30 B. C. Defection of the entire fleet of Marc Antony, at Alexandria,
which suddenly passed over to Octavius, afterwards Augustus Cæsar.
117. Marcus Ulpius Trajan, emperor of Rome, died. He admired and copied
the virtues of Nerva, his predecessor, and reigned nearly twenty years
in the hearts of his people, when Hadrian received his mantle.
432. Celestine I, pope, died. The doctrines of Nestorius were condemned
by him.
643. Oswald, king of Northumberland, slain at Maserfield. Bede says he
erected in the shape of a wooden cross the first altar to Christ among
the Bernicians.
725. The old English tax called Peter's pence, was first laudably
imposed by Ina, king of the west Saxons, for the support of an English
college at Rome, but afterwards appropriated by the church for very
different purposes.
1137. Louis VI, king of France, died. He was a wise and popular monarch,
but during his reign, which continued nearly thirty years, the country
was disturbed by external quarrels and internal factions.
1202. King John of England obtained a victory over his nephew Arthur,
whom with his sister Eleanor he took prisoner.
1221. The convent belonging to Westminster abbey destroyed; which issued
in several individuals being severely punished.
1464. Cosmo de Medicis, a Florentine merchant, died. He bestowed vast
expense and attention in the promotion of learning, and presided over
the commonwealth 34 years, with so much wisdom and popularity, as to
acquire the title of Father of the People. (See Oct. 4, 1434.)
1498. Columbus, on his third voyage, first set his foot upon the
continent of America at Terra-Firma, mistaking it for an island. This
was more than a year after the English expedition under the Cabots had
reached its shores.
1560. The Scottish parliament assembled which overturned the Roman
church in Caledonia, and established a new ecclesiastical system on a
Calvinistic and presbyterian model.
1589. Henry III, of France, assassinated. He was a weak and vicious
prince, during whose reign the country was desolated with factions and
civil and religious wars. He was the last of the house of Valois.
1605. Edmund Anderson, an eminent English lawyer, died. He was one of
the ablest and most learned of queen Elizabeth's judges; his law works
are of great authority.
1625. The first parliament of Charles I, of England, on account of the
plague, met at Oxford.
1714. Anne, queen of England, died, in the 50th year of her age.
1716. James Boileau, a celebrated French theologian, died; a doctor of
the Sorbonne, and a man of great wit and learning.
1720. John Leake, a brave English admiral, died. He signalized himself
in many important victories in different parts of the world.
1732. William Cosby arrived at New York as governor of that province and
New Jersey.
1743. Richard Savage, an eminent English poet, died in prison, aged 46.
His great natural abilities were over-balanced by vices and follies
which rendered him an unhappy man.
1759. Battle of Minden; the British and German forces under Ferdinand of
Brunswick defeated the French, who met with great losses.
1766. France stipulated not to aid the Pretender if England would suffer
a Romish bishop to be sent to Canada; it was acceded to.
1768. The merchants and traders of Boston entered into a non-importation
agreement against Great Britain.
1769. Jean Chappe d'Auteroche, a French astronomer, died at California,
whither he had gone to make an observation. He was distinguished for
learning and abilities.
1770. Battle of Cahal; the Turkish army of 150,000 defeated by 18,000
Russians under marshal Romanzow.
1772. A revolution was effected in Sweden by the army, and dissimulation
of the crown.
1774. Dr. Priestly discovered dephlogisticated air, which has been
called the birth day of pneumatic chemistry.
1780. The village of Canajoharie laid waste by the Indians.
1790. John Knox, the book seller, and the improver of the herring
fisheries in Scotland, died.
1793. Action without the harbor of New York between the French frigate
L'Ambuscade, and British frigate Boston. The battle was severe, and both
vessels were greatly damaged; but the Boston would have been captured if
she had not been enabled to retreat. The Ambuscade had 6 killed, 20
wounded. The British lost their captain and nearly all their officers
killed. The crews of the two frigates were about the same, 350 each.
1798. Battle of the Nile; the French fleet of 13 sail and 4 frigates
defeated by the British, 13 ships of 74s, and a 50 gun ship under
Nelson. Nine of the French ships were taken and 2 burnt, and 2 of the
frigates destroyed. Admiral Brueys was mortally wounded and blown up in
the Orient, 120 guns and 1070 men. Of the French 3,105 were put on shore
by cartel, and 5,225 perished.
1801. Jonathan Edwards, president of Union college, died; a man of
uncommon powers of mind.
1803. William Woodfall, an English printer, died. He possessed a
remarkably retentive memory, and was the first who gave a full and
immediate detail of the proceedings of parliament.
1807. John Walker, the English lexicographer, died.
1819. James Forbes died; a civil servant in the East India company, and
creditably known as the author of Oriental Memoirs, which were
selected from a mass of manuscripts written during 17 years' residence
in India, stated to occupy 52,000 folio pages, in 150 vols. The plates,
from drawings of plants and animals made by the author, have rarely been
surpassed in spirit and beauty.
1821. William Floyd, one of the signers, died.
1821. Elizabeth Inchbald, an English dramatic writer and actress, died.
She possessed great beauty and talent, and an unsullied reputation; many
of her pieces are still stock plays.
1829. Capture of Jambouli and destruction of the Turkish camp by a
brigade of Hulans and Cossacks, after having defeated on the road a
body of 15,000 Turks.
1834. Robert Morrison, an eminent English orientalist, at Canton, died.
He was considered the best Chinese scholar in Europe. He translated the
whole of the New Testament into Chinese, which was printed in 1813;
but the great monument of his literary fame is his Dictionary of the
Chinese Language, 6 vols. quarto.
1834. The slaves in the British colonies emancipated, and a temporary
apprenticeship commenced.
1834. The bill admitting dissenters to the honors of the English
universities, which had passed the house of commons, rejected in the
house of lords by a majority of 102—a grand halt to the march of mind
in England.
1838. John Rogers died; a distinguished naval officer, and senior
commander in the American navy. He had been fifteen months a resident of
the naval asylum, and the greater part of the time in close confinement
as a confirmed lunatic.
1838. The entire emancipation of the negro apprentices in the islands of
Jamaica, Barbadoes, Chevis, Montserrat, St. Christophers, St. Vincent
and Tortola, took place, in compliance with the acts of the colonial
legislatures.
1848. The city of Vera Cruz delivered up to the Mexicans by the United
States; general Smith embarked for home.
1849. Henry A. Breckingham, known as the author of several historical
sketches and other interesting reminiscences of the early days of the
American colonies, died at Brooklyn, of cholera.
1849. Queen Victoria embarked at Cowes on her visit to Ireland.
1851. Harriet Lee, an English authoress, died, aged 95. Jointly with her
sister Sophia, they were the authors of various works, chiefly novels or
dramas. Harriet was almost the exclusive author of the Canterbury
Tales, 5 vols., perhaps the best known of their labors.
1853. The Austrian government, in a circular addressed to the European
courts, protested against the proceedings of Capt. Ingraham, in the port
of Smyrna, in rescuing Martin Koszta, claiming to be a citizen of the
United States.
1854. Kenneth Murchison formerly governor of Penang and Singapore, died
in London, aged 60.
1854. The yellow fever became epidemic at New Orleans. It disappeared in
November, when the number of deaths was 2441. There were 600 deaths in
Savannah from the same disease.
338 B. C. Battle of Cheronea, on the Cephisus, and defeat of the
Athenians and Thebans by Philip of Macedon.
338 B. C. The army of Archidamus, the Spartan, overthrown in Lucania,
and himself killed.
322 B. C. Joint victory of Antipater and Craterius, near the walls of
Cranon, in Thessaly.
10. Three Roman legions under Varus cut off in Germany. "Quintilius
Varus, give me my legions again," exclaimed the father of his country.
Varus, however, had shared the fate of his legions.
44. King Agrippa (the Great), smitten with disease in the public
theatre at Cæsarea, on the second day of the games exhibited in honor of
Claudius.
1100. William II (Rufus), king of England, killed by an arrow. He
possessed vigor, decision and policy, and acquired great wealth, by
which he was enabled to purchase two French provinces. He founded
Westminster hall.
1553. The peace of religion signed at Passau, on the Danube, between
the confederates under Maurice of Saxony and the emperor Charles V,
which established the protestant church in Germany.
1563. That great scourge, the plague, began in London.
1651. Cromwell, after a week's siege, erected the colors of the
commonwealth on the walls of Perth.
1675. Brookfield destroyed by the Indians. This town was situated in the
country of the Nipnets, whom Philip finally succeeded in engaging to
himself in his plan of a general extermination of the English colonies.
The inhabitants being alarmed had scarcely time to flee to the principal
house in the village, before the savages came pouring in, and fired
every other house. The whole number of people thus collected together
was about seventy. They withstood the assaults of the Indians two days,
who kept up the attack night and day, and endeavored to fire the house
by means of poles with firebrands and rags dipped in brimstone tied to
their ends. They also filled a cart with hemp and flax, and other
combustibles, and having set it on fire thrust it backward with poles
spliced together to a great length. A storm of rain defeated this last
scheme; and several companies of soldiers came to the relief of the
besieged so unexpectedly that the Indians, although they had surrounded
the town to cut off assistance, were disheartened and fled.
1676. King Philip, the Wampanoag, surprised in his quarters by a party
of the colonists under captain Church; 150 of his men were killed, his
wife and sons were taken prisoners, and he narrowly escaped with his
life.
1684. A treaty of peace concluded at Albany, between the colonists and
the Five Nations, who, since the peace of 1761, had extended their arms
southward, and conquered the country from the Mississippi to the borders
of the plantations; involving Virginia and Maryland in the calamities of
their Indian allies, whom they were unable to protect.
1689. Innocent XI died. He has been called the protestant pope.
1704. Battle of Blenheim, in Bavaria; the English and Austrians under
the duke of Marlborough and prince Eugene, obtained a famous victory
over the French and Bavarians, who lost 12,000 killed and drowned, and
13,000 prisoners, including marshal Tallard. (13th by some authorities.)
1713. Mensen Alting, a Dutch writer, died; author of an excellent
description of the Low Countries.
1732. Rip Van Dam, upon whom the government of the province of New York
devolved, finished his administration, on the arrival of William Cosby,
with a commission over New York and New Jersey.
1748. Attack on fort Massachusetts by 300 French and Indians. Captain
Williams sallied with 30 men and drove the enemy before him, when an
ambuscade arose and attempted to cut off his retreat to the fort. By a
quick movement he regained the place, and returned their fire with so
much spirit that the enemy withdrew, carrying off their dead and
wounded.
1763. Battle of Nuncas Nullus; the English defeated the troops of Mir
Cossim, 28,000, took all their artillery and 150 boats laden with grain
and stores.
1770. The Russians under Romanzow, defeated the Turks with great
slaughter on the Pruth.
1776. Matthew Maty, an English writer, died. He published at the Hague,
during six years, the Journal Britannique, containing an account of
the productions of the English press, in French.
1786. Margaret Nicholson, supposing herself to be queen of England, made
an attempt to assassinate George III. She was afterwards confined as a
lunatic.
1788. Thomas Gainsborough died; one of the most celebrated English
landscape painters of the last century.
1793. Marie Antoinette, queen of France and daughter of an emperor,
taken from the temple prison in the night, and removed to a cell in the
Conciergerie, 8 feet square, and partly under ground. As a matter of
favor she was permitted to take under her arm a small bundle of
clothing.
