Mar 1920: Rachel Gurney, English actress (died 2001) Rachel Gurney was an English actress. She began her career in the theatre towards the end of World War II and then expanded into television and film in the 1950s. She remained active, mostly in television and theatre work, into the early 1990s. She is best remembered for playing the elegant Lady Marjorie Bellamy in the ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. Read more
05 Mar 1920: Wang Zengqi, Chinese writer (died 1997) Wang Zengqi was a contemporary Chinese novelist, essayist and Peking Opera playwright. He is known for his short stories and essays with an elegant style and content infused by both traditional literature and folklores of his hometown. He was referred to as a "master stylist of modern Chinese", along with his literary mentor Shen Congwen. He is regarded as a successor of the "Beijing School" heralded by Zhou Zuoren and Shen Congwen in the 1940s. Read more
05 Mar 1918: Milt Schmidt, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (died 2017) Milton Conrad Schmidt was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre, coach and general manager, mostly for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL), He was a member of the famed "Kraut Line" with teammates Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart. The trio led the Bruins to two Stanley Cup championships and became the first line to finish first, second and third in NHL scoring, in 1939–40. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961. In 2017, Schmidt was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history. Read more
05 Mar 1918: Red Storey, Canadian football player, referee, and sportscaster (died 2006) Roy Alvin "Red" Storey, was a Canadian athlete, referee and broadcaster. He played football, lacrosse and ice hockey. While active as an athlete, he turned to officiating in all three sports, and continued as an official after the end of his playing career. While he was a member of the Toronto Argonauts, the team won the Grey Cup championship twice. He refereed in the National Hockey League, and later became a radio and television commentator for Canadian television. Read more
05 Mar 1918: James Tobin, American economist and academic (died 2002) James Tobin was an American economist who served on the Council of Economic Advisers and consulted with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and taught at Yale University. He contributed to the development of key ideas in the Keynesian economics of his generation and advocated government intervention in particular to stabilize output and avoid recessions. His academic work included pioneering contributions to the study of investment, monetary and fiscal policy and financial markets. He also proposed an econometric model for censored dependent variables, the well-known tobit model. Read more
05 Mar 1917: Raymond P. Shafer, American attorney and politician, 39th Governor of Pennsylvania (died 2006) Raymond Philip Shafer was an American attorney and politician who served as the 39th governor of Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1971. Prior to that, he served as the 23rd lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1963 to 1967 and as a Pennsylvania state senator from 1959 to 1962. He was a national leader of the moderate wing of the Republican Party in the late 1960s. Read more
05 Mar 1915: Henry Hicks, Canadian academic and politician, 16th Premier of Nova Scotia (died 1990) Henry Davies Hicks was a lawyer, university administrator, and politician in Nova Scotia. Read more
05 Mar 1915: Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician and academic (died 2002) Laurent-Moïse Schwartz was a French mathematician who received the Fields Medal in 1950 for pioneering the theory of distributions or generalized functions, giving a well-defined meaning to objects such as the Dirac delta function. For several years he taught at the École polytechnique. Read more
05 Mar 1912: Jack Marshall, New Zealand colonel, lawyer, and politician, 28th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1988) Sir John Ross Marshall was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He entered Parliament in 1946 and was first promoted to Cabinet in 1951. After spending eleven years as the deputy prime minister of New Zealand, he served as the 28th prime minister from February until December 1972. Read more
05 Mar 1911: Subroto Mukerjee, Indian Air Marshall, Father of the Indian Air Force (died 1960) Subroto Mukerjee was an Indian military officer who was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Air Force. He was awarded several honours during the course of a three-decade-long career, ended by his untimely demise in 1960. Mukerjee has been called the "Father of the Indian Air Force." Read more
05 Mar 1910: Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese businessman and inventor, founded Nissin Foods (died 2007) Momofuku Ando , born Go Pek-Hok, was a Taiwanese-born, ethnic Chinese, Japanese inventor and businessman who founded Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. He is known as the inventor of Nissin Chikin Ramen, the first brand of commercially available prepackaged instant noodles, and the creator of the brands Top Ramen and Cup Noodles. Read more
05 Mar 1910: Ennio Flaiano, Italian author, screenwriter, and critic (died 1972) Ennio Flaiano was an Italian screenwriter, playwright, novelist, journalist, and drama critic. Best known for his work with Federico Fellini, Flaiano co-wrote ten screenplays with the Italian director, including La Strada (1954), La Dolce Vita (1960), and 8½ (1963). He received the 1947 Strega Prize for his novel A Time to Kill. Read more
05 Mar 1908: Fritz Fischer, German historian and author (died 1999) Fritz Fischer was a German historian best known for his analysis of the causes of World War I. In the early 1960s Fischer advanced the thesis, controversial at the time, that responsibility for the outbreak of the war rested solely on Imperial Germany. Fischer's anti-revisionist claims shocked the West German government and historical establishment, as it made Germany guilty for both world wars, challenging the national belief in Germany's innocence and converting its recent history into one of conquest and aggression. Read more
