1. Maine became the 23rd state on March 5, 1820, following the Missouri Compromise, in which Maine was admitted as a free state and Missouri as a slave state.

2. On March 5, 1943, the U.S Department of Justice announced that the Katahdin Iron Works in Maine would be designated a national historic site due to its important role in the development of American iron and steel production.

3. In 1813, Stephen Longfellow, a prominent lawyer and father of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, helped to create the Maine Historical Society, which has been instrumental in collecting and preserving the state's history.

4. March 5 is also the anniversary of the deadliest blizzard in Maine's history, which struck in 1971 and claimed the lives of 30 people, including 17 members of a single family.

5. On March 5, 1868, the Maine State Legislature passed a bill to create the University of Maine, which officially opened its doors in 1869 in Orono, Maine. Today, it is the state's largest public university, with over 11,000 students.