1798. John Palmer, a popular English actor, died on the stage during a
performance, immediately on uttering the words, "There is an other and a
better world."
1802. Bonaparte declared consul of France for life.
1803. John Hoole, an ingenious English poet, died. He translated some of
the best Italian poets, wrote three tragedies, and several other works.
1811. William Williams, one of the signers died, aged 81. He advanced
money and obtained supplies for the army, and also contributed by his
writings and speeches to arouse the spirit of freedom in his countrymen.
1813. Defence of fort Stephenson by 160 men with 1 six pounder, under
Col. Croghan, then aged 21. The British, consisting of 500 regulars
under Proctor, and about 800 Indians under Tecumseh, with 5 six pounders
and 1 howitzer, were defeated with considerable loss.
1814. The remarkable steeple of Kelwinning, in Scotland, fell. It was
built in 1140.
1815. Convention between the representatives of Great Britain, Prussia,
Austria and Russia, who declared Bonaparte to be the prisoner of the
allies, and entrusted his custody especially to Great Britain.
1830. Charles X, of France, subscribed his abdication in favor of his
grandson the young duke of Bordeaux.
1842. John Clifford, a lieutenant in the revolutionary army, died at
Bethlehem, Hunterdon co., N. J., aged 94.
1843. Francis W. P. Greenwood, pastor of King's chapel, Boston, died at
Dorchester, Mass., aged 50. He was also an accomplished scholar and
naturalist.
1843. James Richards, professor of theology in the Auburn theological
seminary, died, aged 75; an eminently useful man.
1849. Mehemet Ali, pacha of Egypt, died at Alexandria, aged 80. He was a
powerful sovereign, and gave the sultan much trouble. He did more than
any of his predecessors towards introducing improvements into his
territories.
1849. Garibaldi, the Roman chief, escaped on board some fishing vessels
at Cesenatico, on the Adriatic, accompanied by 300 followers. The
remainder of his band surrendered to the Austrians.
1849. Stephen Longfellow, a New England lawyer of note, died at
Portland, Me., aged 73. He was a member of the Hartford convention from
Massachusetts, and distinguished for great acuteness and penetration. He
compiled 16 volumes of the Massachusetts Reports, and 12 of the
Maine, extending over a period of thirty years.
1852. Thomas Thomson, a Scottish author, died, aged 60. He was
professor of chemistry in the university of Glasgow, and established a
highly scientific reputation. In 1812 he began the Annals of
Philosophy, in London, which he conducted ten years.
1852. A violent earthquake occurred at St. Jago de Cuba, causing a great
destruction of property.
479 B. C. The fatal battle of Platea, between Mardonius the Persian and
Pausanius the Spartan general. The other sanguinary victory over the
Persians, on the promontory of Mycale was achieved the same day, third
of Boedromion.
431 B. C. An eclipse of the sun noticed by Thucydides, eight days after
the first invasion of Attica under Archidamus, king of Sparta, at the
head of 60,000 Peloponesian confederates, and whilst Pericles was in the
act of embarking against Epidaurus, the sacred city.
678. A morning comet, shaped like a fiery pillar, seen in England. It
was visible during three months, and caused the conversion of the South
Saxons from paganism.
1274. Edward I landed in England from Palestine. He sailed from his
winter mansion, Trepano, Sicily, on the 20th April, 1271.
1414. James I of Scotland conveyed from the tower to Windsor; there this
bird of song was wired in for three years.
1460. James II (with the fiery face), king of Scotland, killed by the
bursting of a gun, aged 29, after a reign of 24 years.
1492. Columbus embarked in the carack Santa Maria, with two other
vessels and 120 persons, from the Isle of Saltes, against Palos, in
Andalusia, to find a western continent.
1546. Stephen Dolet, a learned Frenchman, a painter and a bookseller,
burnt at Lyons for atheism.
1554. The first letter in Europe known to have been sealed with sealing
wax bears this date, and was written at London, addressed to the
rheingrave Philip Francis von Daun, from his agent in England, Gerhard
Hermann. The wax employed in sealing this letter is of a dark red color,
very shining, and the impress bears the initials of the writer.
1554. Battle of Marciano; the troops of Cosmo de Medici, under Medicini,
defeated the French under Peter Strozzi, a Florentine nobleman, who was
wounded.
1592. The English earl of Cumberland captured a Spanish carack, Madre de
Dios (Mother of God), valued at $150,000.
1612. John Bond, a learned English commentator on the Latin classics,
died.
1645. Battle of Nordlingen; the allies under Merci, defeated by the
French under Turenne, Conde and Grammont. Merci was killed and Grammont
taken prisoner.
1672. John Francis Senaudt, a Dutch theological writer, died.
1692. Battle of Steenkerken; the English under William III defeated with
great slaughter by the French.
1712. Joshua Barnes died; an eminent English critic and professor of
Greek. He wrote the Life of Edward III, and several Latin and English
poems.
1715. A cobbler of Highgate, London, was whipped from Holloway to that
place for reflecting on the government.
1720. N. Heinsius, an eminent Dutch statesman, died. He was 30 years
grand pensionary of Holland, and exerted the energy of his mind and the
resources of his country to abridge the power of the French monarch.
1721. Grinlin Gibbon died, an eminent English sculptor and carver in
ivory and wood. The place or country of his birth is not known. He was
discovered by sir John Evelyn, who walking by accident near a poor
solitary thatched cottage, had the curiosity to look in at the window,
when he saw him carving a large cartoon or crucifix of Tintoret, a copy
of which Evelyn himself had brought from Venice. His performances in
marble and ivory were so very fine, that they often required to be
defended by a glass case. Many of his flower pieces are light almost as
fancy, and shake to the rattling of passing carriages. There is no
instance before him, says Walpole, of a man who gave to wood the loose
and airy lightness of flowers, and chained together the various
productions of the elements with the free disorder natural to each
species.
1732. The first stone laid of the bank of England.
1761. John Matthew Gesner, a German scholar and critic, died. He
published several valuable editions of the classics.
1763. Thomas Godfrey, an American poet, died, aged 27. He was a
watchmaker, and said to have been the real inventor of Hadley's
quadrant.
1768. Thomas Secker, archbishop of Canterbury, died; whose lectures and
sermons are masterly compositions.
1777. Fort Schuyler, at the head of the Mohawk river, invested by the
British, about 1,800, under St. Leger. The garrison consisted of 600
continentals under general Gansevoort, who maintained their position
till the British abandoned the siege and returned to Canada, leaving
their tents standing; their artillery, and ammunition and provisions
fell into the hands of the Americans.
1780. Stephen Bonnot de Condillac, a distinguished French philosopher,
died. His works are characterized by great clearness and sagacity, and
were published in 1798 in 35 volumes.
1783. A new eruption of the Skaptar Jokul, in Iceland, poured forth
fresh floods of lava, which taking different directions from the others,
filled the bed of a river, and formed a large lake. By this single
eruption, 9,000 persons lost their lives, being nearly one-fifth of the
whole population of the island. This volcano, which commenced on the
11th June, continued for two years, and the lava was not cooled in some
places, when visited eleven years after.
1787. John Baynes, an English politician, died, aged 29. He was
distinguished for his early attainments and devotion to the cause of
liberty.
1788. Louis Francois Armand du Plessis de Richelieu, marechal of France,
died, aged 93. He had the courage, the fortune and the talents of a
great general, the sagacity, prudence and penetration of a great
statesman; but with these and many amiable qualities he chose to be
nothing but a common courtier.
1792. Richard Arkwright died; inventor of the spinning jenny, one of the
most useful machines in the world. He was originally a barber, but his
invention enabled him at his death to leave a property worth £500,000.
1797. Jeffrey Amherst, a celebrated English admiral, died. He assisted
in the conquest of Canada.
1802. Henry, prince of Prussia, died. He distinguished himself at the
head of several Prussian armies, and in time of peace was engaged in
literary pursuits. On the death of his elder brother, he was excluded
from the throne by his nephew, and resided in France.
1804. The United States squadron under Com. Preble, attacked the
shipping and batteries of Tripoli. During the action the Constitution
was much injured; 13 were wounded and 1 killed; 3 of the enemy's boats
were captured and 3 sunk.
1805. Christopher Anstey, an ingenious English poet, died.
1806. Miranda, having received a reinforcement from the British, landed
in the gulf of Paria, for the purpose of effecting a revolution.
1806. Michael Adanson, an eminent French naturalist, died, leaving an
immense mass of manuscripts which he had collected with the view of
publishing an encyclopedia. He passed several years in Africa making
collections in natural history.
1812. Privateer schooner Atlas, of Philadelphia, captured in one hour
British ships Pursuit, 16 guns, and Planter, 12 guns. The latter was
recaptured.
1814. Fort Erie invested by the British, upwards of 5,000.
1814. 1,200 British crossed the Niagara, to attack Buffalo, but were
repulsed by 250 riflemen under Morgan, and compelled to recross.
1814. Great disturbances in Spain, many members of the cortes arrested
by order of the king.
1819. Barrow's straits rediscovered by Capt. Parry. He penetrated to
Melville island. The lowest state of the thermometer was 55° below zero,
Fahrenheit.
1823. Lazare Nicholas Marguerite Carnot, a distinguished French general,
died. He possessed an uncommon talent for the mathematical and military
sciences, and pursued a uniform and correct course in his politics,
which enabled him to ride out the storm of the revolution, and the
subsequent changes.
1848. Women's rights convention assembled at Rochester; demanded the
rights of suffrage, property, preaching, teaching, &c., &c.
1849. Aaron K. Wooley, a Kentucky judge, died at Lexington, aged 49. He
was a native of New Jersey, graduated at West Point, and studied law in
Mississippi. He was some time state senator of Fayette county, Ky., and
at the time of his death had been ten years professor of law in
Transylvania university.
1849. General Oudinot surrendered the civil administration of the Papal
states into the hands of the pope's three commissioners, who entered on
the work of reaction.
1850. Jacob Jones, an American commodore, died at Philadelphia, aged 82.
He stood nearly at the head of the list of post captains, two names only
taking precedence. Capt. Jones, we believe, was a native of Delaware. He
is one of the number who, in the war of 1812, contributed to establish
the naval renown of our country. He fought in the Wasp one of the
bloodiest naval battles in our history, and captured in 45 minutes the
British brig-of-war Frolic of superior force, and under circumstances
highly unfavorable to success. For this action the states of Delaware,
Massachusetts and New York, each voted him a sword in commemoration of
his gallantry, which was in no wise impaired by the subsequent capture
of both the Wasp and the Frolic, when in a crippled condition, by a
British 74. He was afterwards appointed to the Macedonian. Temperate
himself, he deserves honorable mention as a promoter of temperance
among his crew; many seamen were reclaimed by him.
1851. The steamer Pampero, with about 500 troops, composing the
expedition against Cuba under general Lopez, left New Orleans at
daybreak.
1854. Colonel Loring, a receiver of public moneys at Benicia, Cal., was
murdered at the St. Nicholas hotel, New York, by Dr. Graham, of New
Orleans.
1856. Edward Curtis, a prominent New York lawyer and politician, died.
He was a native of Vermont, was graduated at Union college, and began
his political career in 1834 in the New York common council. He was
collector of the port under president Harrison.
1857. Eugene Sue, a celebrated French novelist, died, aged 49. The
Mysteries of Paris and The Wandering Jew, are known in all Europe and
America.
57 B. C. The decree recalling Cicero from banishment, which passed the
full senate, consisting of 417 members, was ratified in the field of
Mars, by a vote of all the centuries; it was nearly the last genuine
public act of Roman liberty.