05 Mar 1908: Irving Fiske, American author and playwright (died 1990) Irving L. Fiske was an American playwright, writer, and public speaker. He worked for the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s, where he was a writer and rewrite man on The WPA Guide to New York City, in print today. He corresponded with George Bernard Shaw, wrote an article now considered a classic, "Bernard Shaw's Debt to William Blake," and translated Shakespeare's Hamlet into Modern English. He and his wife Barbara Fiske Calhoun co-founded the artist's retreat and intentional community Quarry Hill Creative Center, on the Fiske family property, in Rochester, Vermont. Read more
05 Mar 1908: Rex Harrison, English actor (died 1990) Sir Reginald Carey Harrison was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play French Without Tears, in what was his breakthrough role. He won his first Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance as Henry VIII in the Broadway play Anne of the Thousand Days in 1949. He returned to Broadway portraying Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady (1956) where he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Read more
05 Mar 1905: László Benedek, Hungarian-American director and cinematographer (died 1992) László Benedek was a Hungarian-born film director and cinematographer, most notable for directing The Wild One (1953). Read more
05 Mar 1904: Karl Rahner, German priest and theologian (died 1984) Karl Rahner was a German Jesuit priest and theologian who, alongside Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Yves Congar, is considered to be one of the most influential Catholic theologians of the 20th-century. He was the brother of Hugo Rahner, also a Jesuit scholar. Read more
05 Mar 1901: Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg (died 1971) Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg was the final head of the House of Schwarzburg and heir to the formerly sovereign principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Read more
05 Mar 1901: Julian Przyboś, Polish poet, essayist and translator (died 1970) Julian Przyboś was a Polish poet, essayist and translator, one of the most important poets of the Kraków Avant-Garde. Read more
05 Mar 1900: Lilli Jahn, Jewish German doctor (died 1944) Lilli Jahn was a German-Jewish medical doctor and victim of Nazism in Germany. She gained international fame posthumously following the publication of her letters to her five children which she wrote during her imprisonment in the Breitenau concentration camp. She was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp and was murdered there. Read more
05 Mar 1900: Johanna Langefeld, German guard and supervisor of three Nazi concentration camps (died 1974) Johanna Langefeld was a Nazi German guard and supervisor at three Nazi concentration camps: Lichtenburg, Ravensbrück, and Auschwitz. She was arrested and imprisoned for her role in the Holocaust, but she escaped prison and was never tried. Read more
05 Mar 1898: Zhou Enlai, Chinese politician, 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China (died 1976) Zhou Enlai was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from October 1949 until his death in January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Mao Zedong and aided the Communist Party in rising to power, later helping consolidate its control, form its foreign policy, and develop the Chinese economy. Read more
05 Mar 1898: Misao Okawa, Japanese super-centenarian (died 2015) Japanese supercentenarians are citizens, residents or emigrants from Japan who have attained or surpassed the age of 110 years. As of January 2015, the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) had validated the longevity claims of 263 Japanese supercentenarians, most of whom are women. As of 27 February 2026, the oldest-known living Japanese person is Shigeko Kagawa, who is aged 114 years, 275 days. The oldest verified Japanese and Asian person ever is Kane Tanaka (1903–2022), who lived to the age of 119 years and 107 days, making her the second-oldest validated person ever as well. Japan was also home to the world's oldest man ever, Jiroemon Kimura (1897–2013), who lived to the age of 116 years and 54 days. Read more
05 Mar 1894: Henry Daniell, English-American actor (died 1963) Charles Henry Pywell Daniell was an English actor who had a long career in the United States on stage and in cinema. He came to prominence for his portrayal of villainous roles in films such as Camille (1936), The Great Dictator (1940), Holiday (1938), and The Sea Hawk (1940). Daniell was given few opportunities to play sympathetic or 'good guy' roles; an exception was his portrayal of Franz Liszt in the biographical film of Robert and Clara Schumann, Song of Love (1947). His name is sometimes spelled "Daniel". Read more
05 Mar 1887: Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian guitarist and composer (died 1959) Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has globally become one of the most recognizable South American composers in music history. A prolific composer, he wrote many orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works, totaling over 2,000 works by his death in 1959. His music was influenced by both Brazilian folk music and stylistic elements from the European classical tradition, as exemplified by his Bachianas Brasileiras and his Chôros. His Etudes for classical guitar (1929), dedicated to Andrés Segovia, and his 5 Preludes (1940), dedicated to his spouse Arminda Neves d'Almeida, a.k.a. "Mindinha", are important works in the classical guitar repertory. Read more
05 Mar 1886: Dong Biwu, Chinese judge and politician, Chairman of the People's Republic of China (died 1975) Dong Biwu was a Chinese communist revolutionary, long-time ally of Mao Tse-tung and politician, who served as acting Chairman of the People's Republic of China between 1972 and 1975. Read more
05 Mar 1886: Freddie Welsh, Welsh boxer (died 1927) Freddie Welsh was a Welsh World boxing champion. The lightweight boxer was born in Pontypridd, Wales, nicknamed the "Welsh Wizard". Brought up in a tough mining community, Welsh left a working-class background to make a name for himself in America. He turned professional as a boxer in Philadelphia in 1905, and spent the best part of his career fighting in the United States. Read more
05 Mar 1885: Marius Barbeau, Canadian ethnographer and academic (died 1969) Charles Marius Barbeau,, also known as C. Marius Barbeau, or more commonly simply Marius Barbeau, was a Canadian ethnographer and folklorist who is today considered a founder of Canadian anthropology. A Rhodes Scholar, he is best known for an early championing of Québecois folk culture, and for his exhaustive cataloguing of the social organization, narrative and musical traditions, and plastic arts of the Tsimshianic-speaking peoples in British Columbia, and other Northwest Coast peoples. He developed unconventional theories about the peopling of the Americas. Read more
