- 363 – Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
- 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama.
- 1279 – The Livonian Order is defeated in the Battle of Aizkraukle by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
- 1496 – King Henry VII of England issues letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorising them to explore unknown lands.
- 1616 – Nicolaus Copernicus’s book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres is added to the Index of Forbidden Books 73 years after it was first published.
- 1766 – Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.
- 1770 – Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including Crispus Attucks, are fatally shot by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence) five years later.
- 1811 – Peninsular War: A French force under the command of Marshal Victor is routed while trying to prevent an Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese army from lifting the Siege of Cádiz in the Battle of Barrosa.
- 1824 – First Anglo-Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.
- 1836 – Samuel Colt patents the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.
- 1850 – The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened.
- 1860 – Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia.
- 1868 – Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito, receives its premiere performance at La Scala.
- 1872 – George Westinghouse patents the air brake.
- 1906 – Moro Rebellion: United States Army troops bring overwhelming force against the native Moros in the First Battle of Bud Dajo, leaving only six survivors.
- 1912 – Italo-Turkish War: Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, employing them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.
- 1931 – The British Raj: Gandhi–Irwin Pact is signed.
- 1933 – Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party receives 43.9% at the Reichstag elections, which allows the Nazis to later pass the Enabling Act and establish a dictatorship.
- 1936 – First flight of K5054, the first prototype Supermarine Spitfire advanced monoplane fighter aircraft in the United Kingdom.
- 1940 – Six high-ranking members of Soviet politburo, including Joseph Stalin, sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs, in what will become known as the Katyn massacre.
- 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces capture Batavia, capital of Dutch East Indies, which is left undefended after the withdrawal of the KNIL garrison and Australian Blackforce battalion to Buitenzorg and Bandung.
- 1943 – First Flight of the Gloster Meteor, Britain’s first combat jet aircraft.
- 1944 – World War II: The Red Army begins the Uman–Botoșani Offensive in the western Ukrainian SSR.
- 1946 – Cold War: Winston Churchill coins the phrase “Iron Curtain” in his speech at Westminster College, Missouri.
- 1953 – Joseph Stalin, the longest serving leader of the Soviet Union, dies at his Volynskoe dacha in Moscow after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage four days earlier.
- 1960 – Indonesian President Sukarno dismissed the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR), 1955 democratically elected parliament, and replaced with DPR-GR, the parliament of his own selected members.
- 1963 – American country music stars Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and their pilot Randy Hughes are killed in a plane crash in Camden, Tennessee.
- 1965 – March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against British colonial presence.
- 1966 – BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707 aircraft, breaks apart in mid-air due to clear-air turbulence and crashes into Mount Fuji, Japan, killing all 124 people on board.
- 1970 – The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.
- 1974 – Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal.
- 1978 – The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
- 1979 – Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the German-American solar satellite Helios II all are hit by “off the scale” gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.
- 1981 – The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer, is launched by Sinclair Research and would go on to sell over 11⁄2 million units around the world.
- 1982 – Soviet probe Venera 14 lands on Venus.
- 2003 – In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed in the Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing.
- 2012 – Tropical Storm Irina kills over 75 as it passes through Madagascar.