882. Louis III, of France, died. He shared the throne with his brother
Carloman, and ably defended himself against his enemies.
1060. Henry I, of France, died in consequence of taking an improper
medicine; highly respected as a good warrior and a benevolent man.
1265. Battle of Evesham; the earl of Leicester defeated and killed by
the forces under prince Edward, and the king released from confinement.
No quarter was given, and the aged king only received his life by an
unwonted energy of mind; exclaiming to his antagonist, "Hold, fellow, I
am Harry of Winchester."
1347. The conquest of Calais by the third Edward, after a siege of 11
months, when the six citizens, with halters round their necks,
surrendered the keys of their independence. The condemned lives of these
men, whose patriotism has scarcely ever been equaled, were spared
through the tears and intercessions of Philippa. The inhabitants were
removed and the city repeopled with English, in whose possession it
remained more than two centuries. The pay of the army was as follows:
the marines and archers on foot received 3d.; the black prince £1; and
the bishop of Durham, with the earls, 6s. 8d. per day.
1496. Bartholomew Columbus, the admiral's brother, laid the foundation
of St. Domingo.
1578. Battle of the three kings, in the west of Africa, which was
invaded by Sebastian of Portugal, in which the Moors were victorious,
but the three kings engaged in it lost their lives.
1583. Sir Humphrey Gilbert landed at St. Johns, Newfoundland, and took
possession of it in the name of the queen of England.
1598. William Cecil, lord Burley, died. He was an eminent English
statesman, memorable for his virtue and integrity, as well as his great
abilities.
1609. Hudson discovered cape Cod, and under the supposition that it was
an island, called it New Holland, in compliment to the country of his
employers. The Dutch afterwards called it Staaten hoek. The Indians here
were observed to have green tobacco, and pipes with clay bowls and
copper stems.
1612. Hugh Broughton, an eminent Hebrew scholar, died. So classical was
his Hebrew that a Jew predicted the turning of the whole Jewish race if
the New Testament would be printed in such pure Hebrew.
1633. George Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury, died, aged 71. He rose
from humble circumstances to great dignity.
1651. Stirling castle and town taken by Monk for Cromwell.
1666. A disastrous hurricane in the West Indies. Lord Francis Willoughby
perished with his fleet of 15 sail. The poor fellows who escaped the
wreck, were seized with exultation by the French.
1696. General Frontenac invaded the Onondaga country.
1713. William Cave, an eminent English scholar and divine, died. He
published a great number of useful works.
1723. William Fleetwood, an English bishop, died. "His character was
great in every respect."
1747. Michael Maittaire, a learned French critic and bibliographer,
died. He edited many of the classical authors, with useful indexes, and
wrote several important works.
1759. Crown point on lake Champlain, taken from the French by Gen.
Amherst.
1774. Christopher Coudrette, a French ecclesiastic, died. His chief work
was a history of the Jesuits; he was an opposer of that order, and of
the pope's bull, unigenitus.
1781. Isaac Hayne, a patriot of the revolution, hanged at Charleston by
order of the British lord Rawdon, an act, under the circumstances,
extremely unjust and merciless, and which his lordship attempted to
justify in a pamphlet.
1783. Captain John Darby, of the Astrea, arrived at Salem with the news
of the ratification of the treaty of peace between the United States and
Great Britain. He is said to have carried out the accounts of the first
conflict at Lexington.
1789. Privileged classes abolished in France.
1792. John Burgoyne, a British general, died. He surrendered his whole
army to general Gates at Saratoga, and returned to England. He was a
member of parliament, and a successful dramatic author. (June 4, P.
Cyc.)
1799. John Bacon, an English sculptor, died. He was apprenticed to a
porcelain manufacturer, in which condition he devoted his leisure to
statuary, and finally rose to great eminence in his profession.
1804. Adam Duncan, a gallant English admiral, died; celebrated for the
victory he gained over the Dutch fleet at Camperdown, for which he was
rewarded with a peerage.
1806. Miranda arrived at Coro an hour before day; the place was
abandoned, and through mistake his troops fired on each other.
1808. French assaulted Saragossa in Spain, and penetrated into a part of
the town.
1808. The commencement of Wellington's famous retreat into Portugal.
1814. United States troops under Col. Croghan attacked the British and
Indians at fort Mackinaw, but were repulsed with the loss of 50 killed.
1815. Bonaparte delivered a written protest for the prince regent of
England, against being sent to St. Helena.
1821. William Floyd, one of the signers of the declaration of
independence, died at Western, New York.
1835. The Spanish ministry having suppressed the Jesuits and confiscated
their property, a royal decree to this effect was signed. By this decree
900 convents were suppressed in Spain, and their property applied
towards the payment of the debts of the state.
1836. The famous bell of Moscow, the largest in the world, raised from
the ground, where it had laid a great many years. Its weight is about
440,000 pounds, is 21 feet in height and 23 in diameter.
1842. John Banin, a popular Irish novelist, died near Kilkenny, Ireland.
1846. Fisher Ames Harding, one of the editors of the Detroit Daily
Advertiser, died at Detroit.
1848. Daniel Wadsworth, a gentleman of highly cultivated taste and
benevolence, died at Hartford, Ct., aged 77.
1848. Capital punishment except in cases of martial law, abolished in
the Prussian assembly, also in the German parliament at Frankfort.
1851. At Leon, Nicaragua, Gen. Munoz, late minister of war, with a small
body of troops, took prisoners president Pineda and most of his cabinet,
sent them to a port in Tigre islands, and elected Justo Albuanez
president.
1852. Alfred D'Orsay, the mirror of fashion, letters and art, died in
Paris, aged 54.
1854. A severe battle was fought between the Chippewa and Sioux Indians.
1854. Bailey Washington, a surgeon in the navy, died at Washington, aged
67. He was a relative of general Washington, and entered the navy in
1810 as surgeon. He was with the Enterprise when she captured the Boxer,
and was fleet surgeon under Rogers, Elliot and Patterson, in the
Mediterranean.
1854. Jose Barundia, minister from Honduras, died at New York, aged 70.
He was elected to the presidency of the confederation of Central
America, when he adopted many of the laws of the United States, and
devoted his salary to the promotion of public schools. He was the prime
mover of the liberal party, and the first to raise the standard of
rebellion against the Spanish government.
1857. Joshua Forman, founder of the city of Syracuse in New York, died
in Rutherfordton, N. C., aged 71. He was one of the early promoters of
the Erie canal, and first judge of the county of Onondaga, from which he
removed about twenty years before his death.
57 B. C. Cicero landed from Durazzo at Brundusium, and was met there by
his excellent daughter Tullia, on the 20th anniversary of her birthday.
1100. Inauguration of Henry I, of England, who instantly granted a
charter to the nation, restoring the laws of Edward the Confessor to
the same state in which they had been settled by the Conqueror; and
drove from his court the effœminati with their enormous and
disgusting train.
1391. Charles VI, of France, surnamed the Well-beloved, seized by a
mental distemper, which, as it deprived him of the sovereign authority,
afterwards led, in bad hands to the ruin of his kingdom.
1407. Robert Knolles, so famed in the French wars of Edward III, died at
Scenethorp, Norfolk, but was buried at White Friars church, London,
which he had built.
1501. Reginald Bray, an English architect, died. He was also a
distinguished warrior and statesman, and in the latter capacity
acquired the title of "the father of his country."
1604. By royal proclamation this 5th day of August was appointed a
holiday in celebration of king James's delivery from the conspiracy of
the Gowries.
1633. George Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury, died. He assisted in the
translation of the Bible, being one of the eight divines to whom it
was committed.
1704. Sanguinary battle at Hochstädt, in which the French, &c., were
defeated by the confederates under Marlborough.
1717. Battle of Peterwaradein; the Turks defeated by the Austrians under
prince Eugene, with great loss. (1716?)
1754. James Gibbs, an ingenious English architect, died; leaving a
handsome property to public charities.
1759. Leipsic taken by the Austrians.
1778. The British burnt and destroyed their fleet off Rhode island on
the appearance of the French fleet under count d'Estaing.
1781. Action off the Dogger bank, between the British fleet, 6 ships, 4
frigates and a cutter, under admiral Parker, and the Dutch, 8 ships, 10
frigates and 5 sloops, under admiral Zoutman. Both fleets were greatly
damaged; the Dutch retired to the Texel; the British did not follow
them.
1792. Lafayette accused of treason before the national assembly. He had
previously been burnt in effigy in the Palais royal by the Jacobins.
1792. Frederic North, earl of Guildford, better known as Lord North,
died, aged 60. As adviser to George III in the American war, he became
and continued to his death unpopular.
1796. Battle of Castiglione, between the French under Bonaparte and the
imperialists under Wurmzer. The latter were defeated, with the loss of
500 killed, 2,000 captured, and 8 cannon.
1799. Richard Howe, a celebrated English admiral, died. He entered the
navy at the age of 14; rose through the usual gradations to the highest
rank, distinguished himself on many occasions, and died at the age of
75.
1812. Battle of Brownstown; the British regulars and Indians attacked
the United States troops, 150 men, under Van Horne.
1813. American privateer Decatur, 13 guns, captured British schooner
Dominica, 16 guns, by boarding.
1814. Division of the Scheldt fleet, in virtue of the treaty of Paris,
between France and the allies.
1815. Massacre of the protestants at Nismes, in France; these enormities
continued nine days.
1816. First state election held in Indiana.
1833. George Gibbs died near New York. He was a practical mineralogist,
and the collector of the extensive cabinet of minerals in Yale college.
1835. Thomas McCrie, a Scottish divine and ecclesiastical antiquary,
died. He was distinguished for his patient research, candor and ability
as a historian, and produced several works which have a high reputation.
1835. G. S. Newton, an eminent painter, died in England. He was a native
of Halifax, N. S., became distinguished in his profession, and produced
a number of works which are highly esteemed.
1839. The city of Cabul, Afghanistan, taken by the British, and the war
in that country brought to an end.
1840. The city and island of Chusan, belonging to China, captured after
a short resistance, by the British under brigadier general Burrell. The
Chinese lost 25 killed; the British none.
1846. John Ward (Father of the City) died at St. Johns, New Brunswick,
aged 92. He was born near New York, and adhering to the British
interest, entered the army in 1776, and was frequently in action. At the
peace of 1783, he embarked with his regiment, the Loyal Americans, to
New Brunswick, where the corps was disbanded. He then embarked in
commercial pursuits, and at the time of his death was the senior half
pay officer, as well as the oldest merchant in the province. He filled
several civil offices, and sustained an estimable character.
1849. The number of births in Connecticut for the year ending this day
was 7,373; marriages 2,757; deaths 5,016.
1577. Queen Elizabeth granted a license to John Day, and Richard Day,
his son, during their lives, and that of the longest liver, to print the
Psalms of David in metre.
1580. Andrea Palladio, a very distinguished Italian architect, died;
many specimens of his designs yet remain.
1585. Davis, the navigator, reached the strait which bears his name, and
cast anchor in Exeter bay, "beneath that brave mount, the cliffs whereof
were orient as gold."
1637. Benjamin Jonson, the English poet and dramatist, died, aged 63. He
was a bricklayer at the outset of life; but his inclinations turned to
the building of monuments more imperishable than those of brick and
stone. (16th, N. S.)
1638. Birthday of Nicholas Malebranche, a distinguished French
philosopher. His works were highly esteemed for their genius and style;
and for his manners, which were amiable and simple, he was greatly
venerated.
