Today in History

Today is Monday, March 5, the 64th day of 2018. There are 301 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 5, 1868, the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began in the U.S. Senate, with Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase presiding. Johnson, the first U.S. president to be impeached, was accused of "high crimes and misdemeanors" stemming from his attempt to fire Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton; the trial ended on May 26 with Johnson's acquittal.

On this date:

In 1766, Antonio de Ulloa arrived in New Orleans to assume his duties as the first Spanish governor of the Louisiana Territory, where he encountered resistance from the French residents.

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 1867, thousands of members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood launched the Fenian Rebellion in Ireland in an attempt at overthrowing British rule; the poorly-organized rising was swiftly put down by British and Irish authorities.

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 1982, comedian John Belushi was found dead of a drug overdose in a rented bungalow in Hollywood; he was 33.

In 1993, Palair Macedonian Airlines Flight 301, a Fokker 100, crashed after taking off from Skopje Airport, killing 83 of the 97 persons aboard.

Ten years ago: John McCain, having sewn up the Republican presidential nomination, got a White House embrace from President George W. Bush, who praised the Arizona senator's "incredible courage and strength of character and perseverance."

Five years ago: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Latin America's most vocal and controversial leader, died in Caracas at age 58 after a struggle with cancer. Transportation Security Administration head John Pistole announced that airline passengers would be able to carry small knives, souvenir baseball bats, golf clubs and other sports equipment onto planes (the plan was dropped three months later amid fierce congressional and industry opposition).

One year ago: Throngs of people converged in the city of Selma, Alabama, for the annual re-enactment of a key event in the civil rights movement: the 1965 march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge by demonstrators seeking voting rights. A bus carrying farm workers ran off a highway and ended up in a stream southwest of Panama's capital, killing 18 people and injuring dozens more.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Paul Sand is 86. Actor James B. Sikking is 84. Actor Dean Stockwell is 82. Actor Fred Williamson is 80. Actress Samantha Eggar is 79. Actor Michael Warren is 72. Actor Eddie Hodges is 71. Singer Eddy Grant is 70. Rock musician Alan Clark (Dire Straits) is 66. Actress-comedian Marsha Warfield is 64. Magician Penn Jillette is 63. Actress Adriana Barraza is 62. Actress Talia Balsam is 59. Rock singers Charlie and Craig Reid (The Proclaimers) are 56. Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin is 52. Actor Paul Blackthorne is 49. Rock musician John Frusciante is 48. Singer Rome is 48. Actor Kevin Connolly is 44. Actress Eva Mendes is 44. Actress Jill Ritchie is 44. Actress Jolene Blalock is 43. Model Niki Taylor is 43. Actress Kimberly McCullough is 40. Actress Karolina Wydra is 37. Singer-songwriter Amanda Shires is 36. Actress Dominique McElligott is 32. Actor Sterling Knight is 29. Actor Jake Lloyd is 29.

Thought for Today: "Boredom is the root of all evil -- the despairing refusal to be oneself." -- Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (1813-1855).