05 Mar 1883: Pauline Sperry, American mathematician (died 1967) Pauline Sperry was an American mathematician. Read more
05 Mar 1882: Dora Marsden, English author and activist (died 1960) Dora Marsden was an English suffragette, editor of literary journals, and philosopher of language. Beginning her career as an activist in the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), Marsden eventually broke off from the suffragist organization in order to found a journal that would provide a space for more radical voices in the movement. Her prime importance lies with her contributions to the suffrage movement, her criticism of the Pankhursts' WSPU, and her radical feminism, via The Freewoman. There are those who also claim she has relevance to the emergence of literary modernism, while others value her contribution to the understanding of egoism. Read more
05 Mar 1880: Sergei Natanovich Bernstein, Russian mathematician and academic (died 1968) Sergei Natanovich Bernstein was a Ukrainian and Soviet mathematician of Jewish origin known for contributions to partial differential equations, differential geometry, probability theory, and approximation theory. Read more
05 Mar 1879: William Beveridge, English economist and academic (died 1963) William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive, social reformer, and eugenicist who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services served as the basis for the welfare state put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945. Read more
05 Mar 1879: Andres Larka, Estonian general and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of War (died 1943) Andres Larka VR I/1 was an Estonian military commander during the Estonian War of Independence and a politician. Read more
05 Mar 1876: Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote, English lawyer and politician, 8th Lord Chief Justice of England (died 1947) Thomas Walker Hobart Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote, was a British Conservative politician who served in many legal posts, culminating in serving as Lord Chancellor from 1939 until 1940. Despite legal posts dominating his career for all but four years, he is most prominently remembered for serving as Minister for Coordination of Defence from 1936 until 1939. Read more
05 Mar 1876: Elisabeth Moore, American tennis player (died 1959) Elisabeth 'Bessie' Holmes Moore was an American tennis champion who was active at the beginning of the 20th century. Moore won the singles title at the U.S. Championships on four occasions. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971. Read more
05 Mar 1875: Harry Lawson, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Victoria (died 1952) Sir Harry Sutherland Wightman Lawson KCMG, was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Victoria from 1918 to 1924. He later entered federal politics, serving as a Senator for Victoria from 1929 to 1935, and was briefly a minister in the Lyons government. He was a member of the Nationalist Party until 1931, when it was subsumed into the United Australia Party. Read more
05 Mar 1874: Henry Travers, English-American actor (died 1965) Travers John Heagerty, known professionally as Henry Travers, was an English film and stage character actor who specialised in portraying slightly bumbling but amiable and likeable older men. His best known role to today's audiences was the guardian angel Clarence Odbody in the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. He also received an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in Mrs. Miniver (1942). Other notable films include The Invisible Man (1933), Dark Victory (1939), and High Sierra (1941). Read more
05 Mar 1873: Olav Bjaaland, Norwegian skier and explorer (died 1961) Olav Bjaaland was a Norwegian ski champion and polar explorer. In 1911, he was one of the first five men to reach the South Pole as part of Amundsen's South Pole expedition. Read more
05 Mar 1871: Rosa Luxemburg, Polish-Russian economist and philosopher (died 1919) Rosa Luxemburg was a Polish and naturalised-German Marxist theorist and revolutionary. She was a leading theorist of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and later co-founded the anti-war Spartacus League, which evolved into the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). An influential member of the international socialist movement, she is remembered for her writings on imperialism and revolution, and as a champion of socialist democracy who famously stated, "Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently." Read more
05 Mar 1871: Konstantinos Pallis, Greek general and politician, Minister Governor-General of Macedonia (died 1941) Konstantinos Pallis was a staff officer of the Hellenic Army, who served as chief of staff of the Army of Asia Minor in 1920–22, and as Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff during the Greco-Italian War of 1940–41. Read more
05 Mar 1870: Frank Norris, American journalist and author (died 1902) Benjamin Franklin Norris Jr. was an American journalist and novelist during the Progressive Era, whose fiction was predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include McTeague: A Story of San Francisco (1899), The Octopus: A Story of California (1901) and The Pit (1903). Read more
05 Mar 1870: Evgeny Paton, French-Ukrainian engineer (died 1953) Professor Yevhen Oksarovych Paton, also known as Evgeny Oskarovich Paton, was a Ukrainian engineer of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union who established in 1934 the E. O. Paton Electric Welding Institute in Kyiv. Paton was a people's deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (1946–1953). He was the father of Borys Paton. Read more
05 Mar 1869: Michael von Faulhaber, German cardinal (died 1952) Michael von Faulhaber was a German Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Munich and Freising for 35 years, from 1917 to his death in 1952. Read more
05 Mar 1867: Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 14th Premier of Quebec (died 1952) Louis-Alexandre Taschereau was the 14th premier of Quebec from 1920 to 1936. A member of the Parti libéral du Québec, Taschereau's near 16-year tenure remains the longest uninterrupted term of office among Quebec premiers. Read more