1660. Don Diego Velasquez de Silva died; a distinguished Spanish
painter.
1662. Metacom, sachem of Pokanoket, afterwards celebrated under the
English title of king Philip, made his appearance at the court of
Plymouth, and solicited the continuance of the amity and friendship
which had subsisted between the governor of Plymouth and his father and
brother; and promised for himself and his successors to remain subjects
of the king of England.
1674. Thomas Willett, the first mayor of New York, died. He is buried at
Seekonk, Mass.
1695. Francis de Harlay died; archbishop of Paris, the favorite of Louis
XIV.
1701. Ulric Obrecht, a learned German critic and Latin historian, died.
So extensive and various was his learning that he has been styled "the
epitome of human science."
1706. John Baptist du Hamel died; a celebrated French philosopher and
divine.
1725. Thomas Rawlinson (Tom Folio), an English antiquary, died. The
sale of his collection of books and manuscripts, which were put up at
auction after his death, occupied several weeks.
1745. David Wilkins died; an English librarian and antiquary, and a
learned author.
1756. Eugene Aram, a self-taught English scholar, executed near York,
for murder, and hung in chains on Knaresborough forest. He was a man of
consummate abilities and wonderful erudition, but appears to have been a
victim to covetousness.
1777. General Herkimer, marching with the forces of Tryon county to
relieve Gen. Gansevoort at fort Schuyler, was ambushed by a strong
detachment of British and Indians, and defeated with the loss of 400.
The Indians lost several of their great chiefs and 70 warriors.
1778. Sieur Gerard, ambassador from France, introduced to congress. He
was the first ambassador from any nation to the United States.
1780. Battle of Hanging-rock; 600 Americans under Sumpter attacked and
defeated the British, consisting of the prince of Wales' regiment and a
large body of tories. The regiment was almost entirely destroyed; from
278 it was reduced to 9 men.
1788. The last lit de justice in France, assembled at Versailles, by
Louis XVI, to enforce upon the parliament of Paris the adoption of the
obnoxious taxes proposed by Calonne.
1796. Battle of Roveredo; the French under Bonaparte defeated the
Austrians under Wurmzer, after an action of 16 hours, and entered Trent.
Austrian loss 6,000 men.
1796. James Pettit Andrews died; author of several English histories and
other works of merit.
1799. Marie Eliezer Block, an able German naturalist, died. He was of
obscure parentage, and self-taught. Besides other valuable works on
natural history and medicine, he published a History of Fishes, 6
vols. folio, colored plates.
1806. Francis II, emperor of Germany and king of Rome, resigned his
titles and annexed his possessions in Germany to the Austrian empire.
The millenium of the empire, founded by Charlemagne, fell upon the
holiday of Christmas, 1800.
1815. Commodore Decatur arrived with his fleet off Tripoli.
1817. Pierre Samuel Dupont de Nemours, a French statesman, died. He was
distinguished for his knowledge and talents, as well as his excellent
character and principles. On the return of Bonaparte from Elba he came
to America, where he died.
1818. David Ferguson, a Scottish soldier, died at Dunkirk, aged 124,
very much respected and beloved.
1824. Battle of Junin, in Peru; the royalists defeated by the united
Peruvian and Colombian forces, under Bolivar. The combatants fought hand
to hand, with lance and sabre, those engaged being cavalry only.
1840. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, son of the late king of Holland,
accompanied by about 60 men, made an attempt to effect an hostile
descent upon France. The party landed about two leagues from Boulogne,
directed their march to that city, and were soon taken prisoners. The
prince was soon after placed in the castle of Ham.
1843. The Thousand Years' Jubilee celebrated in Germany, in
commemoration of the settlement by which the empire was divided between
the three brothers, sons of Philip the Devout. The festival occurred
on Sunday, and was very generally and appropriately celebrated, more
particularly in the Prussian states.
1846. A revolution took place again in Mexico, in favor of the exiled
Santa Anna. The troops in Vera Cruz and its vicinity first declared in
his favor, and were soon followed by those at the capital, who deposed
and imprisoned general Paredes, the president of the republic, and
proclaimed Santa Anna, and the constitution of 1824.
1849. A treaty of peace was signed between Austria and Piedmont.
1851. An eruption having taken place in the volcanic mountains of
Martinique, columns of smoke were seen to issue from eight distinct
craters.
1855. A riot at Louisville, Ky., between the Americans and foreigners;
several were killed on both sides, and rows of houses belonging to the
foreign population were torn down and burnt.
480 B. C. The immortal battle in the pass of Thermopylæ is placed upon
this day; when Leonidas with 300 Spartans withstood the army of Xerxes.
There was a skirmish also with the Grecian fleet at Artemisium. Diodorus
fixes the victory of Gelon, under the walls of Himera, in Sicily, upon
the same day.
445 B. C. Dedication of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, on the 7th
of Elul, in the 21st year of Artaxerxes.
44. Herod Agrippa, king of Judea, died suddenly upon his throne. He was
a great builder, whose expenses exceeded his income, for his generosity
was boundless, saith Josephus. He persecuted the Christians, and was one
of those scourges of mankind who have been cut off with their vices.
461. Julius Valerius Majorian, emperor of Rome, assassinated. He was
successful in his war with the Vandals, and universally respected for
his virtues.
1106. Henry IV, emperor of Germany, died. He was a brave, but
unfortunate prince, who, having humbled his enemies in 66 battles, was
finally dethroned and reduced to indigence by his own sons.
1485. Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII, landed at
Milford haven from Normandy, for the invasion of England, with 2,000
men.
1588. The Spanish armada, becalmed before Dunkirk, completely
discomfited by the appearance of eight ships filled with pitch, sulphur
and other combustibles, and having been set on fire as the breeze sprung
up were directed by the English admiral against the different divisions
of the Spanish fleet. The darkness of the night lent terror to the awful
appearance of the approaching flames; and the crews, anxious only for
their own preservation, weighed anchor or cut their cables, and suffered
their ships to drive before the wind. In this confusion many of them ran
afoul of one another, and several of them received such damage as to be
unfit for future use.
1613. Dorchester, in England, destroyed by fire.
1667. John Wilson, first minister of Boston, died. He came over with
governor Winthrop, 1630, and was ordained under a tree in Charlestown.
1679. La Salle sailed from the foot of lake Erie in the first vessel
built upon that lake, with a crew of thirty men. His vessel was lost on
its return from Mackinaw with its crew of six men, and a cargo of
peltries, valued at fifty thousand francs.
1771. John Daniel Schoepflin, an eminent German philosopher,
historiographer and antiquary, died. His reputation was so great, that
his residence was solicited by the sovereigns of different countries.
1793. The first patient of yellow fever in Philadelphia, which raged
there with great fury this year, died on this day. The number that died
of the disease during its prevalence was about 3,500.
1804. Second attack on Tripoli by the United States squadron under Com.
Preble. One of the prizes previously taken was blown up by the passage
of a red hot ball through her magazine.
1806. Elizabeth Smith, an accomplished English lady, died. She
understood most of the learned languages, and had a knowledge of the
sciences.
1807. Ignatius Mouradgea d'Ohsson, an Armenian diplomatist, died. He was
in the service of the Swedish embassy at Constantinople, where he
conceived the plan of a work on the Ottoman empire. It was completed,
after a labor of 45 years, in 7 vols., and published at Paris.
1812. United States frigate Essex captured British king's brig George.
1819. Battle of Bojaca; the revolutionists of Venezuela and New Granada,
under Bolivar, totally defeated the Spaniards, whose destruction was so
complete that the viceroy fled, leaving the public treasure a prey to
the conquerors. This battle decided the independence of New Granada.
1820. Eliza Bacciocchi, sister of Bonaparte, died. She married a captain
in the army, who on the conquest of Italy was created prince of Lucca
and Piombino; but she was the actual sovereign, and when she reviewed
the troops, her husband discharged the office of aid-de-camp.
1821. Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, wife of George IV, of England, died,
aged 53. She was abandoned by her husband, then prince of Wales, soon
after their marriage, and the nation was repeatedly agitated by their
disputes, for more than 20 years.
1830. The throne of France declared vacant by the chamber of deputies;
after making various important modifications in the charter, they called
to the throne Louis Phillippe, and his male descendants for ever.
1848. The great comet, whose revolution occupies 292 years, passed its
perihelion in July, and was first seen on this day by a gentleman in
Altona.
1854. The Turks entered Bucharest, which the Russians had previously
evacuated.
1855. A severe and bloody riot occurred at St. Louis, Missouri, between
the Irish and Americans, which continued for 48 hours, and resulted in
the death of 10 persons, and the severe injury of 30 more.
1855. While two companies of militia were conducting to jail a prisoner
named Debar, for the murder of a negro, at Milwaukie, the mob seized him
and killed him without resistance.
1855. Richard Sheepshanks, a British astronomer, died, aged 61. He made
great efforts in determining the latitude and longitude of places in
England and Ireland, and contributed a series of papers to the Penny
Cyclopedia on the science of astronomy.
70. Capture of Jerusalem by Titus, the 8th day of the month Gorpieus,
(Elul) upon his daughter's birthday.
1419. Peter d'Ailly, a French ecclesiastic, died. He was of an obscure
family, and rose by his merit to the office of cardinal.
1503. Alexander VI (Roderick Borgia), pope, died. He was of infamous
notoriety before his elevation to the pontificate, and is supposed to
have been poisoned by a draught which he had prepared for some of his
guests.
1540. Nuptials of Henry VIII and Catharine Howard, his fifth spouse. By
"a notable appearance of honor, cleanness and maidenly behavior," she
won the heart of old Harry, whose marriage with Anne of Cleves was
annulled the 9th of July previous.
1588. Edwin Sandys, archbishop of York, died. He assisted in the
translation of what is called the Bishop's Bible, and was one of the
nine divines appointed by Elizabeth to dispute with nine catholics
before the parliament.
1588. The English fleet under lord Howard attacked the Spanish armada.
The engagement began at 4 o'clock in the morning and continued till 6 at
night, and resulted in a total defeat of the armada. The Spanish
admiral, apprehending the entire destruction of his fleet, resolved to
sail northwards and make the circuit of the British isles. When he had
rounded the Orkneys, the fleet was dispersed by a storm; horses, mules
and baggage were thrown overboard to lighten the ships, some of which
were wrecked, some sunk in the North sea, others wrecked on the coast of
Scotland, and more than thirty were driven by another storm upon the
coast of Ireland, where many of the crews were barbarously murdered. The
duke of Medina finally reached Santardu with sixty-five sail in a
shattered condition, out of 150 sail of noble vessels which entered the
British channel, many of them of the largest class.
1641. Though Sabbath, both houses of the English parliament sat to
prevent the king from going to Scotland.
1776. Force of the northern American army, under Washington, 10,514 fit
for duty, 3,668 sick, 2,946 on command, 97 on furlough—total, 17,225.
The small pox was committing great ravages at this time, 5,500 having
died of it since April; inoculation being prohibited in general orders.
1778. Fort Boonesborough invested by 450 Canadians and Indians. The fort
was garrisoned by 50 men, who defended it with great spirit against
every stratagem till the 20th, when the siege was abandoned, and its
capture never again attempted.
1780. The combined fleets of France and Spain captured five East
Indiamen and fifty merchant ships bound for the West Indies.
1792. John Leake, an English physician, died; founder of the Westminster
lying-in hospital, and an esteemed author.