Births on March 5
- 1133 – Henry II of England (d. 1189)
- 1224 – Saint Kinga of Poland (d. 1292)
- 1324 – David II of Scotland (d. 1371)
- 1326 – Louis I of Hungary (d. 1382)
- 1340 – Cansignorio della Scala, Lord of Verona (d. 1375)
- 1451 – William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English Earl (d. 1491)
- 1512 – Gerardus Mercator, Flemish mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher (d. 1594)
- 1523 – Rodrigo de Castro Osorio, Spanish cardinal (d. 1600)
- 1527 – Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1603)
- 1539 – Christoph Pezel, German theologian (d. 1604)
- 1563 – John Coke, English civil servant and politician (d. 1644)
- 1575 – William Oughtred, English minister and mathematician (d. 1660)
- 1585 – John George I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1656)
- 1585 – Frederick I, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (d. 1638)
- 1637 – Jan van der Heyden, Dutch painter and engineer (d. 1712)
- 1658 – Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, French explorer and politician, 3rd Colonial Governor of Louisiana (d. 1730)
- 1693 – Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian and scholar (d. 1754)
- 1696 – Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Italian painter (d. 1770)
- 1703 – Vasily Trediakovsky, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1768)
- 1713 – Edward Cornwallis, English general and politician, Governor of Gibraltar (d. 1776)
- 1713 – Frederick Cornwallis, English archbishop (d. 1783)
- 1723 – Princess Mary of Great Britain (d. 1773)
- 1733 – Vincenzo Galeotti, Italian-Danish dancer and choreographer (d. 1816)
- 1739 – Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American colonel and physician (d. 1819)
- 1748 – Jonas Carlsson Dryander, Swedish botanist and biologist (d. 1810)
- 1748 – William Shield, English violinist and composer (d. 1829)
- 1750 – Jean-Baptiste-Gaspard d’Ansse de Villoison, French scholar and academic (d. 1805)
- 1751 – Jan Křtitel Kuchař, Czech organist, composer, and educator (d. 1829)
- 1774 – Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse, Danish organist and composer (d. 1842)
- 1779 – Benjamin Gompertz, English mathematician and statistician (d. 1865)
- 1785 – Carlo Odescalchi, Italian cardinal (d. 1841)
- 1794 – Jacques Babinet, French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (d. 1872)
- 1794 – Robert Cooper Grier, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1870)
- 1814 – Wilhelm von Giesebrecht, German historian and academic (d. 1889)
- 1800 – Georg Friedrich Daumer, German poet and philosopher (d. 1875)
- 1815 – John Wentworth, American journalist and politician, 19th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1888)
- 1817 – Austen Henry Layard, English archaeologist, academic, and politician, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (d. 1894)
- 1830 – Étienne-Jules Marey, French physiologist and chronophotographer (d. 1904)
- 1830 – Charles Wyville Thomson, Scottish historian and zoologist (d. 1882)
- 1834 – Félix de Blochausen, Luxembourgian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1915)
- 1834 – Marietta Piccolomini, Italian soprano (d. 1899)
- 1853 – Howard Pyle, American author and illustrator (d. 1911)
- 1862 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player and theoretician (d. 1934)
- 1867 – Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 14th Premier of Quebec (d. 1952)
- 1869 – Michael von Faulhaber, German cardinal (d. 1952)
- 1870 – Frank Norris, American journalist and author (d. 1902)
- 1870 – Evgeny Paton, French-Ukrainian engineer (d. 1953)
- 1871 – Rosa Luxemburg, Polish-Russian economist and philosopher (d. 1919)
- 1871 – Konstantinos Pallis, Greek general and politician, Minister Governor-General of Macedonia (d. 1941)
- 1873 – Olav Bjaaland, Norwegian skier and explorer (d. 1961)
- 1874 – Henry Travers, English-American actor (d. 1965)
- 1875 – Harry Lawson, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Victoria (d. 1952)
- 1876 – Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote, English lawyer and politician, 8th Lord Chief Justice of England (d. 1947)
- 1876 – Elisabeth Moore, American tennis player (d. 1959)
- 1879 – William Beveridge, Bangladeshi-English economist and academic (d. 1963)
- 1879 – Andres Larka, Estonian general and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of War (d. 1943)
- 1880 – Sergei Natanovich Bernstein, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1968)
- 1882 – Dora Marsden, English author and activist (d. 1960)
- 1883 – Pauline Sperry, American mathematician (d. 1967)
- 1885 – Marius Barbeau, Canadian ethnographer and academic (d. 1969)