05 Mar 1862: Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player and theoretician (died 1934) Siegbert Tarrasch was a German chess player, considered to have been among the strongest players and most influential theoreticians of the late 19th and early 20th century. Read more
05 Mar 1853: Howard Pyle, American author and illustrator (died 1911) Howard Pyle was an American illustrator, painter, and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy. Read more
05 Mar 1834: Félix de Blochausen, Luxembourgian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (died 1915) Baron Félix de Blochausen, was a Luxembourgish politician. An Orangist, he was prime minister of Luxembourg, serving for ten years, from 26 December 1874 until 20 February 1885. Read more
05 Mar 1834: Marietta Piccolomini, Italian soprano (died 1899) Marietta Piccolomini was an Italian soprano. She was most famous for the role of Violetta in La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, which she performed in England, France, and the United States, as well as her native Italy. After her marriage in 1863, she retired from performing, making only rare charity or courtesy appearances thereafter. Read more
05 Mar 1830: Étienne-Jules Marey, French physiologist and chronophotographer (died 1904) Étienne-Jules Marey was a French scientist, physiologist and chronophotographer. Read more
05 Mar 1830: Charles Wyville Thomson, Scottish historian and zoologist (died 1882) Sir Charles Wyville Thomson was a Scottish natural historian and marine zoologist. He served as the chief scientist on the Challenger expedition; his work there revolutionized oceanography and led to his being knighted. Read more
05 Mar 1817: Austen Henry Layard, English archaeologist, academic, and politician, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (died 1894) Sir Austen Henry Layard was an English Assyriologist, traveller, cuneiformist, art historian, draughtsman, collector, politician and diplomat. He was born to a mostly English family in Paris and largely raised in Italy. He is best known as the excavator of Nimrud and of Nineveh, where he uncovered a large proportion of the Assyrian palace reliefs known, and in 1851 the library of Ashurbanipal. Most of his finds are now in the British Museum. He made a large amount of money from his best-selling accounts of his excavations. Read more
05 Mar 1815: John Wentworth, American journalist and politician, 19th Mayor of Chicago (died 1888) John Wentworth, was the editor of the Chicago Democrat, publisher of an extensive Wentworth family genealogy, a two-term mayor of Chicago, and a six-term member of the United States House of Representatives. Read more
05 Mar 1814: Wilhelm von Giesebrecht, German historian and academic (died 1889) Friedrich Wilhelm von Giesebrecht was a German historian. Read more
05 Mar 1800: Georg Friedrich Daumer, German poet and philosopher (died 1875) Georg Friedrich Daumer was a German poet and philosopher. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 05 March in World History

05 Mar 2017: Kurt Moll, German opera singer (born 1938) Kurt Moll was a German operatic bass singer who enjoyed a widely renowned international career. Read more
05 Mar 2016: Hassan Al-Turabi, Sudanese activist and politician (born 1932) Hassan al-Turabi was a Sudanese politician and scholar. He was the alleged architect of the 1989 Sudanese military coup that overthrew Sadiq al-Mahdi and installed Omar al-Bashir as president. He has been called "one of the most influential figures in modern Sudanese politics" and a "longtime hard-line ideological leader". He was instrumental in institutionalizing Sharia in the northern part of the country and was frequently imprisoned in Sudan, but these "periods of detention" were "interspersed with periods of high political office". Read more
05 Mar 2016: Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer and engineer (born 1941) Raymond Samuel Tomlinson was an American computer programmer who invented the first email program on the ARPANET system, the precursor to the Internet, in 1971; it was the first system able to send mail between users on different hosts connected to ARPANET. Previously, mail could be sent only to others who used the same computer. To achieve this, he used the @ sign to separate the username from the name of their machine, a scheme which has been used in email addresses ever since. Read more
05 Mar 2016: Al Wistert, American football player and coach (born 1920) Albert Alexander "Ox" Wistert was an American professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles. He played his entire nine-year NFL career for the Eagles and became their team captain. He was named to play in the NFL's first Pro Bowl as an Eagle. During most of Wistert's career there were no football All-star games, although he was named to the league All-Pro team four times. Read more
05 Mar 2015: Vlada Divljan, Serbian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1958) Vladimir "Vlada" Divljan, was a Serbian singer and songwriter. He was known as the frontman of the Serbian and Yugoslav rock band Idoli, one of the bands which initiated the Yugoslav new wave on the music and cultural scene of Yugoslavia in the 1980s, as well as for his solo works. Read more
05 Mar 2015: Edward Egan, American cardinal and former Archbishop of New York (born 1932) Edward Michael Egan was an American Catholic prelate who served as bishop of Bridgeport in Connecticut from 1988 to 2000 and as archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2001. Read more
05 Mar 2014: Geoff Edwards, American actor and game show host (born 1931) Geoffrey Bruce Owen Edwards was an American television actor, game show host, and radio personality. Starting in the early 2000s, he was also a writer and broadcaster on the subject of travel. Read more
05 Mar 2014: Ailsa McKay, Scottish economist and academic (born 1963) Ailsa McKay was a Scottish economist, government policy adviser, a leading feminist economist and Professor of Economics at Glasgow Caledonian University. Read more
05 Mar 2014: Leopoldo María Panero, Spanish poet and translator (born 1948) Leopoldo María Panero was a Spanish poet and member of the Novísimos group. His work is included in many works of literary history, anthologies, and academic programs across Spain. Much of his work is considered autobiographical. Read more