1794. The entrenchments of Pellingen, a series of redoubts raised by the
Austrians in the most advantageous situations, in order to cover Treves,
were carried by the French.
1804. Robert Macfarlane, a Scottish miscellaneous writer, died. He
translated Ossian into Latin.
1805. Richard Worsley, governor of the isle of Wight, died. During a
tour in Europe he made a fine collection of statues and antiques, of
which he published a description.
1808. John Broome, lieutenant-governor of the state of New York, died,
and was buried in the presbyterian church yard in Wall street, in the
city of New York.
1811. British under admiral Stopford took Batavia and a great part of
the island of Java.
1812. The United States troops under general Hull evacuated Canada and
entered Detroit.
1814. First meeting of the British and American commissioners at Ghent,
to treat for peace.
1816. The meetings of freemasons and other secret societies prohibited
by the king of Naples under penalty of banishment, fine and
imprisonment.
1827. George Canning, an eminent English statesman, died. He was of
humble origin, but rose to the premiership by his great talents, and
sustained himself against a powerful opposition.
1828. Frederic Bouterwek, a German litterateur, died; author of
Geschichte der neueren Poesie und Beredsamkeit, containing separate
critical histories of the belles-lettres of Italy, Spain, Portugal,
France, England and Germany, from the revival of letters to the close of
the 18th century, 12 vols.
1836. Frederick Carl Ludwig Sickler died at Heldburghausen; an eminent
archæologist, and author of various learned works on archæology,
antiquities and philology.
1838. The Chilian squadron of 32 vessels landed 5000 men at Ancon, and
demanded two millions of dollars, which not being granted, they advanced
and took Callao and Lima, after an action in which 2000 were killed.
Gomarra was proclaimed president, and Orbegozo fled to the mountains.
(See July 26.)
1840. Charles Ottfried Muller, of Gottingen, died at Athens, from an
illness brought on by fatigue and exposure in copying inscriptions, and
making excavations at Delphi. The object of his investigation was
connected with a great work on which he was engaged, upon the general
history of Greece. He was buried on the summit of a little hill above
the academy. (July 31.)
1851. Samuel Emerson, an eminent physician, died at Kennebunk, Me., aged
87.
1853. A strike at Stockport, England, for an advance of ten per cent in
wages, ceased, 20,000 workmen resumed their labors, having accomplished
their object.
1856. Mrs. Matthews (madame Vestris), long a celebrated dancer and
pantomimist, died in England, aged 59. Her maiden name was Lucia
Elizabeth Bartolozzi; she married Armand Vestris in 1813, and it was
under this name that she was well known in Europe and America. She
married Matthews in 1838.
357 B. C. An eclipse of the moon which preceded the departure of Dion
from Zacynthus (Zante) upon his celebrated expedition against the tyrant
Dionysius the Younger. He entered Syracuse with his little band of 800
veterans in September, and in three days became master of the empire.
The deaths of Democritus and Hippocrates, each 104 years old, and of
Timotheus, the Milesian poet and musician, took place in that year.
378. The great and disastrous battle of Adrianople, second only to that
of Cannæ, in which the Roman legions under Valens, were for the first
time defeated by the Cythian Goths. The wounded emperor was removed to a
cottage, which was fired, and he perished in the flames.
1342. Sir Walter Manny raised the siege of Hennebon in Brittany, so
nervously and heroically defended by Jane, countess of Montford, against
the power of France.
1611. John Blagrave died; an early English mathematician of considerable
eminence and a laborious author on his favorite science.
1634. Noy, attorney-general to Charles I of England, died at London. He
is supposed to have devised the plan of levying ship money, which went
into operation the day after his death.
1641. David Baker, an English Benedictine monk and ecclesiastical
historian, died. He collected the records of the ancient congregation of
the black or Benedictine monks in England, 6 vols. folio, and his
religious treatises filled 9 folio vols. in manuscript.
1694. Anthony Arnauld, a French theological and philosophical writer,
died. He was one of the most learned men of his age, and did much for
the improvement of morality in the catholic church. His works were
printed in more than 100 volumes of various sizes.
1710. French and Spaniards defeated at Saragossa, with the loss of 5,000
killed, 7,000 prisoners, and all their artillery, and the allies entered
the city.
1718. Action off cape Passaro, between the British fleet, 20 sail,
admiral Byng, and the Spanish fleet, 27 sail of the line. The Spaniards
were defeated with the loss of 21 of their ships, either taken or
destroyed.
1719. Dominico de Angelis, an Italian scholar, died. He made the tour of
France and Spain, and was everywhere received with honor by the learned.
1720. Samuel Ockley, an English divine, died; a very learned man, and
well skilled in oriental literature.
1744. John Bridges, duke of Chandos, died. Few particulars are known of
this peer, except of his munificence. The earlier part of his manhood
was spent in reflection and observation; his middle age in business,
honorable and useful; and his advanced years in deeds of benevolence. He
erected the princely seat of Canons, near London, where he lived in a
splendor to which no other subject had ever aspired. His liberality was
equaled only by his generous forgiveness of injuries. Pope made him the
subject of his satire, which Hogarth punished by representing the poet
on a scaffold whitewashing Burlington house, and bespattering the duke
of Chandos's carriage as it passed. Yet Pope's verse respecting the
short-lived magnificence of Canons was prophetic:
Another age shall see the golden ear
Embrown the slope, and nod on the parterre:
Deep harvests bury all his pride has planned,
And laughing Ceres reassume the land.
Three years after his death the stately mansion was sold by auction,
piecemeal, such was the rage to buy something at Canons. Its site was
soon an arable.
1746. Battle of Rotto Fredo, between the allies and the Austrians; the
former defeated with the loss of 8,000; Austrian loss about half that
number.
1748. Alexander Blackwell, a Scottish physician, beheaded in Sweden, on
suspicion of treason. His wife, to support him in prison, published a
Herbal in two vols. folio, containing 500 plates, drawn, engraved and
colored by herself.
1757. Fort William Henry with a garrison of about 2600 men under Col.
Monroe, capitulated to Montcalm, who had invested the fort with an army
of 11,500. The garrison was to be allowed the honors of war, and
protected from the Indians; but with the characteristic perfidy of the
French in all these colonial wars, the Indians were allowed to pillage
and massacre the defenceless soldiers, so that their baggage was lost
and 1500 slain or made prisoners.
1759. Birthday of Jean Baptist Annibal Aubert Dubayet, in Louisiana. He
served in the American army during the war of independence, and went to
France on the breaking out of the revolution there. He was appointed
minister of war, and the next year ambassador to Constantinople, where
he died.
1775. Captain Linzee, of the British sloop of war Falcon, attempted to
take an American schooner in Gloucester harbor, cape Ann, in two barges,
a whale boat, schooner and cutter, all of which were captured by the
Americans; in consequence of which he bombarded the town. American loss
1 killed, 2 wounded.
1778. General Greene's army crossed over from Tiverton to the north end
of Rhode Island.
1778. Lord Howe's fleet arrived off Newport, in quest of count
d'Estaing, who put to sea the next morning.
1782. De la Perouse, with a considerable French military and naval
force, took fort Prince of Wales, at Hudson's bay, and soon after forts
York and Severn; the settlements and forts were destroyed.
1787. The ship Columbia, captain Gray, and sloop Washington sailed from
Boston for the north west coast of America and China. They returned in
1790, being the first American vessels that circumnavigated the globe.
1793. Alexis Brulard de Genlis, marquis de Sillery, a French general,
guillotined at Paris. He was a deputy to the states-general, and an
avowed enemy to the king, on whose trial he voted for detaining the
royal family until the peace, and for their perpetual banishment after
that event.
1796. Elba surrendered to the British under commodore Nelson.
1804. Robert Potter, an English prelate, died; known by his elegant
translations of Æschylus, Euripides and Sophocles, the three great
dramatists of ancient Greece.
1805. Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike commenced his voyage to the sources of
the Missouri river, with a party of 22; they were taken by the
Spaniards, and returned the next year.
1808. Romana, with 10,000 Spanish troops, deserted the French army under
Bernadotte, and were conveyed to Spain in British transports.
1809. The president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, received
official information of the non-ratification of the British treaty, and
suspended all intercourse with that country.
1811. Battle of Baza; the Spaniards under Blake defeated by the French
under Soult; of 20,000 Spaniards not more than 7,000 rallied again.
1812. Battle of Magauga; the British and Indians under major Muir and
Tecumseh, defeated by the United States troops under general Miller, and
driven into Brownstown, whence they escaped to Malden in boats. American
loss 10 killed, 8 wounded.
1814. Bombardment of Stonington, by the British, commenced. It continued
three days. British loss 21 killed, 50 wounded; American loss 6 wounded.
1815. Commodore Decatur settled the differences between the United
States and the dey of Tripoli. The dey made restitution of property and
prisoners.
1815. The British ship Northumberland, 74 guns, admiral Cockburn, sailed
from Torbay with the exiled Napoleon for St. Helena.
1818. Captain Ross discovered the Esquimaux tribe of Indians, situated
at the north east corner of Baffin's bay, extending on the sea shore 120
miles, and not exceeding 20 miles in breadth, and bounded on the south
by an immense barrier of mountains, covered with ice. They seemed
utterly ignorant of other nations to the south, whence they are supposed
to be the original race. They are destitute of boats, and furnish an
unique instance of a fishing tribe unacquainted with the art of floating
on the water.
1824. Joseph Nightingale, an English dissenting minister, died. He
possessed great literary talent, and published many excellent works.
1839. Pera, a suburb of Constantinople, nearly destroyed by fire; 3700
houses burnt.
1841. The steam boat Erie, on her passage from Buffalo to Chicago, took
fire and was totally destroyed. Of 200 persons on board, principally
Swiss and German emigrants, only 28 were saved. The boat was valued at
$75,000; merchandise $20,000; specie $180,000.
1842. Treaty establishing the boundary line between the United States
and Canada across the state of Maine; the British acquiring thereby a
good portion of the latter state that of right belonged to the United
States.
1844. Imprisonment for debt abolished in England; the act taking effect
on this day.
1853. Samuel Jones, a New York jurist, died, aged 80.
1855. Santa Anna left the city of Mexico with 2600 men, under pretence
of putting down the revolution at Vera Cruz; but signed an abdication at
Perote, and sailed to Havana. On his departure a mob destroyed a large
number of houses.
353. Magnentius, emperor of Rome, killed. He was a German, and rose from
a private soldier to the throne.
1506. The island of Madagascar discovered by the Portuguese.
1519. Ferdinand Magellan sailed from Seville with 5 ships and 234 men,
on his voyage of discovery, which was continued round the world.
1543. The Turks under Barbarossa and the French under count d'Enguein
assaulted Nice, but were repulsed by Montford, a Savoyard gentleman, and
obliged finally to raise the siege.
1557. Battle of St. Quintin; the French under Montmorency defeated by
the allies under Phillibert of Savoy and the earl of Pembroke. The duke
d'Enguein, 600 gentlemen and 4,000 French were killed; several dukes and
many other officers of distinction, 300 gentlemen and 4,000 men were
taken prisoners, and all their standards, cannon and ammunition fell
into the hands of the victors.
1607. James Menochius died; an Italian author of great repute in his
day.
1630. Staten Island was purchased of the Indians by Michael Pauw, a
Dutch subject. It was the favorite spot of the primitive settlers. The
Indians sold it twice afterwards.
