Here’s a brief look back in time on this day, March 5.
In 1770, around 400 colonists begin surrounding British soldiers near the Customs House in Boston, MA. This was a result of the Townshend Acts in combination with the Stamp Act, which were a series of British taxes imposed on the American colonies to help pay war debts accumulated during the French & Indian War (or the Seven Years’ War). The colonists began resisting against such taxation without representation, causing the Crown to deploy more army reinforcements in bustling cities like Boston. Tensions would build to this moment, initiating a flurry of snowballs and insults thrown at servicemembers. All of a sudden, a musket goes off, and the rest of the platoon follows suit. Reports remain unconfirmed as to who shot first. Theories say it was Captain Thomas Preston who gave the firing orders. Another was a private who got struck with a club, later discharging his rifle in retaliation. The night was draped in darkness and covered in snow, creating further disorientation as the colonists scatter across King Street in a desperate search for cover. All that was the confirmed were the deaths of five colonists once the musket balls stop. This becomes known as the Boston Massacre, which helped spark the American Revolution.
In 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers his ‘Iron Curtain’ speech to students at Westminster College in Fulton, MO. The speech served as a call for action as the world returns to normalcy following World War II. It also warned the nation about the Soviet Union’s expansionist ideals as the threat of communism spreads across Western Europe. According to Russian historians, this marked the beginning of a new global conflict: The Cold War.
In 1963, the Hula-Hoop becomes patented. It would explode in popularity as kids and young adults alike partake in the hip-swaying plastic circle. An estimated 25 million hula-hoops were sold in the first four months alone; it later ballooned to 100 million by year’s end.