On this day: March 5

1912 Village Struck by Days-Long Amnesia Among Residents

On March 5, 1912, reports emerged from a rural village that many residents experienced a temporary loss of memory lasting several days; contemporary accounts describe confusion and disruption but vary on causes and scope.

Europe's First Public Firing Squad of the 20th Century: March 5, 1916

On 5 March 1916, a rare public execution by firing squad took place in modern Europe—an event tied to wartime discipline and political tensions during World War I. Its public nature and timing made it notable in contemporary press and later histories.

When an Entire Arctic Expedition Vanished: The Franklin Mystery Begins

On March 5, 1845, Sir John Franklin’s expedition departed England for the Northwest Passage; it became the first well-documented case in which an entire Royal Navy expedition later vanished, triggering one of the 19th century’s largest polar searches.

Mass Arrests of a Religious Sect Recorded in March 1944

On March 5, 1944, authorities carried out what contemporary records describe as the first large-scale arrest of members of a religious sect in the documented jurisdiction, reflecting wartime security measures and local tensions toward nonconformist groups.

One of the First U.S. Medical Experimentation Lawsuits Reaches Court in 1974

On March 5, 1974, a lawsuit alleging nonconsensual medical experimentation—part of a wave of cases and investigations in the 1970s—came to public attention, reflecting growing legal and ethical scrutiny of human-subject research in the United States.