1633. Anthony Munday, an English dramatic author, died.
1637. Edward King, a young English poet, drowned. His death gave rise to
the beautiful poem of Lycidias, by Milton, his friend.
1653. Martin Harpertzoon van Tromp, a Dutch admiral, killed in an
engagement with the English fleet off the Texel. He entered the navy at
the age of 8, and rose from the lowest station to the chief command.
This brave man refused all titles except that of father of the sailors.
(July 31, O. S.)
1665. The French West India company, purchased of the order of Malta,
the islands of St. Christopher, St. Cruz and St. Bartholomew, for
500,000 livres turnois.
1669. Henrietta Maria, queen dowager to Charles I, died at St. Colombe,
near Paris, in France.
1672. John De Witt, the famous pensionary of Holland, killed by a mob.
"He was the zealous patron of the glory and liberty of his native
country; the greatest genius of his time; the ablest politician in war
as well as peace; the Atlas of the commonwealth."
1674. Hugh Paulin Cressy, an English divine, died. He became a catholic,
was much respected, and published some valuable works, particularly an
able ecclesiastical history.
1675. Corner stone for the foundation of the royal observatory was laid
at Greenwich, England. The edifice was erected by Charles II, under the
superintendence of sir Christopher Wren, and Flamsteed appointed
astronomer-royal.
1675. Peter Bales, an early and eminent English writing master, finished
a performance which contained the Lord's prayer, the creed, the
decalogue, two short prayers in Latin, his own name, motto, the date,
and the year of the reign of Elizabeth, within the circle of a penny,
and so accurately wrought as to be plainly legible. It was enchased in a
ring of gold, and presented to the queen.
1686. John Baptist Cotelerius, a learned Frenchman, died. He published
the works of all the fathers in the apostolic age, with learned notes.
1702. Lord Cutts carried, sword in hand, fort St. Michael, at Venlo,
before any breach had been made. This was considered one of the
greatest exploits during the wars of queen Anne.
1709. Lewis Anthony Prosper Herissant died; an eminent French poet and
physician.
1723. William Dubois, cardinal and prime minister of France, died. He
rose from an apothecary's shop to rank, power, and immense wealth.
1749. Thomas Topham, an Englishman of remarkable strength, died. One of
his feats was that of throwing his horse over the turnpike gate. He
possessed the strength of six ordinary men.
1757. Benjamin Hoadley, an English physician, died; distinguished by
several able professional works, and a popular comedy, the Suspicious
Husband.
1759. Ferdinand VI (the Wise), of Spain, died.
1760. Oswegatchie taken by the British.
1779. A destructive eruption of mount Vesuvius commenced and lasted
several days. The country for several miles round was covered with lava.
1783. East India company's ship Antelope, wrecked on the coast of
Oorolong, and the crew protected and aided by the king of the Pelew
islands.
1790. Captain John Gore, who circumnavigated the earth three times, on
the third conducting home the ships after the death of Cooke and Clark,
died, a captain in Greenwich hospital.
1791. William Cunningham, captain of the British provost in Boston and
New York during the revolutionary war, executed in England for forgery.
He confessed to have starved more than 2,000 American prisoners in New
York, by stopping their rations, which he sold; and to have hanged
upwards of 270 in a private manner.
1792. The alarm bells rung in every part of the city of Paris, and the
drums beat to arms, when an immense multitude attacked the palace of the
Tuilleries. The Swiss guard at first repelled the populace; but the
assailants redoubling their efforts, the palace was carried by storm,
the apartments, the passages and courts soon streamed with blood. The
king, the queen, and the royal family, fled for refuge to the national
assembly. Of the besiegers 3,740 were killed, and 852 of those in the
palace. The Swiss guards, who heroically defended the king, were
inhumanly butchered by the Marsellois.
1792. Louis Bougainville, the French navigator, massacred at Paris. His
discoveries were of importance to the French, but neither his services
nor his virtues could shield him against the fury of the mob.
1793. Destruction of the tombs of the kings of France, at St. Denis, by
order of the national convention. The body of marshal Turenne,
deposited there 1675, was found apparently as fresh as ever.
1794. Calvi, in Corsica, surrendered to the British, lord Hood, with the
whole of his army, after a siege of 51 days.
1796. Battle of Bassano, in Italy; Bonaparte defeated the Austrians
under Wurmzer, took 5,000 prisoners, 25 cannon, &c.
1802. The sea at Teignmouth and coast of Devonshire, England, rose and
fell several times two feet in ten minutes.
1812. The Russians under Witgenstein attacked the French under Oudinot
near Klaistitzy. The action continued into the following day, when the
French were defeated with the loss of 5,000 killed, 3,000 prisoners, 2
cannon, and all their ammunition wagons.
1813. Partial action in the night, on lake Ontario, between the United
States commodore Chauncy, and British commodore Yeo. The latter
succeeded in capturing schooners Julia, 3 guns, and Growler, 5 guns.
1814. William Cowdroy, proprietor, editor and printer of the Manchester
Gazette, died. Some of his best editorials were set in type without
writing.
1821. Missouri became one of the members of the United States
confederacy.
1821. The remains of the ill-fated Maj. Andre disinterred and taken to
England.
1838. A papal decree issued at Rome by the congregation of the supreme
inquisition, forbidding the introduction of infant schools into the
pontifical states.
1843. Robert Adrian, a skillful mathematician, and for some time
professor in Columbia college, N. Y., died in his 68th year.
1851. M. Daguerre, the inventor of the daguerreotype, died near Paris,
aged 63. His peculiar process was published by him in the autumn of
1839, and the French government awarded him a pension of 6,000 francs
for his discovery.
1854. Frederick Augustus, king of Saxony, died at Munich, aged 57. His
carriage was overturned as he rode into the city, and he was killed by a
kick from one of the horses.
1854. A fire destroyed 180 houses at Varna, in Turkey, and destroyed
vast quantities of stores belonging to the allies.
1854. A violent tornado swept along the track of the Cleveland and
Pittsburg rail road, between Bedford and Macedonia, covering the track
with large uprooted trees, and causing great obstruction to the trains
upon the road.
1855. Delegates met at the city of Mexico, and chose general Carrera
president for six months, and ordained the freedom of the press.
1856. Last island, a summer resort in the gulph of Mexico, was destroyed
by a terrible storm of three days' duration. The island was entirely
submerged, the houses swallowed up, and 173 persons lost.
1856. James Murdock, an eminent American linguist and theologian, died,
aged 80. He studied under president Dwight in 1802, and after preaching
sometime became a teacher, and finally an author and translator.
50. The first of the month Thoth, in the movable Egyptian year,
corresponded, as Pliny intimates, with this Julian day (798 of the era
of Narbonasser); and with the 30th July, A. D. 97 (845 era Narb.), in
the Greek month Metagitnion, as we collect from Plutarch.
1332. Battle of Gladsmuir, near St. Johnstown, in which David of
Scotland was defeated by Baliol.
1454. Nicholas de Cusa, an Italian cardinal, died. He rose from extreme
indigence and obscurity by his own merit, to great dignity and fame. His
talents and learning were extraordinary; for besides his profound
knowledge of law and divinity, he was distinguished as a natural
philosopher and geometrician.
1576. Martin Frobisher entered the strait bearing his name.
1607. A party of English under George Popham landed at the mouth of the
Sagadahock or Kennebec river. It consisted of 100 men, with ordinance
and all provisions necessary until they might receive farther supplies.
Only 45 remained, who built a store house on Parker's island, and
fortified it.
1642. Johannes Megapolensis, the first minister at Albany, arrived from
Holland to take charge of his church.
1654. Virgilio Malvezzi, an Italian author, died. He quitted the law to
enter the Spanish service, at arms, and wrote in both languages.
1673. Sanguinary engagement off the Texel between the combined English
and French fleets under Rupert and d'Estrees, and the Dutch under De
Ruyter and Cornelius Tromp. Both sides claimed the victory. Admiral
Sprague was drowned, his boat being sunk by a cannon shot.
1693. The Indians of New Hampshire sued for peace, after a long and
bloody warfare with the English colonists, incited by the French.
1718. Action off the coast of Sicily, between the British fleet, admiral
Byng, and the Spanish fleet, under Castanats; the latter lost 21 ships,
captured and sunk.
1744. Sarah, duchess of Marlborough, bequeathed to William Pitt £10,000,
"upon account of his merit in the noble defence he had made for the
support of the laws of England, and to prevent the ruin of his country."
1766. Ann Sowerby was burnt at York, England, for poisoning her husband;
one of the last relics of this mode of capital punishment.
1768. Peter Collinson died; an eminent English botanist and natural
historian.
1772. A charged cloud at Java destroyed 2,000 persons.
1778. Augustus Montague Toplady died; an eminent English Calvinistic
divine and theological writer.
1781. The British took into New York the American frigate Trumbull.
Congress had then but two frigates left.
1782. British evacuated Savannah.
1787. First bishop appointed for Nova Scotia. First bishops in England,
694; Denmark, 939; form of consecrating bishops in England ordained,
1549; the office abolished by parliament, 1646; restored, 1660; first
episcopal bishop in America, 1784; first catholic, 1789.
1794. Battle of Wilna; the Poles defeated by the Russians, and the town
taken by assault.
1809. Battle near Almonacid; the Spaniards defeated by the French under
Joseph Bonaparte, and compelled to retreat, after nine hours' hard
fighting.
1810. Severe earthquake at St. Michaels, one of the Azores, which
continued two days; 22 houses swallowed up.
1813. Henry James Pye, an English poet, died. Having ruined his fortune,
he was gratified with the office of poet laureate, and left many poems,
original and translated.
1818. Nikolai I. Novikov, sometimes called the Franklin of Russia, died,
aged 74. Certain it is that by his activity and taste he contributed not
a little to the improvement of Russian literature.
1822. Samuel Auchmuty, commander-in-chief of the British forces in
Ireland, died. He was a native of New York, who took the side of the
British in the revolutionary contest, and held various honorable and
lucrative stations under the British government.
1831. Barbadoes destroyed by a hurricane. It commenced at 3 P. M., and
continued two hours; 5,000 persons perished; the houses were mostly
destroyed, and the face of the country changed to a desert; neither
trees nor vegetables were left standing.
1834. The Ursuline convent at Charlestown, Mass., destroyed by a
protestant mob. The house was occupied by females, who were driven to
seek shelter where they could find it, in the midst of night, while
their valuables to a large amount were plundered.
1849. General Görgey, to whom the Hungarian diet had confided its
powers, surrendered his army to the Russian general, Rudiger, at
Vilagos, and the conquest of Hungary was consumated.
1849. A proclamation was issued by the president of the United States,
warning all citizens against connecting themselves with an armed
expedition believed to be fitting out with the intention to invade the
island of Cuba, or some of the provinces of Mexico.
1853. John Downes, an American commodore, died at Charlestown, Mass.,
aged 69. He entered the navy in 1802, was in active service during the
war of 1812, and commanded the Potomac, which bombarded the piratical
town of Quallah Battoo, in reprisal for injuries done American sailors
by the Malay pirates.
1853. Great heat from this day to the 14th throughout the United States,
and Canada; the thermometer everywhere ranging at about 100° Fahrenheit;
200 deaths in New York on the last of these days, and the total deaths
of the four days from that cause exceeded 400.
1855. Samuel J. Peters died at New Orleans, aged 54. He held various
offices, and the city owed much of its prosperity to his energy and
enterprise.
