March 5
Today in America's Present Past
1623 | First “temperance” law enacted in America, in Virginia.
1658 | Explorer and founder of “Detroit,” Antonine de Lamothe Cadillac was born.
1743 | The first religious journal in America, The Christian History, published in Boston.
1750 | The first American production of Shakespeare - “Richard III.” Performed at the Nassau Street Theatre, in New York, it was staged using an adaptation by Colley Cibber.
1770 | The Boston Massacre. The British slaughtered five protestors cementing wider support for independence.
1774 | John Hancock delivered the fourth annual Massacre Day oration. “Massacre Day” preceded July 4th as a Patriot’s commemorative holiday.
1794 | SCOTUS: Justice Robert Cooper Grier was born.
1821 | POTUS: President Monroe was sworn in.
1824 | Author James Merritt Ives was born.
1836 | Samuel Colt began production of the .36 caliber “Texas” model pistol.
1840 | Author Constance Fenimore Woolson was born.
1841 | Congress: The first continuous filibuster in the US Senate began until March 11. The spark was the firing of a vendor, but the underlying issue was an attempt to revive a national bank.
1849 | POTUS: President Taylor was sworn in.
1849 | Indian Wars: The Battle Creek massacre, near Pleasant Grove Utah.
1853 | The piano company Steinway & Sons was founded.
1853 | Composer Arthur Foote was born.
1858 | First annual Crispus Attucks Day, celebrated in Boston, Massachusetts.
1872 | George Westinghouse patented the triple train break.
1877 | POTUS: President Hayes was publicly sworn in.
1893 | Entrepreneur Emmett J. Culligan was born.
1917 | POTUS: President Wilson was sworn in.
1927 | 1,000 American forces land in China to protect U.S. property.
1929 | Entrepreneur David Dunbar Buick died.
1933 | POTUS: Democrat President Roosevelt created a 10-day bank holiday.
1945 | WWII: US forces liberated Cologne.
1946 | Winston Churchill delivered his “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri.
1955 | TV: Elvis Presley made his first local television appearance.
1955 | Entertainer Penn Jillette was born.
1960 | Entertainer Elvis Presley was discharged from the army.
1963 | Entertainer Patsy Cline died.
1968 | Civil Rights: Thousands of Mexican American students in East Los Angeles walked out of their high schools to protest unequal education. This was the birth of the Chicano Civil Rights Movement (El Movimiento).
1979 | The American space probe Voyager 1 made its closest approach to Jupiter, discovering the planet’s rings and volcanic activity on the moon Io.
1982 | Entertainer John Belushi died.
1984 | SCOTUS: In Lynch v. Donnelly, the Court ruled that a city (Pawtucket, Rhode Island) could include a Nativity scene in its Christmas display.
2023 | Guitarist Gary Rossington died.