05 Mar 2014: Ola L. Mize, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1931) Ola Lee Mize was a United States Army officer and a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Korean War. Read more
05 Mar 2013: Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (born 1954) William Alvin Moody was an American professional wrestling manager. He performed in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name and gimmick of Paul Bearer, manager of The Undertaker and his storyline son/Undertaker's storyline half-brother, Kane. Read more
05 Mar 2013: Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan colonel and politician, President of Venezuela (born 1954) Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías was a Venezuelan politician, revolutionary, and military officer who was the president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when it merged with several other parties to form the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which he led until his death. Read more
05 Mar 2013: Duane Gish, American biochemist and academic (born 1921) Duane Tolbert Gish was an American biochemist and a prominent member of the creationist movement. A young Earth creationist, Gish was a former vice-president of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) and the author of numerous publications about creation science. Read more
05 Mar 2012: Paul Haines, New Zealand-Australian author (born 1970) Paul Haines was a New Zealand-born horror and speculative fiction writer. He lived in Melbourne with his wife and daughter. Read more
05 Mar 2012: Philip Madoc, Welsh-English actor (born 1934) Philip Madoc was a Welsh actor. He performed many stage, television, radio and film roles, and was recognised for having a "rich, sonorous voice" and often playing villains and officers. Read more
05 Mar 2012: William O. Wooldridge, American sergeant (born 1922) William O. Wooldridge was a United States Army soldier and the first Sergeant Major of the Army. Read more
05 Mar 2011: Manolis Rasoulis, Greek singer-songwriter (born 1945) Manolis Rasoulis, best known as the lyricist of famous songs, was a Greek music composer, singer, writer, and journalist. He is often regarded as one of the Greek lyricists of exceptional talent. Read more
05 Mar 2010: Charles B. Pierce, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1938) Charles Bryant Pierce was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, set decorator, cinematographer, and actor. Pierce directed thirteen films over the span of 26 years, but is best known for his cult hits The Legend of Boggy Creek (1973) and The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976). Read more
05 Mar 2010: Richard Stapley, British actor and writer (born 1923) Richard Stapley, also known by the stage name Rick Wyler, was a British actor and writer. Read more
05 Mar 2008: Joseph Weizenbaum, German computer scientist and author (born 1923) Joseph Weizenbaum was a German-American computer scientist and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the namesake of the Weizenbaum Award and the Weizenbaum Institute. Read more
05 Mar 2005: David Sheppard, English cricketer and bishop (born 1929) David Stuart Sheppard, Baron Sheppard of Liverpool was a Church of England bishop who played cricket for Sussex and England in his youth, before serving as Bishop of Liverpool from 1975 to 1997. Sheppard remains the only ordained minister to have played Test cricket, though others such as Tom Killick were ordained after playing Tests. Read more
05 Mar 2000: Lolo Ferrari, French dancer, actress and singer (born 1963) Lolo Ferrari was a French dancer, actress, and singer. Read more
05 Mar 1999: Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (born 1922) Richard Paul Kiley was an American stage, film, and television actor and singer. He is best known for his distinguished theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Kiley originated the role of Don Quixote in the original 1965 production of the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha and was the first to sing and record "The Impossible Dream", the hit song from the show. In the 1953 hit musical Kismet, he played the Caliph in the original Broadway cast and as such was one of the quartet who sang "And This Is My Beloved". He also won four Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards during his five-decade career and his "sonorous baritone" was also featured in the narration of a number of documentaries and other films. At the time of his death, Kiley was described as "one of theater's most distinguished and versatile actors" and as "an indispensable actor, the kind of performer who could be called on to play kings and commoners and a diversity of characters in between." Read more
05 Mar 1997: Samm Sinclair Baker, American writer (born 1909) Samm Sinclair Baker was the author/co-author of many how-to and self-help books, most notably The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet which he co-authored with Dr. Herman Tarnower. Read more
05 Mar 1997: Jean Dréville, French director and screenwriter (born 1906) Jean Dréville was a French film director. He directed more than 40 films between 1928 and 1969. Read more
05 Mar 1996: Whit Bissell, American character actor (born 1909) Whitner Nutting Bissell was an American character actor. Read more
05 Mar 1995: Vivian Stanshall, English singer-songwriter and musician (born 1943) Vivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for acting as Master of Ceremonies on Mike Oldfield's album Tubular Bells. Read more
05 Mar 1990: Gary Merrill, American actor and director (born 1915) Gary Fred Merrill was an American film and television actor whose credits included more than 50 feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances. He starred in All About Eve and married his costar Bette Davis. Read more
05 Mar 1988: Alberto Olmedo, Argentine comedian and actor (born 1933) Alberto Olmedo was an Argentine comedian and actor. Read more
05 Mar 1984: Tito Gobbi, Italian operatic baritone (born 1913) Tito Gobbi was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation. Read more
05 Mar 1984: William Powell, American actor (born 1892) William Horatio Powell was an American actor, known primarily for his film career. Under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the Thin Man series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters created by Dashiell Hammett. Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: for The Thin Man (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936), and Life with Father (1947). Read more