403 B. C. Act of amnesty, which restored the Athenian democracy, between
Thrasybulus and the decemvirate, in the archonship of Euclides, 12th of
Boedromion—the year when Thucydides returned from exile.
243 B. C. Liberation of Corinth, by Aratus, in his 2d prætorship.
1099. Battle of Ascalon; the Saracens under the sultan of Egypt defeated
by Godfrey de Bouillon, and totally overthrown.
1204. Boniface, marquis of Montferrat, disposed of the isle of Candia,
with the ruins of a hundred cities, to the Venitians, for 10,000 marks.
1241. Gregory IX, pope, died. He incited the European powers to
undertake a crusade, which was joined by Frederick of Germany, who had
been twice excommunicated.
1332. Battle of Duplin moor; Edward Baliol defeated the Scots with
terrible slaughter. Donald, earl of Mar, the new regent, fell with the
host.
1417. Henry V, by a letter to his chancellor, dated Tonques, in
Normandy, gave directions for the sealing annuities of £6 13s. 4d. each,
to seventeen masters of the "grete shippes, carracks, barges and
balyngers," belonging to the royal navy.
1560. Thomas Phaer, an English physician, died. He published various
medical works, chiefly compiled from the French, and translated a part
of the Æneid.
1577. Thomas Smith died; a learned English statesman, historian, and
critic, and secretary of state under Edward VI, and Elizabeth.
1606. Henry Challons sailed in a ship of 50 tons to make farther
discoveries on the coast of North Virginia, and if it should appear
expedient to leave as many men as he could spare in the country. He was
fitted out by lord chief-justice Popham, sir Ferdinando Gorges and
others of the Plymouth company.
1652. Cardinal Mazarine exiled the second time from France.
1652. An act of the protectorate for the settlement of Ireland.
1662. Charles Seymour, "the proud duke of Somerset," died. He was in
office under several successive sovereigns.
1676. King Philip (or Metacom), killed at Mount Hope, in Rhode Island,
whither he had been driven by the English, as a last refuge. One of his
confederates proposing peace, so irritated Philip that he killed him. A
brother of the murdered Indian repaired to the English camp, and offered
to lead them to Philip's retreat. Captain Church set out with a small
body of men, accompanied by a few friendly Indians, and attacked the
chief in his den. He formed his men in extended order, placing an
Englishman and an indian together, with orders to fire on any who should
attempt to escape. At the dawn of day the sentinels alarmed the camp,
when Philip seized his arms and attempted to escape; as he approached
two of Church's guards, the Englishman leveled his gun, which missed
fire; the Indian sent two balls through his body, one of which piercing
his heart, laid him dead upon the spot. When the battle was over, the
English repaired to the place where he lay. He had fallen on his face in
a muddy spot of the ground, from which he was drawn; the head was taken
off and the body left to be devoured by wild beasts. Thus fell a
powerful chief, and a ferocious savage. It was then hailed with joy as
the extinction of a virulent and implacable enemy; but is now often
viewed as the fall of a great statesman and a mighty prince, who died in
defence of his just rights. This was a war of extermination; it was a
general rising of the Indians, under a powerful and sagacious warrior,
against the English, not a vestige of whom would have been left had they
been victorious. As it was, several of the tribes were annihilated; a
miserable remnant of the others incorporated themselves with distant and
strange nations. In this short but tremendous war, about 600 of the
white inhabitants, composing its principal strength, were either killed
in battle or murdered; 12 towns entirely destroyed, and 600 dwellings
burnt. The English triumphed, indeed, but the ravages of the enemy left
them in a deplorable condition.
1689. Innocent XI (Benedict Odescalchi), pope, died. He effected
several important and useful measures and reformations during his reign.
1712. The first stamp on English newspapers used this day.
1715. Nahum Tate, an English dramatic writer and poet, died. He
succeeded Shadwell as poet laureate, and assisted in a version of the
Psalms.
1724. Battle of Norridgewock, in New Hampshire, and death of Ralle. He
was a Jesuit, and a principal agent in instigating the Indians against
the English colonies; had resided at this place twenty-six years, and
become thoroughly acquainted with the country. An expedition was fitted
out to destroy his den. The place was attacked by 240 men, and carried.
Ralle was found in his cabin firing upon the English; orders had been
given to take him alive, if possible; but refusing to ask quarter he was
shot down. Eighty were killed, among which were some of the most noted
warriors of the tribe, and the remnant scattered. Ralle was a man of
extensive learning, and of great service to the French; he wrote a
dictionary of the Norridgewock language, which was taken, and is
deposited in Harvard library. He was sent out as a missionary, had
acquired the languages of nearly all the tribes in America, and spent
thirty-seven years among them.
1728. William Sherard (Sherwood), an eminent English botanist and
antiquarian, died. He spent the greater part of his life, abroad, in the
pursuit of his favorite studies, and founded a professorship of botany
at Oxford.
1759. Battle of Kunersdorf; the Prussians under Frederick II defeated
with great loss by the Russians and Austrians. The allies by their own
confession lost 24,000 men, says Gillies (Smollet says 10,000); the
Prussians fought desperately and left 20,000 dead on the field, among
whom were several generals. The king had two horses killed under him,
and his clothes perforated by several balls. He lost his whole train of
artillery.
1759. Ewald Christian de Kleist, a Prussian general and poet, killed at
the battle of Kunersdorf.
1765. The great mogul constituted the East India company receivers of
all the revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa.
1778. The French fleet under count d'Estaing dispersed in a gale off
Rhode Island, and much damaged.
1778. Robert Goadby died; an English printer and bookseller, and author
of several useful publications.
1801. Thomas Hastings, author of the Wars of Westminster, and other
political papers, died. He was an itinerant bookseller.
1803. Agra taken by the British under the duke of Wellington. Among the
trophies was an immense gun, 25 feet long, said to have carried shot
into the camp of the British, though out of the range of all ordinary
weapons, also a howitzer 14 feet long and 22 inches calibre, throwing a
shot of 1,494 lbs.
1805. Capt. Lewis arrived at the head of the Missouri river, and having
crossed the mountain this day struck the waters of the Columbia, in the
Shoshone country, which he named Lewis's river.
1806. Spaniards recaptured Buenos Ayres, and made the British troops
there prisoners.
1811. Miranda reduced New Valentia, in South America.
1812. Lord Wellington entered Madrid, Joseph Bonaparte having evacuated
it the day before.
1812. Sanguinary battle on the heights, near Kobrine, between the allied
French, Austrian and Saxon army, under Schwartzenberg, and the Russians
under Tormozoff. The latter retired with the loss of 4,000; loss of the
allies 5,000. Many officers of rank were wounded on both sides.
1813. Samuel Osgood, an officer of the revolution, and for a time
postmaster-general, died, aged 65. He published several works of a
religious character.
1814. Lodowick Morgan, major 1st U. S. rifle regiment, killed, with 10
of his men, in an attack on the British near fort Erie.
1822. Robert Stuart, lord Castlereagh, premier of England, committed
suicide by opening the jugular vein with a penknife.
1828. William Blake, an English painter, died. He is described as a
gentle visionary in shapes and fancies, and airy somethings upon paper.
1830. First American rail road, Mohawk and Hudson, between Albany and
Schenectady, completed.
1849. Albert Gallatin, a statesman and scholar, died at Astoria, N. Y.,
aged 88. He was a native of Switzerland, and emigrated to America in
1780. He settled in Pennsylvania, and became soon a prominent member of
the legislature, and then of congress. He was secretary of state under
Jefferson, and spent many years abroad as American minister.
1851. The steamer Prometheus arrived in New York from San Juan, the
Atlantic terminus of the Nicaragua route, now for the first time opened.
1854. Lord Jocelyn died in London, aged 38; military secretary of the
Chinese expedition, and author of Six Months in China.
582. Tiberius II, emperor of Constantinople, died. His character was
conspicuous for humanity, justice, temperance and fortitude.
587. Radegonde, the queen of Clotaire of France, died. At the age of 18
she renounced paganism, and was celebrated for her personal charms, and
devotedness to religious duties.
875. Louis II, king of France and emperor of Germany, died. He was a
brave and virtuous monarch.
1415. Henry V of England sailed for the conquest of France with a fleet
of about 1,300 vessels, and landed his force at Harfleur on the second
day following, consisting of 24,000 foot and 6,500 cavalry.
1482. Sixtus IV (Francis Albecola), pope, died. He was the son of a
fisherman at Geneva, became professor of divinity at Padua, and rose by
degrees to the papal chair.
1521. Cortez retook the city of Mexico, assisted by 10,000 Tlascalans,
and an innumerable host of other Indian allies from the neighboring
nations, whom he had attached to his service. It was not, however, till
after seventy-five days of fierce and almost daily fighting, that he
accomplished his victory. On no occasion did native Americans so bravely
oppose European troops; but the superior discipline of the Spaniards
carried the day: and thus a daring adventurer, regarded and treated by
his countrymen as a rebel, after a bloody struggle, gained possession of
a country which for more than three centuries formed one of the
brightest gems in the Castilian crown. It is computed that during this
siege 100,000 Mexicans were slain and 50,000 died of sickness and
famine. The inhabitants being ordered to leave the city without arms or
baggage, the three roads leading from it were full of men, women and
children, in the most wretched condition, for three days and nights,
seeking an asylum in the open country. The city contained at this time
50,000 houses. Sixty dangerous battles were fought in which 100
Spaniards were killed, or taken and sacrificed, and some thousands of
the allies slain.
1535. Hippolyto de Medicis, an Italian cardinal, died. He possessed
great talents as a negotiator and military man.
1553. The chaplain of bishop Bonner preached a sermon at St. Paul's
abusing the administration of the late Edward, whereupon the people very
much abused him; but he was rescued by two protestant ministers.
1587. Manteo, a friendly Indian, who had been to England, was baptized,
according to a previous order of sir Walter Raleigh, and in reward of
his faithful service to the English, was called lord of Roanoke and
Desamonguepeuk.
1636. De Vries, who had been two years on the coast of America, with a
view to settling a colony, entered on his diary this day, that he
requested Wouter Van Twiller to put Staten island down to his name,
intending to form a colony there, which was done, and two days after he
sailed on his return to Holland.
1660. A proclamation was issued by Charles II against dueling.
1667. Jeremy Taylor died; an eminent English theological writer and
controversialist.
1704. Battle off Malaga, between the British fleet of 33 ships of the
line and several frigates, admiral Rooke and Cloudesley Shovel, and the
French fleet of 54 ships and 24 galleys. The action continued all day,
and at night the French bore off. No vessels were taken by either.
1743. Francis Peck died; an eminent English antiquary, biographer and
critic.
1762. Cuba surrendered to the British. The booty was great; £3,000,000
in specie, large quantities of goods and munitions of war, 9 ships of
the line and 4 frigates. It was exchanged into the hands of the Spanish
again the next year for the Floridas.
1775. Washington informed congress that the whole stock of powder in New
England amounted to no more than 9,927 pounds, about 9 rounds to a man.
Although this information was communicated to the British by a deserter,
they could not believe it possible that the Americans possessed such
consummate assurance as to continue to invest them in Boston, while so
destitute of ammunition.
1778. The Languedoc of 90 guns, count d'Estaing's flag ship, having lost
her rudder and masts in the storm of the day before, was attacked by the
British ship Renown, 50 guns, which was beaten off. At the same time a
British ship of 50 guns attacked another of d'Estaing's ships, of 80
guns, having only her mainmast standing, but was also beat off.
1782. Henry Lewis du Hamel died at Paris; eminent for his knowledge of
mechanics, agriculture and commerce.