- 1886 – Dong Biwu, Chinese judge and politician, Chairman of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1975)
- 1886 – Freddie Welsh, Welsh boxer (d. 1927)
- 1887 – Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian guitarist and composer (d. 1959)
- 1894 – Henry Daniell, English-American actor (d. 1963)
- 1898 – Zhou Enlai, Chinese politician, 1st Premier of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1976)
- 1898 – Misao Okawa, Japanese super-centenarian (d. 2015)
- 1900 – Lilli Jahn, Jewish German doctor (d. 1944)
- 1900 – Johanna Langefeld, German guard and supervisor of three Nazi concentration camps (d. 1974)
- 1901 – Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg (d. 1971)
- 1901 – Julian Przyboś, Polish poet, essayist and translator (d. 1970)
- 1904 – Karl Rahner, German priest and theologian (d. 1984)
- 1905 – László Benedek, Hungarian-American director and cinematographer (d. 1992)
- 1908 – Fritz Fischer, German historian and author (d. 1999)
- 1908 – Irving Fiske, American author and playwright (d. 1990)
- 1908 – Rex Harrison, English actor (d. 1990)
- 1910 – Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese businessman, founded Nissin Foods (d. 2007)
- 1910 – Ennio Flaiano, Italian author, screenwriter, and critic (d. 1972)
- 1912 – Jack Marshall, New Zealand colonel, lawyer, and politician, 28th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1988)
- 1915 – Henry Hicks, Canadian academic and politician, 16th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 1990)
- 1915 – Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician and academic (d. 2002)
- 1918 – Milt Schmidt, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2017)
- 1918 – Red Storey, Canadian football player, referee, and sportscaster (d. 2006)
- 1918 – James Tobin, American economist and academic (d. 2002)
- 1920 – José Aboulker, Algerian surgeon and activist (d. 2009)
- 1920 – Virginia Christine, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1920 – Rachel Gurney, English actress (d. 2001)
- 1920 – Wang Zengqi, Chinese writer (d. 1997)
- 1921 – Elmer Valo, American baseball player and coach (d. 1998)
- 1922 – James Noble, American actor (d. 2016)
- 1922 – Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1975)
- 1923 – Juan A. Rivero, Puerto Rican biologist and academic (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Laurence Tisch, American businessman, co-founded the Loews Corporation (d. 2003)
- 1924 – Roger Marche, French footballer (d. 1997)
- 1927 – Jack Cassidy, American actor and singer (d. 1976)
- 1927 – Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, Scottish businessman and politician
- 1928 – J. Hillis Miller, American academic and critic
- 1929 – Erik Carlsson, Swedish race car driver (d. 2015)
- 1929 – J. B. Lenoir, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1967)
- 1930 – John Ashley, Canadian ice hockey player and referee (d. 2008)
- 1930 – Del Crandall, American baseball player and manager
- 1931 – Fred, French author and illustrator (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Barry Tuckwell, Australian horn player and educator (d. 2020)
- 1932 – Paul Sand, American actor
- 1933 – Walter Kasper, German cardinal and theologian
- 1934 – Daniel Kahneman, Israeli-American economist and psychologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1935 – Letizia Battaglia, Italian photographer and journalist
- 1935 – Philip K. Chapman, Australian-American astronaut and engineer
- 1936 – Canaan Banana, Zimbabwean minister and politician, 1st President of Zimbabwe (d. 2003)
- 1936 – Dale Douglass, American golfer
- 1936 – Dean Stockwell, American actor
- 1937 – Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerian general and politician, 5th President of Nigeria
- 1938 – Paul Evans, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1938 – Lynn Margulis, American biologist and academic (d. 2011)
- 1938 – Fred Williamson, American football player, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1939 – Samantha Eggar, English actress
- 1939 – Tony Rundle, Australian politician, 40th Premier of Tasmania
- 1939 – Benyamin Sueb, Indonesian actor and comedian (d. 1995)
- 1939 – Peter Woodcock, Canadian serial killer (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Pierre Wynants, Belgian chef
- 1940 – Tom Butler, English bishop
- 1940 – Ken Irvine, Australian rugby league player (d. 1990)
- 1940 – Graham McRae, New Zealand race car driver
- 1940 – Sepp Piontek, German footballer and manager
- 1941 – Des Wilson, New Zealand-English businessman and activist
- 1942 – Felipe González, Spanish lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Spain