05 Mar 1982: John Belushi, American actor (born 1949) John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, singer, and musician. He was one of seven Saturday Night Live cast members of the first season, and was arguably the most popular member of the Saturday Night Live ensemble. Belushi had a partnership with Dan Aykroyd; they had first met while at Chicago's the Second City comedy club, remaining together as cast members on the inaugural season of the Saturday Night Live television series. Read more
05 Mar 1981: Yip Harburg, American songwriter and composer (born 1896) Edgar Yipsel "Yip" Harburg was an American popular song lyricist and librettist who worked with many well-known composers. He wrote the lyrics to the standards "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", "April in Paris", and "It's Only a Paper Moon", as well as all of the songs for the film The Wizard of Oz, including "Over the Rainbow". Harburg was known for the social commentary of his lyrics, as well as his left-wing political leanings. He championed racial, sexual, and gender equality and labor unionism, and was an ardent critic of high society and religion. Read more
05 Mar 1980: Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (born 1912) Jay Silverheels was a First Nations and Mohawk actor and athlete, descended from three Iroquois nations. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger in the American Western television series The Lone Ranger. Read more
05 Mar 1977: Tom Pryce, Welsh race car driver (born 1949) Thomas Maldwyn Pryce was a British racing driver from Wales, who competed in Formula One from 1974 to 1977. Read more
05 Mar 1976: Otto Tief, Estonian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia (born 1889) Otto Tief was an Estonian politician, military commander, and a lawyer. Read more
05 Mar 1974: John Samuel Bourque, Canadian colonel and politician (born 1894) John Samuel Bourque was a Quebec politician, Cabinet Minister, military member and businessman. He was the Member of Legislative Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Sherbrooke for 25 years. Read more
05 Mar 1974: Billy De Wolfe, American actor (born 1907) William Andrew Jones, better known as Billy De Wolfe, was an American character actor. He was active in films from the mid-1940s until his death in 1974. Read more
05 Mar 1974: Sol Hurok, Ukrainian-American businessman (born 1888) Sol Hurok was a 20th-century American impresario. Read more
05 Mar 1973: Robert C. O'Brien, American journalist and author (born 1918) Robert Leslie Carroll Conly, better known by his pen name Robert C. O'Brien, was an American novelist and a journalist for National Geographic magazine. He is best known for his children's novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (1971), which won the 1972 Newbery Medal. His novel was later adapted to Don Bluth's animated film The Secret of NIMH (1982). Read more
05 Mar 1971: Allan Nevins, American journalist and author (born 1890) Joseph Allan Nevins was an American historian and journalist, known for his extensive work on the history of the Civil War and his biographies of such figures as Grover Cleveland, Hamilton Fish, Henry Ford, and John D. Rockefeller, as well as his public service. He was a leading exponent of business history and oral history. Read more
05 Mar 1967: Mischa Auer, Russian-American actor (born 1905) Mischa Auer was a Russian-American actor who moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s. He first appeared in film in 1928. Auer had a long career playing in many of the era's best known films. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1936 for his performance in the screwball comedy My Man Godfrey, which led to further zany comedy roles. He later moved into television and acted in films again in France and Italy well into the 1960s. Read more
05 Mar 1967: Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian political scientist and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran (born 1882) Mohammad Mosaddegh was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the prime minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, elected by the 16th Majlis. He was elected to the Iranian parliament in 1923 and served through a contentious 1952 election into the 17th Iranian Majlis, until his government was overthrown in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état aided by the intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom (MI6) and the United States (CIA), led by Kermit Roosevelt Jr. Mossadegh's National Front was accordingly suppressed in the undemocratically manipulated 1954 general election. Read more
05 Mar 1967: Georges Vanier, Canadian general and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (born 1888) Georges-Philias Vanier was a Canadian military officer, diplomat, and statesman who served as the 19th governor general of Canada from 1959 to 1967, the first Quebecker and second Canadian-born person to hold the position. Read more
05 Mar 1966: Anna Akhmatova, Ukrainian-Russian poet, author, and translator (born 1889) Anna Andreyevna Gorenko, known by her pen name Anna Akhmatova, was a Russian and Soviet poet. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1965 and 1966. Read more
05 Mar 1965: Chen Cheng, Chinese general and politician, 27th Premier of the Republic of China (born 1897) Chen Cheng, courtesy name Tsi-siou, was a Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese politician, military leader, revolutionary, and well as the leader of Tsotanhui Clique. He is widely regarded as the chief architect of Taiwan's post-war land reform and economic modernization programs during the 1950s. Read more
05 Mar 1965: Pepper Martin, American baseball player and manager (born 1904) Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He was known as the "Wild Horse of the Osage" because of his daring, aggressive baserunning. Martin played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman and an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1930s and early 1940s. He was best known for his heroics during the 1931 World Series, in which he was the catalyst in a Cardinals' upset victory over the Philadelphia Athletics. Read more
05 Mar 1963: Patsy Cline, American singer-songwriter (born 1932) 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. Read more
