Today in History: March 5, the Boston Massacre

Audio By Carbonatix

Today is Thursday, March 5, the 64th day of 2026. There are 301 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On March 5, 1770, the Boston Massacre took place as British soldiers who had been taunted by a crowd of colonists opened fire, killing five people. The killing fueled colonists' outrage in the run-up to the American Revolution.

Also on this date:

In 1856, a major fire destroyed Covent Garden's royal theater and opera house in London, marking the second time fire destroyed a theater on the site since 1808. (The theater was rebuilt and has since undergone major reconstruction and modernization.)

In 1933, in German parliamentary elections six days after the Reichstag fire, the Nazi Party won 44% of the vote; the Nazis joined with a conservative nationalist party to gain a slender parliamentary majority.

In 1946, Winston Churchill delivered a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, in which he marked the onset of the Cold War, saying: “From Stettin in the Baltic, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.”

In 1953, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin died from a stroke at age 74 after nearly three decades in power.

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 1979, NASA’s Voyager 1 space probe made its closest approach to Jupiter, sending back photographs of the planet and its moons.

In 1982, comedian John Belushi was found dead of a drug overdose in a rented bungalow at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont hotel; he was 33.

In 2004, Martha Stewart was convicted in New York of conspiracy, obstructing justice and lying to the government about why she’d sold her Imclone Systems stock just before the stock’s price plummeted; her ex-stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, also was found guilty in the scandal. (Each later received a five-month prison sentence.)

In 2022, a promised ceasefire in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol collapsed amid scenes of terror in the besieged town. The number of people fleeing the country reached 1.4 million just 10 days after Russian forces invaded.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Fred Williamson is 88. Magician Penn Jillette is 71. Actor Adriana Barraza is 70. Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin is 60. Actor-comedian Aasif Mandvi is 60. Rock musician John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 56. Actor Eva Mendes is 52. Model Niki Taylor is 51. Singer-songwriter Amanda Shires is 44. Model Taylor Hill is 30. Baseball shortstop Bo Bichette is 28. Singer Madison Beer is 27. Country singer Gabby Barrett is 26.