5th March

[chenrezig]

1496 – King Henry VII of England issues letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorising them to explore unknown lands.
1616 – Nicolaus Copernicus's book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is banned by the Catholic Church
1850 – The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened.
1931 – The British Viceroy of India, Governor-General Edward Frederick Lindley Wood and Mohandas Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) sign an agreement envisaging the release of political prisoners and allowing salt to be freely used by the poorest members of the population.
1933 – Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party receives 43.9% at the Reichstag elections. This later allows the Nazis to pass the Enabling Act and establish a dictatorship.
1936 – First flight of Supermarine Spitfire advanced monoplane fighter aircraft in the United Kingdom.
1940 – Six high-ranking members of Soviet politburo, including General Secretary 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.
1943 – First flight of Gloster Meteor jet aircraft in the United Kingdom.
1946 – Winston Churchill coins the phrase "Iron Curtain" in his speech at Westminster College, Missouri.
1979 – America's Voyager 1 spacecraft has its closest approach to Jupiter, 172,000 miles.
1981 – The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer, is launched by Sinclair Research and would go on to sell over 1.5 million units around the world.

Births
1908 – Rex Harrison, English actor (d. 1990)
1927 – Jack Cassidy, American actor (d. 1976)
1939 – Samantha Eggar, English actress
1947 – Clodagh Rodgers, Irish singer and actress
1948 – Elaine Paige, English singer and actress
1974 – Matt Lucas, English comedian, actor, singer, and screenwriter
1985 – David Marshall, Scottish footballer

Deaths
1778 – Thomas Arne, English composer (b. 1710)
1953 – Sergei Prokofiev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1891)
1953 – Joseph Stalin, Russian marshal and politician, 3rd leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1878)
1963 – Patsy Cline, American singer-songwriter (b. 1932)
1982 – John Belushi, American actor (b. 1949)
2012 – Philip Madoc, Welsh-English actor (b. 1934)

[annie]

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