05 Mar 1963: Cowboy Copas, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1913) Lloyd Estel Copas, known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, was an American country music singer. He was popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins. Copas was a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Read more
05 Mar 1963: Hawkshaw Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1921) Harold Franklin "Hawkshaw" Hawkins was an American country music singer popular from the 1950s into the early 1960s. He was known for his rich, smooth vocals and music drawn from blues, boogie and honky tonk. At 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) tall, Hawkins had an imposing stage presence, and he dressed more conservatively than some other male country singers. Hawkins died in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas. He was a member of the Grand Ole Opry and was married to country star Jean Shepard. Read more
05 Mar 1955: Antanas Merkys, Lithuanian lawyer and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Lithuania (born 1888) Antanas Merkys was the last Prime Minister of independent Lithuania, serving from November 1939 to June 1940. When the Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania demanding that it accept a Soviet garrison, President Antanas Smetona fled the country, leaving Merkys as acting president. Merkys ostensibly cooperated with the Soviets, and illegally took over the presidency in his own right. After three days, Merkys handed power to Justas Paleckis, who formed the People's Government of Lithuania. When Merkys attempted to flee the country, he was captured and deported to the interior of Russia, where he died in 1955. Read more
05 Mar 1953: Herman J. Mankiewicz, American screenwriter and producer (born 1897) Herman Jacob Mankiewicz was an American screenwriter who, with Orson Welles, wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane (1941). Both Mankiewicz and Welles went on to receive the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film. Mankiewicz was previously a Berlin correspondent for Women’s Wear Daily, assistant theater editor at The New York Times, and the first regular drama critic at The New Yorker. Alexander Woollcott said that Mankiewicz was the "funniest man in New York". Read more
05 Mar 1953: Sergei Prokofiev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1891) Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who later worked in the Soviet Union. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous music genres, he is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. His works include such widely heard pieces as the March from The Love for Three Oranges, the suite Lieutenant Kijé, the ballet Romeo and Juliet—from which "Dance of the Knights" is taken—and Peter and the Wolf. Of the established forms and genres in which he worked, he created—excluding juvenilia—seven completed operas, seven symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine completed piano sonatas. Read more
05 Mar 1953: Joseph Stalin, Soviet dictator and politician of Georgian descent, 2nd leader of the Soviet Union (born 1878) 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. Read more
05 Mar 1950: Edgar Lee Masters, American poet, author, and playwright (born 1868) Edgar Lee Masters was an American attorney, poet, biographer, and dramatist. He is the author of Spoon River Anthology (1915), The New Star Chamber and Other Essays, Songs and Satires, The Great Valley, The Serpent in the Wilderness, An Obscure Tale, The Spleen, Mark Twain: A Portrait, Lincoln: The Man, and Illinois Poems. In all, Masters published twelve plays, twenty-one books of poetry, six novels and six biographies, including those of Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Vachel Lindsay, and Walt Whitman. Read more
05 Mar 1950: Roman Shukhevych, Ukrainian general and politician (born 1907) Roman-Taras Osypovych Shukhevych was a Ukrainian nationalist and a military leader of the nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which during the Second World War fought against the Soviet Union and to a lesser extent against Nazi Germany for Ukrainian independence. He collaborated with the Nazis from February 1941 to December 1942 as commanding officer of the Nachtigall Battalion in early 1941, and as a Hauptmann of the German Schutzmannschaft 201 auxiliary police battalion in late 1941 and 1942. Read more
05 Mar 1947: Alfredo Casella, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1883) Alfredo Casella was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor. Read more
05 Mar 1945: Lena Baker, African American held captive post slavery-era (born 1900) Lena Baker was an African American maid in Cuthbert, Georgia, United States, who was convicted of capital murder of a white man, Ernest Knight. She was executed by the state of Georgia in 1945. Baker was the only woman in Georgia to be executed by electrocution. Read more
05 Mar 1944: Max Jacob, French poet and author (born 1876) Max Jacob was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic. Read more
05 Mar 1942: George Plant, executed Irish Republican (born 1904)

George Plant was a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who was executed by the Irish Government in 1942. Read more
05 Mar 1940: Cai Yuanpei, Chinese philosopher and academic (born 1868) Cai Yuanpei, spelt Ts'ai Yuan-p'ei during his lifetime, was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was an influential figure in the history of Chinese modern education. He made contributions to education reform with his own education ideology. He was the president of Peking University, and founder of the Academia Sinica. He was known for his critical evaluation of Chinese culture and synthesis of Chinese and Western thinking, including anarchism. He got involved in the New Culture, May Fourth Movements, and the feminist movement. His works involve aesthetic education, politics, and education reform. Read more
05 Mar 1935: Roque Ruaño, Spanish priest and engineer (born 1877) Roque Ruaño Garrido, O.P. was a Spanish priest and civil engineer. He was known after he drew up plans for University of Santo Tomas (UST) Main Building, the first earthquake-shock resistant building in Asia, which was constructed at the Sulucan property of the Dominican order in city of Manila. Read more
05 Mar 1934: Reşit Galip, Turkish academic and politician, 6th Turkish Minister of National Education (born 1893) Mustafa Reşit Galip was a Turkish politician in the early years of the Turkish Republic. By profession, he was a medical doctor. Read more
