5 March on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born

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

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

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

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

Nicolaus Copernicus's book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres is added to the Index of Forbidden Books 73 years after it was first published.

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

Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including Crispus Attucks, are fatally shot by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence) five years later.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

George Westinghouse patents the air brake.

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

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

The British Raj: Gandhi–Irwin Pact is signed.

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.

The prototype of the Supermarine Spitfire flew for the first time.

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.

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.

World War II: Japanese forces capture Batavia, capital of Dutch East Indies, which is left undefended after the withdrawal of the KNIL garrison and Australian Blackforce battalion to Buitenzorg and Bandung.

World War II: 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.

World War II: The Gloster Meteor, the Allies' only operational jet aircraft, made its maiden flight.

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

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

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.

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.

Cuban photographer Alberto Korda took his iconic photograph Guerrillero Heroico of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the German-American solar satellite Helios II all are hit by "off the scale" gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.

The 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.

Soviet probe Venera 14 lands on Venus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rosa Luxemburg, Polish-Russian economist and philosopher (died 1919)

Zhou Enlai, Chinese politician, 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China (died 1976)

Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1975)

Aleksandar Vučić, Serbian president

Henry II of England (died 1189)

Eva Mendes, American model and actress

Daniel Kahneman, Israeli-American economist and psychologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2024)

Gerardus Mercator, Flemish mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher (died 1594)

Harry Maguire, English footballer

Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerian general and politician, 5th President of Nigeria

Bernard Arnault, French businessman, philanthropist, and art collector

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Italian painter (died 1770)

Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player and theoretician (died 1934)

Felipe González, Spanish lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Spain

João Lourenço, Angolan politician, 3rd President of Angola

James Tobin, American economist and academic (died 2002)

David II of Scotland (died 1371)

Lynn Margulis, American biologist and academic (died 2011)

Louis I of Hungary (died 1382)

Rex Harrison, English actor (died 1990)

Madison Beer, American singer-songwriter

Gerald Vanenburg, Dutch footballer and manager

Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian guitarist and composer (died 1959)

Gordon Bajnai, Hungarian businessman and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Hungary

John Frusciante, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Canaan Banana, Zimbabwean minister and politician, 1st President of Zimbabwe (died 2003)

Fred, Brazilian footballer

Dean Stockwell, American actor (died 2021)

Samantha Eggar, English actress (died 2025)

Anna Chakvetadze, Russian tennis player

William Oughtred, English minister and mathematician (died 1660)

Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician and academic (died 2002)

Walter Kasper, German cardinal and theologian

Karl Rahner, German priest and theologian (died 1984)

Danny Drinkwater, English footballer

Austen Henry Layard, English archaeologist, academic, and politician, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (died 1894)

William Beveridge, English economist and academic (died 1963)

Elaine Paige, English singer and actress

Juan Esnáider, Argentine footballer and manager

John George I, Elector of Saxony (died 1656)

Étienne-Jules Marey, French physiologist and chronophotographer (died 1904)

Robin Hobb, American author

Saint Kinga of Poland (died 1292)

Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese businessman and inventor, founded Nissin Foods (died 2007)

Sterling Knight, American actor, singer, and dancer

Ramiro Funes Mori, Argentine footballer

Michael J. Sandel, American philosopher and academic

Matt Lucas, English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality

Jolene Blalock, American model and actress

Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach

Guillaume Hoarau, French footballer

Jake Lloyd, American actor

Dong Biwu, Chinese judge and politician, Chairman of the People's Republic of China (died 1975)

Andy Gibb, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (died 1988)

Jens Jeremies, German footballer

Volodymyr Bezsonov, Ukrainian footballer and manager

Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenian colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Armenia (died 1999)

David Marshall, Scottish footballer

Ennio Flaiano, Italian author, screenwriter, and critic (died 1972)

Kevin Connolly, American actor and director