Today in History
Today is Sunday, March 5, the 64th day of 2017. There are 301 days left
in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On March 5, 1867, the Fenian
Rebellion took place in Ireland as thousands of members of the Irish
Republican Brotherhood launched an attempt at overthrowing British
rule; the poorly-organized rising was swiftly put down by British and
Irish authorities. On this date: In 1770, the Boston Massacre took
place as British soldiers who'd been taunted by a crowd of colonists
opened fire, killing five people. In 1868, the U.S. Senate was
organized into a Court of Impeachment to decide charges against
President Andrew Johnson, who was later acquitted. In 1927, "The
Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place," the last Sherlock Holmes story by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was published in the U.S. in Liberty Magazine.
In 1933, in German parliamentary elections, the Nazi Party won 44
percent of the vote; the Nazis joined with a conservative nationalist
party to gain a slender majority in the Reichstag. In 1946, Winston
Churchill delivered his "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in
Fulton, Missouri, in which he said: "From Stettin in the Baltic, to
Trieste in the Adriatic, an 'iron curtain' has descended across the
continent, allowing police governments to rule Eastern Europe. In 1953,
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin died after three decades in power.
Composer Sergei Prokofiev died in Moscow at age 61. In 1963, country
music performers Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins died in
the crash of their plane, a Piper Comanche, near Camden, Tennessee,
along with pilot Randy Hughes (Cline's manager). In 1966, BOAC Flight
911, a Boeing 707, crashed into Japan's Mount Fuji after breaking up in
severe turbulence; all 124 people on board were killed. In 1970, the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons went into effect
after 43 nations ratified it. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter took
questions from 42 telephone callers in 26 states on a network radio
call-in program moderated by Walter Cronkite. In 1982, comedian John
Belushi was found dead of a drug overdose in a rented bungalow in
Hollywood; he was 33. In 1994, a jury in Pensacola, Florida, convicted
anti-abortion activist Michael F. Griffin of first-degree murder in the
shooting death of Dr. David Gunn; Griffin was immediately sentenced to
life in prison. Ten years ago: A suicide car bomber turned a Baghdad
book market into a deadly inferno, killing some three dozen people.
Nine U.S. soldiers died in two separate incidents north of Baghdad.
President George W. Bush, facing criticism he was ignoring Latin
America, said the U.S. would spend tens of millions of dollars to
improve education, housing and health care across the region. Five
years ago: President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) met at the White House, where Obama urged
pressure and diplomacy to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb
while Netanyahu emphasized his nation's right to a pre-emptive attack.
Assailants waving the battle flag of al-Qaida gunned down 25 policemen
in the western Iraqi town of Haditha. "Lipstick Killer" William Heirens
(HY'-rehnz), 83, died in Chicago after serving more than six decades in
prison. One year ago: Bernie Sanders won Democratic caucuses in Kansas
and Nebraska, while Hillary Clinton prevailed in Louisiana. Republican
Ted Cruz won in Maine and Kansas while Donald Trump was victorious in
Louisiana and Kentucky. Ray Tomlinson, 74, inventor of person-to-person
email, died in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Today's Birthdays: Singer Harry
Prime is 97. Actor Paul Sand is 85. Actor James B. Sikking is 83. Actor
Dean Stockwell is 81. Actor Fred Williamson is 79. Actress Samantha
Eggar is 78. Actor Michael Warren is 71. Actor Eddie Hodges is 70.
Singer Eddy Grant is 69. Rock musician Alan Clark (Dire Straits) is 65.
Actress-comedian Marsha Warfield is 63. Magician Penn Jillette is 62.
Actress Adriana Barraza is 61. Rock singers Craig and Charlie Reid (The
Proclaimers) are 55. Rock musician John Frusciante (froo-SHAN'-tee) is
47. Singer Rome is 47. Actor Kevin Connolly is 43. Actress Eva Mendes
is 43. Actress Jill Ritchie is 43. Actress Jolene Blalock is 42. Model
Niki Taylor is 42. Actress Kimberly McCullough is 39. Actress Karolina
Wydra is 36. Singer-songwriter Amanda Shires is 35. Actress Dominique
McElligott is 31. Actor Sterling Knight is 28. Actor Jake Lloyd is 28.
Thought for Today: "Freedom is not worth fighting for if it means no
more than license for everyone to get as much as he can for himself.
Dorothy Canfield Fisher, American author and essayist (1879-1958).
