TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – MARCH 5
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 Ptolemy’s geocentric system. The book is considered a milestone in the history of astronomy.
1623 The first alcohol temperance law in the colonies was enacted in Virginia.
1624 Class-based legislation is passed in the colony of Virginia, exempting the upper class from punishment by whipping.
1770 The Boston Massacre, a pre-Revolutionary incident that grew out of anger towards British troops, occurred. Five anti-British rioters were killed.
1821 James Monroe becomes the first president to be inaugurated on March 5, only because the 4th was a Sunday.
1842 A Mexican force of over 500 men under Rafael Vasquez invaded Texas for the first time since the revolution. They briefly occupied San Antonio, but soon headed back to the Rio Grande.
1845 The U.S. Congress appropriated $30,000 to ship camels to the western U.S.
1872 The air brake is patented George Westinghouse is credited with the design of the railway braking system that uses compressed air.
1908 Unfortunately, 165 small lives were lost in a Cleveland, Ohio School Fire on this day. This event occurred at the Lake View School in Collingwood
1912 The Italians become the first to use dirigibles for military purposes, using them for reconnaissance flights behind Turkish lines west of Tripoli.
1918 The Soviets move the capital of Russia from Petrograd to Moscow.
1920 It was reported on this day that thousands of families had written the U.S. Government requesting that their sons be allowed to join the army. Upon enlistment, they would receive the quality education they would not otherwise receive as a result of living in an underdeveloped area of the country.
1928 Hitler’s National Socialists win the majority vote in Bavaria.
1933 Hitler and Nationalist allies win the Reichstag majority. It will be the last free election in Germany until after World War II.
1943 In desperation due to war losses, fifteen and sixteen year olds are called up for military service in the German army.
1946 In Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill tells a crowd that “an iron curtain has descended on the Continent [of Europe].”
1956 The U.S. Supreme Court affirms the ban on segregation in public schools in Brown vs. Board of Education.
1960 Elvis Presley completes his two-year stint is discharged from the US Army.
1976 Britain gives up on the Ulster talks and decides to retain rule in Northern Ireland indefinitely.
1977 This was the beginning of the radio program called “Dial-A-President”. This program only aired once, but it had opened the door for two of the shows callers to contact the president (Jimmy Carter).
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.
1984 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that cities have the right to display the Nativity scene as part of their Christmas display.
1991 Iraqis turn over 35 prisoners of war, including 15 Americans, to the Red Cross in Baghdad.
1997 Representatives of North Korea and South Korea met for first time in 25 years, for peace talks in New York.
1998 It was announced that Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins would lead crew of Columbia on a mission to launch a large X-ray telescope. She was the first woman to command a space shuttle mission.
2007 U.S. and North Korea have started talks aimed at normalizing diplomatic ties. This was arranged as part of an agreement in which Pyongyang has pledged to scrap its nuclear arms programs for aid. These talks mark the highest-level meeting on U.S. soil since North Korea’s Kim Jong-il sent a top envoy to Washington in 2000
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
