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On this day in history - Today, March, 5

Today in History

  • 1616 Nicolaus Copernicus' revolutionary book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is banned by the Catholic Church

    In the book, Copernicus claimed that the Earth revolves around the sun. The Church maintained Ptolem

  • 1872 The air brake is patented

    George Westinghouse is credited with the design of the railway braking system that uses compressed a

  • 1960 Alberto Korda takes his famous picture of revolutionary Che Guevara

    The iconic photograph, called Guerrillero Heroico, was taken at a memorial service for the victims o

  • 1970 The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty enters into force

    Nuclear powers China, Russia, U.S., U.K., and France initiated the treaty in 1968. It has since been

  • 1981 The home computer ZX81 is launched

    The British ZX81 was one of the world's first home computer and was sold over 1.5 million times.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
March, 5

  • 1970 John Frusciante

    American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer

  • 1951 Lat

    Malaysian cartoonist

  • 1948 Elaine Paige

    English singer, actress

  • 1898 Zhou Enlai

    Chinese politician, 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China

  • 1871 Rosa Luxemburg

    Russian economist, philosopher

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
March, 5

  • 2013 Hugo Chávez

    Venezuelan military officer, politician, President of Venezuela

  • 1963 Patsy Cline

    American singer-songwriter, pianist

  • 1953 Sergei Prokofiev

    Russian pianist, composer, conductor

  • 1953 Joseph Stalin

    Soviet marshal, politician, 4th Premier of the Soviet Union

  • 1895 Nikolai Leskov

    Russian author, playwright, journalist