- 1942 – Mike Resnick, American author and editor (d. 2020)
- 1942 – David Watkins, Welsh rugby player
- 1943 – Lucio Battisti, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998)
- 1944 – Peter Brandes, Danish painter and sculptor
- 1944 – Roy Gutman, American journalist and author
- 1945 – Wilf Tranter, English footballer
- 1946 – Richard Bell, Canadian pianist (d. 2007)
- 1946 – Guerrino Boatto, Italian illustrator and painter (d. 2018)
- 1946 – Graham Hawkins, English footballer and manager (d. 2016)
- 1946 – Murray Head, English actor and singer
- 1947 – Clodagh Rodgers, Northern Irish singer and actress
- 1947 – Kent Tekulve, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1948 – Paquirri, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1984)
- 1948 – Eddy Grant, Guyanese-British singer-songwriter and musician
- 1948 – Richard Hickox, English conductor and scholar (d. 2008)
- 1948 – Elaine Paige, English singer and actress
- 1948 – Jan van Beveren, Dutch footballer and coach (d. 2011)
- 1949 – Bernard Arnault, French businessman, philanthropist, and art collector
- 1949 – Franz Josef Jung, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Defence
- 1949 – Tom Russell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Rodney Hogg, Australian cricketer and coach
- 1952 – Petar Borota, Serbian footballer and coach (d. 2010)
- 1952 – Mike Squires, American baseball player and scout
- 1953 – Katarina Frostenson, Swedish poet and author
- 1953 – Michael J. Sandel, American philosopher and academic
- 1953 – Tokyo Sexwale, South African businessman and politician, 1st Premier of Gauteng
- 1954 – Marsha Warfield, American actress
- 1954 – João Lourenço, Angolan president
- 1955 – Penn Jillette, American magician, actor, and author
- 1956 – Teena Marie, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
- 1956 – Christopher Snowden, English engineer and academic
- 1957 – Mark E. Smith, English singer, songwriter and musician (d. 2018)
- 1957 – Ray Suarez, American journalist and author
- 1958 – Volodymyr Bezsonov, Ukrainian footballer and manager
- 1958 – Bob Forward, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1958 – Andy Gibb, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1988)
- 1959 – Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenian colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. 1999)
- 1960 – Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson, English businessman and politician, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology
- 1963 – Joel Osteen, American pastor, author, and television host
- 1964 – Bertrand Cantat, French singer-songwriter
- 1964 – Gerald Vanenburg, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1965 – José Semedo, Portuguese footballer and coach
- 1966 – Oh Eun-sun, South Korean mountaineer
- 1966 – Bob Halkidis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1966 – Michael Irvin, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
- 1966 – Aasif Mandvi, Indian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1966 – Zachery Stevens, American singer-songwriter
- 1968 – Gordon Bajnai, Hungarian businessman and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Hungary
- 1968 – Theresa Villiers, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
- 1969 – Paul Blackthorne, English actor and producer
- 1969 – Danny King, English author and playwright
- 1969 – Moussa Saïb, Algerian footballer and manager
- 1969 – M.C. Solaar, Afro-French rapper
- 1970 – Mike Brown, American basketball player and coach
- 1970 – John Frusciante, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1970 – Yuu Watase, Japanese illustrator
- 1971 – Greg Berry, English footballer and coach
- 1971 – Jeffrey Hammonds, American baseball player and scout
- 1971 – Yuri Lowenthal, American voice actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1971 – Filip Meirhaeghe, Belgian cyclist
- 1971 – Mark Protheroe, Australian rugby league player
- 1973 – Yannis Anastasiou, Greek footballer and manager
- 1973 – Nelly Arcan, Canadian author (d. 2009)
- 1973 – Juan Esnáider, Argentinian footballer and manager
- 1973 – Ryan Franklin, American baseball player
- 1973 – Nicole Pratt, Australian tennis player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1973 – Špela Pretnar, Slovenian skier
- 1974 – Kevin Connolly, American actor and director
- 1974 – Jens Jeremies, German footballer
- 1974 – Eva Mendes, American model and actress
- 1975 – Luciano Burti, Brazilian race car driver and sportscaster
- 1975 – Sasho Petrovski, Australian footballer
- 1975 – Chris Silverwood, English cricketer and coach
