March fifth

Today's Highlight in History:
On March fifth, 1770, the Boston Massacre took place as British soldiers who'd been taunted by a crowd of colonists opened fire, killing five people.

On this date:
In 1849, Zachary Taylor took the oath of office at his presidential inauguration.

In 1867, an abortive Fenian uprising against English rule took place in Ireland.

In 1868, the Senate was organized into a Court of Impeachment to decide charges against President Andrew Johnson.

In 1933, in German parliamentary elections, the Nazi Party won 44 percent of the vote, enabling it to join with the Nationalists to gain a slender majority in the Reichstag.

In 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.

In 1953, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin died at age 73 after 29 years in power.

In 1963, a private plane crash near Camden, Tennessee, claimed the lives of country music performers Patsy Cline, "Cowboy" Copas and "Hawkshaw" Hawkins.

In 1970, a nuclear non-proliferation treaty 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 1986, in Lebanon, Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying it had "executed" French hostage Michel Seurat, who had been abducted almost a year earlier.

Ten years ago: To the cheers of onlookers, workers in Bucharest, Romania, finally succeeded in removing a 25-foot, seven-ton bronze statue of Vladimir Lenin from its foundation.

Five years ago: An Australian yacht broke in two and sank in heavy wind and fierce winds off the Southern California coast, the first sinking in the history of America's Cup racing; all 17 crew members were rescued.

One year ago: Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema met at the White House with President Clinton, a day after a military jury in North Carolina acquitted a Marine pilot in the Italian cable car accident that killed 20 people; D'Alema demanded justice, while Clinton expressed profound regret. Actor Richard Kiley died in Warwick, New York, at age 76.

"If you don't have enemies, you don't have character."

-- Paul Newman, American actor.