05 Mar 1929: David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-American businessman, founded Buick (born 1854) David Dunbar Buick was a Scottish-born American inventor, widely known for founding the Buick Motor Company. He headed this company and its predecessor from 1899–1906, thereby helping to create one of the most successful nameplates in United States motor vehicle history. Read more
05 Mar 1927: Franz Mertens, Polish-Austrian mathematician and academic (born 1840) Franz Mertens was a German-Polish mathematician. He was born in Schroda in the Grand Duchy of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia and died in Vienna, Austria. Read more
05 Mar 1925: Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician and engineer (born 1859) Johan Ludwig William Valdemar Jensen, mostly known as Johan Jensen, was a Danish mathematician and engineer. He was the president of the Danish Mathematical Society from 1892 to 1903. Read more
05 Mar 1907: Friedrich Blass, German philologist, scholar, and academic (born 1843) Friedrich Blass was a German classical scholar. Read more
05 Mar 1895: Nikolai Leskov, Russian author, playwright, and journalist (born 1831) Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, and held in high esteem by Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky among others, Leskov is credited with creating a comprehensive picture of contemporary Russian society using mostly short literary forms. His major works include Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (1865), which was later made into an opera by Shostakovich); The Cathedral Folk (1872); The Enchanted Wanderer (1873); and "The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea" (1881). Read more
05 Mar 1895: Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, English general and scholar (born 1810) Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, KLS was a British East India Company army officer, politician, and Orientalist, sometimes described as the Father of Assyriology. His son, also Henry, was to become a senior commander in the British Army during the First World War. Read more
05 Mar 1893: Hippolyte Taine, French historian and critic (born 1828) Hippolyte Adolphe Taine was a French historian, critic and philosopher. He was the chief theoretical influence on French naturalism, a major proponent of sociological positivism and one of the first practitioners of historicist criticism. Literary historicism as a critical movement has been said to originate with him. Taine is also remembered for his attempts to provide a scientific account of literature. Read more
05 Mar 1889: Mary Louise Booth, American writer, editor and translator (born 1831) Mary Louise Booth was an American editor, translator, and writer. She was the first editor-in-chief of the women's fashion magazine, Harper's Bazaar. Read more
05 Mar 1876: Marie d'Agoult, German-French historian and author (born 1805) Marie Catherine Sophie, Comtesse d'Agoult, was a French romantic author and historian, known also by her pen name, Daniel Stern. Read more
05 Mar 1849: David Scott, Scottish historical painter (born 1806) David Scott was a Scottish historical painter. Read more
05 Mar 1829: John Adams, English sailor and mutineer (born 1766) John Adams, known as Jack Adams, was the last survivor of the Bounty mutineers who settled on Pitcairn Island in January 1790, the year after the mutiny. His real name was John Adams, but he used the name Alexander Smith until he was discovered in 1808 by Captain Mayhew Folger of the American whaling ship Topaz. His children used the surname "Adams". Read more
05 Mar 1827: Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (born 1749) Pierre-Simon, Marquis de Laplace was a French polymath, a scholar whose work has been instrumental in the fields of physics, astronomy, mathematics, engineering, statistics, and philosophy. He summarized and extended the work of his predecessors in his five-volume Mécanique céleste (1799–1825). This work translated the geometric study of classical mechanics to one based on calculus, opening up a broader range of problems. Laplace also popularized and further confirmed Sir Isaac Newton's work. In statistics, the Bayesian interpretation of probability was developed mainly by Laplace. Read more
05 Mar 1827: Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist and academic (born 1745) Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta was an Italian chemist and physicist who was a pioneer of electricity and power, and is credited as the inventor of the electric battery and the discoverer of methane. He invented the voltaic pile in 1799, and reported the results of his experiments in a two-part letter to the president of the Royal Society, which was published in 1800. With this invention, Volta proved that electricity could be generated chemically and debunked the prevalent theory that electricity was generated solely by living beings. Volta's invention sparked a great amount of scientific excitement and led others to conduct similar experiments, which eventually led to the development of the field of electrochemistry. Read more
05 Mar 1815: Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologist (born 1734) Franz Anton Mesmer was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorized the existence of a process of natural energy transference occurring between all animate and inanimate objects; this he called "animal magnetism", later referred to as mesmerism. Mesmer's theory attracted a wide following between about 1780 and 1850, and continued to have some influence until the end of the 19th century. In 1843, the Scottish doctor James Braid proposed the term "hypnotism" for a technique derived from animal magnetism; today the word "mesmerism" generally functions as a synonym of "hypnosis". Mesmer also supported the arts, specifically music; he was on friendly terms with Haydn and Mozart. Read more

Why is 05 March Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 05 March, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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What happened on 05 March in World history?

On 05 March, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

Is History of Today important for competitive exams?

Yes, History of Today is frequently asked in UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, and State PSC exams as part of static GK and current awareness sections.