- 1976 – Neil Jackson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1976 – Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
- 1976 – Paul Konerko, American baseball player
- 1976 – Norm Maxwell, New Zealand rugby player
- 1977 – Taismary Agüero, Cuban-Italian volleyball player
- 1978 – Jared Crouch, Australian footballer
- 1978 – Mike Hessman, American baseball player and coach
- 1978 – Kimberly McCullough, American actress, singer, and dancer
- 1978 – Carlos Ochoa, Mexican footballer
- 1979 – Martin Axenrot, Swedish drummer
- 1979 – Lee Mears, English rugby player
- 1980 – Shay Carl, American businessman, co-founded Maker Studios
- 1981 – Barret Jackman, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Paul Martin, American ice hockey player
- 1982 – Dan Carter, New Zealand rugby player
- 1982 – Philipp Haastrup, German footballer
- 1983 – Édgar Dueñas, Mexican footballer
- 1984 – Branko Cvetković, Serbian basketball player
- 1984 – Guillaume Hoarau, French footballer
- 1985 – David Marshall, Scottish footballer
- 1985 – Brad Mills, American baseball player
- 1985 – Kenichi Matsuyama, Japanese actor
- 1986 – Alexandre Barthe, French footballer
- 1986 – Matty Fryatt, English footballer
- 1987 – Anna Chakvetadze, Russian tennis player
- 1987 – Chris Cohen, English footballer
- 1988 – Liassine Cadamuro-Bentaïba, Algerian footballer
- 1990 – Danny Drinkwater, English footballer
- 1990 – Mason Plumlee, American basketball player
- 1990 – Alex Smithies, English footballer
- 1991 – Ramiro Funes Mori, Argentinian footballer
- 1991 – Daniil Trifonov, Russian pianist and composer
- 1993 – El Hadji Ba, French footballer
- 1993 – Joshua Coyne, American violinist and composer
- 1993 – Harry Maguire, English footballer
- 1994 – Daria Gavrilova, Russian-Australian tennis player
- 1994 – Kyle Schwarber, American baseball player
- 1996 – Taylor Hill, American model
- 1996 – Emmanuel Mudiay, Congolese basketball player
- 1997 – Milena Venega, Cuban rower
- 1998 – Bo Bichette, American baseball player
- 1999 – Madison Beer, American singer, songwriter and producer.
- 2007 – Roman Griffin Davis, British actor, second youngest Golden Globe recipient.
Deaths on March 5
- 254 – Pope Lucius I (b. 200)
- 824 – Suppo I, Frankish nobleman
- 1239 – Hermann Balk, German knight
- 1410 – Matthew of Kraków, Polish reformer (b. 1335)
- 1417 – Manuel III Megas Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond (b. 1364)
- 1534 – Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter and educator (b. 1489)
- 1539 – Nuno da Cunha, Portuguese admiral and politician, Governor of Portuguese India (b. 1487)
- 1599 – Guido Panciroli, Italian historian and jurist (b. 1523)
- 1611 – Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese daimyō (b. 1533)
- 1622 – Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1569)
- 1695 – Henry Wharton, English writer and librarian (b. 1664)
- 1726 – Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, English politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1655)
- 1770 – Crispus Attucks, American slave (b. 1723)
- 1778 – Thomas Arne, English composer and educator (b. 1710)
- 1815 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologist (b. 1734)
- 1827 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (b. 1749)
- 1827 – Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1745)
- 1829 – John Adams, English sailor and mutineer (b. 1766)
- 1849 – David Scott, Scottish historical painter (b. 1806)
- 1876 – Marie d’Agoult, German-French historian and author (b. 1805)
- 1893 – Hippolyte Taine, French historian and critic (b. 1828)
- 1895 – Nikolai Leskov, Russian author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1831)
- 1895 – Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, English general and scholar (b. 1810)
- 1907 – Friedrich Blass, German philologist, scholar, and academic (b. 1843)
- 1925 – Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician and engineer (b. 1859)
- 1927 – Franz Mertens, Polish-Austrian mathematician and academic (b. 1840)
- 1929 – David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-American businessman, founded Buick (b. 1854)
- 1934 – Reşit Galip, Turkish academic and politician, 6th Turkish Minister of National Education (b. 1893)
- 1935 – Roque Ruaño, Spanish priest and engineer (b. 1877)
- 1940 – Cai Yuanpei, Chinese philosopher and academic (b. 1868)
- 1944 – Max Jacob, French poet and author (b. 1876)
- 1945 – Lena Baker, African American maid and murderer (b. 1900)
- 1947 – Alfredo Casella, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1883)
- 1950 – Edgar Lee Masters, American poet, author, and playwright (b. 1868)
- 1950 – Roman Shukhevych, Ukrainian general and politician (b. 1907)
