This day in History: March 5

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1624 Class-based legislation is passed in the colony of Virginia, exempting the upper class from punishment by whipping. 1770 The Boston Massacre. Five Americans, including Crispus Attucks, are fatally shot by British soldiers. This event contributes to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. 1766 Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans. 1793 Austrian troops crush the French and recapture Liege, Belgium. 1821 James Monroe becomes the first president to be inaugurated on March 5, only because the 4th was a Sunday. 1905 Russians begin to retreat from Mukden in Manchuria, China. 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. 1928 Hitler‘s National Socialists win the majority vote in Bavaria. 1933 Newly inaugurated President Franklin D. Roosevelt halts the trading of gold and declares a bank holiday. 1933 Hitler and his Nationalist allies win a majority in the Reichstag. 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 .” 1956 The U.S. Supreme Court affirms the ban on segregation in public schools in Brown vs. Board of Education. 1969 Gustav Heinemann is elected West German President. 1976 Britain gives up on the Ulster talks and decides to retain rule in Northern Ireland indefinitely. 1984 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that cities have the right to display the Nativity scene as part of their Christmas display. Born on March 5 1133 Henry II, King of England (1133-1189). 1326 Louis I (the Great), King of Hungary. 1574 William Oughtred, mathematician and inventor of the slide rule. 1824 Elisha Harris, U.S. physician and founder of the American Public Health Association. 1824 James Merritt Ives, lithographer for Currier and Ives. 1853 Howard Pyle, writer and illustrator (The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood). 1870 Frank Norris, novelist (McTeague, The Octopus). 1887 Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazillian composer. 1908 Rex Harrison, actor. 1938 Lynn Margulis, biologist. 1948 Leslie Marmon Silko, writer (Ceremony).