- 1953 – Herman J. Mankiewicz, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1897)
- 1953 – Sergei Prokofiev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1891)
- 1953 – Joseph Stalin, Soviet dictator and politician of Georgian descent, 2nd leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1878)
- 1955 – Antanas Merkys, Lithuanian lawyer and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Lithuania (b. 1888)
- 1963 – Patsy Cline, American singer-songwriter (b. 1932)
- 1963 – Cowboy Copas, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1913)
- 1963 – Hawkshaw Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1921)
- 1965 – Chen Cheng, Chinese general and politician, 27th Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1897)
- 1965 – Pepper Martin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1904)
- 1966 – Anna Akhmatova, Ukrainian-Russian poet, author, and translator (b. 1889)
- 1967 – Mischa Auer, Russian-American actor (b. 1905)
- 1967 – Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian political scientist and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1882)
- 1967 – Georges Vanier, Canadian general and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (b. 1888)
- 1971 – Allan Nevins, American journalist and author (b. 1890)
- 1973 – Robert C. O’Brien, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
- 1974 – John Samuel Bourque, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1894)
- 1974 – Billy De Wolfe, American actor (b. 1907)
- 1974 – Sol Hurok, Ukrainian-American businessman (b. 1888)
- 1976 – Otto Tief, Estonian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1889)
- 1977 – Tom Pryce, Welsh race car driver (b. 1949)
- 1980 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (b. 1912)
- 1981 – Yip Harburg, American songwriter and composer (b. 1896)
- 1982 – John Belushi, American actor (b. 1949)
- 1984 – Pierre Cochereau, French organist and composer (b. 1924)
- 1984 – Tito Gobbi, Italian operatic baritone (b. 1913)
- 1984 – William Powell, American actor (b. 1892)
- 1988 – Alberto Olmedo, Argentine comedian and actor (b. 1933)
- 1990 – Gary Merrill, American actor and director (b. 1915)
- 1995 – Vivian Stanshall, English singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1943)
- 1996 – Whit Bissell, American character actor (b. 1909)
- 1997 – Samm Sinclair Baker, American writer (b. 1909)
- 1997 – Jean Dréville, French director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
- 1999 – Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (b. 1922)
- 2000 – Lolo Ferrari, French dancer, actress and singer (b. 1963)
- 2005 – David Sheppard, English cricketer and bishop (b. 1929)
- 2008 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German computer scientist and author (b. 1923)
- 2010 – Charles B. Pierce, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
- 2010 – Richard Stapley, British actor and writer (b. 1923)
- 2011 – Manolis Rasoulis, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
- 2012 – Paul Haines, New Zealand-Australian author (b. 1970)
- 2012 – Philip Madoc, Welsh-English actor (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter and screenwriter (b. 1925)
- 2012 – William O. Wooldridge, American sergeant (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (b. 1954)
- 2013 – Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan colonel and politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1954)
- 2013 – Duane Gish, American biochemist and academic (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Geoff Edwards, American actor and game show host (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Ailsa McKay, Scottish economist and academic (b. 1963)
- 2014 – Leopoldo María Panero, Spanish poet and translator (b. 1948)
- 2014 – Ola L. Mize, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Vlada Divljan, Serbian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
- 2015 – Edward Egan, American cardinal (b. 1932)
- 2016 – Hassan Al-Turabi, Sudanese activist and politician (b. 1932)
- 2016 – Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer and engineer (b. 1941)
- 2016 – Al Wistert, American football player and coach (b. 1920)
- 2017 – Kurt Moll, German opera singer (b. 1938)
Holidays and observances on March 5
- Christian feast day:
- Ciarán of Saigir
- John Joseph of the Cross
- Piran
- Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea
- Thietmar of Minden
- March 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Custom Chief’s Day (Vanuatu)
- Day of Physical Culture and Sport (Azerbaijan)
- Learn from Lei Feng Day (China)
- St Piran’s Day (Cornwall)