1786. Gilbert Stuart, an eminent Scottish historian, died.
1794. Battle of Bellegarde, between the French and Spanish. The action
was a severe one; both claimed the victory.
1806. Miranda abandoned his conquests on the Spanish main, and sailed to
Aruba.
1808. The French in the night raised the siege of Saragossa, in Spain.
It had been most nobly defended since July 2d, by general Palafox and
the countess de Burita, who raised a company of ladies, that exposed
themselves to the greatest personal dangers and fatigues.
1810. James Francis Menon, a French general and politician, died. He was
in the employ of the national convention and of Bonaparte.
1812. The British sloop of war Alert, attacked the United States frigate
Essex, captain Porter, and after an action of eight minutes struck her
colors with seven feet of water in her hold, much cut to pieces and
three men wounded. The Alert had been sent out to capture the Hornet,
and mounted twenty 18 lb. carronades, and had 130 men.
1817. John Beale, aged 87, a member of the society of Friends, died at
his residence in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in the same house in which
he was born, having never resided in any other.
1819. Just after a brilliant meteor a mass of gelatinous and very fetid
matter fell at Amherst, Mass.
1822. An earthquake devastated the greater part of Syria. It began about
half past nine in the evening, and in ten or twelve seconds, Aleppo,
Antioch, and every village and detached cottage in the pashalic of
Aleppo, and several towns in the adjoining territories, were entirely
ruined. There were 20,000 people destroyed by it, and as many more
maimed or wounded.
1826. Laennec died; author of the Auscultation System of Ascertaining
Diseases of the Lungs.
1838. John Farmer, an American archæologist, died. He published several
works relating to the early history of the country, which evince great
patience and industry, and bring to light many important facts which
would have perished otherwise. For some time previous to his death he
was engaged in arranging the state papers in the public offices at
Concord, containing the old province and council records, and
revolutionary papers. By supplying omissions, transcribing papers that
were scarcely legible, and having them arranged and bound, the state of
New Hampshire has a very complete set of its early records.
1841. J. B. Richsonville, principal chief of the Miami nation, died near
fort Wayne, Indiana, aged 80. He is said to have left $200,000 in
specie, besides immense quantities of valuable real estate.
1842. Thomas P. Emmet, son of Thomas Addis Emmet, and a contributor to
Silliman's Journal, died in New York, aged 47.
1851. The people of Litchfield county, Connecticut, celebrated the two
hundredth anniversary of its settlement.
1854. General Paixhans died at his estate of Jouy-aux-Arches, near Metz,
aged 72. He was renowned by his connection with the artillery, and
especially with the celebrated gun which bears his name.
1854. At Marysville, Kentucky, a powder magazine, containing 800 kegs,
was fired, and the explosion caused the entire destruction of 13 houses,
involving a great loss of property.
394 B. C. An eclipse of the sun noticed by Xenophon, which just preceded
the battle of Coronea, where Agesilaus stood his ground against the
Greek confederates. Xenophon, who fought under the Spartan, describes it
as the most desperate conflict in his time.
376 B. C. Chabras defeated the Lacedæmonian fleet off Naxos, full moon
of Boedromion. The youth Phocion here distinguished himself.
1211. Llewellyn, prince of Wales, made his submission to king John of
England, and delivered 28 hostages at the foot of Snowdon, for his good
faith. These young noblemen were hanged the ensuing year.
1248. The great cathedral of Cologne commenced. It was prosecuted at
intervals during 200 years, and then suspended 400 years. It was taken
up again with new vigor in 1842, and became a popular enterprise of the
day to strive for its completion.
1433. John I, king of Portugal, died. It was under his reign that the
Portuguese began their famous discoveries.
1457. John Faust and Peter Schoeffer published at Mainz the Psalter,
supposed to be the first printed book of any magnitude, on record.
1464. Pius II (Æneas Sylvius), pope, died; celebrated for his wise and
witty sayings.
1613. John Harrington, an English nobleman, died, aged 22. He was
distinguished for the talents and genius which he displayed at a very
early age.
1621. An army of fourteen men sent out from Plymouth colony to awe the
Indians. Corbitant, a petty chief, had seized Squanto, a friendly
Indian, and threatened Massasoit; the menaces of revenge in case of any
disturbances, are said to have settled all difficulties.
1678. Three days after the conclusion of a peace between France and
Holland, the prince of Orange fell upon the marshal of Luxemburg, by
which 4,000 lives were sacrificed.
1681. The Scottish parliament adopted a resolution asserting that
difference in religion does not bar the right of succession, or make
void the magistrate's just and lawful authority.
1711. Sir Hoveden Walker, with the British and colonial fleet intended
to invade Canada, arrived at the mouth of the St. Lawrence. A succession
of untoward winds and accidents rendered it necessary to put back soon
after, without accomplishing any thing.
1756. Fort Oswego capitulated to the French under Montcalm. It was
commanded by colonel Mercer with 1,400 men. Montcalm besieged it with an
army of 5,000. Colonel Mercer was killed by a cannon ball on the 13th,
and there being no probability of aid, the fort surrendered on condition
that they should be exempted from plunder, conducted to Montreal, and
treated with humanity. The terms were agreed to, the garrison marched
out, and the fort was demolished.
1761. Action between British ships Bellona and Brilliant, and one French
ship and three frigates. The Frenchmen were captured with the loss of
240 killed and 110 wounded; British loss 6 killed, 28 wounded.
1775. The celebrated Liberty Tree of Boston consecrated, by exposing
on it the effigies of the men who had rendered themselves odious by
their agency in procuring the passage of the stamp act. A copper plate
30 inches by 42 was fixed upon it, bearing the inscription in golden
letters—The Tree of Liberty, Aug. 14, 1765. Ten years afterwards the
British cut it down, at which time it had been planted 119 years. They
left nothing but the stump above ground—the root they could not
exterminate. It produced fourteen cords of wood. One of the party
engaged in demolishing it lost his life.
1775. Arnold left the camp at Cambridge, with a detachment of 1,000
Americans, to penetrate into Canada by way of Kennebec river and the
wilderness. They reached Quebec after great suffering from fatigue,
hunger and cold.
1776. Constitution of Maryland adopted.
1776. Lords Dunmore and Campbell, and sir Peter Parker, joined lord Howe
at Staten island, having taken from the Virginians about 1,000 negroes.
1779. American general Lovel raised the siege of Penobscot, having
sustained very considerable loss of stores, 19 armed vessels, besides
transports, &c.
1787. Edmund Law, bishop of Carlisle, died, aged 84; an eminent
theological writer.
1788. Thomas Sheridan died, aged 67; an eminent English actor,
philological writer, and lexicographer, son of Thomas Sheridan, the
divine and poet.
1788. First newspaper in Goshen, Orange County.
1790. Agostino Carlini, a Genoese statuary, died at London, where he was
keeper of the Royal academy. He was celebrated for the grace and skill
with which he executed drapery.
1794. George Colman (the elder), died, aged 61; an eminent English
scholar and dramatic writer.
1794. Le Quesnoy taken by the French republican army. The garrison
consisting of 28,000 men, were made prisoners of war.
1799. Battle of Novi; between the French under Joubert and the allied
Russian, Austrian and Piedmontese armies, under Suwarrow. Joubert was
mortally wounded.
1813. Action between United States brig Argus, 20 guns, lieutenant
Allen, and British brig Pelican, captain Maples. The Argus was captured
in 43 minutes, with the loss of lieutenant Allen and 8 others killed,
mostly officers. She had taken, prior to her capture, 19 British vessels
prizes.
1814. British captured, off fort Erie, two United States schooners,
laden with provisions for the garrison of that fort. The fort was
bombarded same day.
1814. The Swedish army having obtained possession of several strong
places in Norway, prince Christian resigned his pretensions to that
crown, and his resignation was followed by the union of Norway and
Sweden.
1819. Erik Acharius, an eminent Swedish physician and botanist, died,
aged 82.
1837. A great fete for the inauguration of the statue by Thorwaldsen to
Guttenberg, one of the inventors or improvers of the art of printing, at
Mainz. It continued three days, and was attended by about 20,000
strangers from different parts of Germany.
1839. Marie Jeanne Robin died at New Orleans, aged 108.
1840. The steam packet Britannia arrived at Liverpool in 10 days from
Halifax, the quickest passage hitherto made between the American
continent and England.
1846. Joshua L. Wilson, pastor of the first presbyterian church erected
in Cincinnati, died there, aged 72. He was born in Virginia, and brought
up in Kentucky as a blacksmith. He was a preacher of the highest
character and influence, during a ministry of 38 years.
1850. Gerard Troost died at Nashville, Tenn., aged 74. He was a native
of Holland, who came to this country in 1810. He was first president of
the Academy of natural sciences, at Philadelphia, and for a long time
professor in the university at Nashville, and also geologist of the
state.
1856. William Buckland, an English divine, died, aged 72. He is best
known by his scientific pursuits, particularly in mineralogy and
geology, upon which subjects he published valuable treatises.
1356 B. C. The Eleusinia, or great Grecian mysteries, founded in this
year, so celebrated throughout the classical world, were observed by the
Athenians at Eleusis, every fifth year for nine days, commencing on the
15th Boedromion; introduced in memory of Ceres.
310 B. C. Agathocles landed in Africa during an eclipse of the sun, not
many weeks subsequent to his defeat by the Carthagenians at Himera.
Epicurus began in that year to teach at Mitylene and Lampsacus.
423. Honorius, emperor of Rome, died; who, with his brother Arcadius,
first divided the empire into east and west sovereignties.
718. The second and memorable siege of Constantinople (under the reign
of Leo the Isaurian), by the Saracens, raised. It commenced, according
to Theophanes, on the same day of the preceding year.
1038. Stephen I, of Hungary, died. He introduced Christianity into his
kingdom, and enacted wise laws for the benefit of his people.
1096. The princes of the crusade began their march through Germany.
1118. Alexius Comnenus I, emperor of Constantinople, died. He usurped
the throne 1080, and distinguished himself in his wars with the Turks.
1279. Albert (the great), of Brunswick, died; a monk who acquired
great knowledge in an age of ignorance.
1369. Philippa, of England, died; memorable for her humanity towards the
six condemned citizens of Calais, when that city fell into the hands of
Edward.
1635. Great storm in New England. The tide rose 20 feet, a great many
houses and plantations were destroyed, and the Narragansetts were
obliged to climb trees for safety; the tide of flood returning before
the usual time, many of them were drowned.
1656. James Bowels, a native of Killingworth, England, died, aged 152.
1661. Thomas Fuller, an English historian and divine, died. It is said
of his memory, among other incredible things, that he could repeat a
sermon verbatim on once hearing it.
1702. Unsuccessful attack of the British under admiral Rooke and the
duke of Ormond, on Cadiz.
1702. Battle of Lauzara, in Italy, between the allies under prince
Eugene, and the French under the duke de Vendome.
1725. Gerard Noodt, an eminent Dutch civilian, died.
1728. The queen of Sardinia died; she was the daughter of Charles I of
England.
1729. Benjamin Neukirch, a German poet, died. He deserves a place in
history rather as having taken the first step to reform German
literature, than as a good writer.
1733. A Roman pavement of mosaic work discovered in Little St. Helen's,
Bishop gate street, London; supposed to have lain over 1700 years.
1741. Behring discovered East cape, the easternmost point of Asia.
1746. Nicholas Hubert de Mongault, an ingenious and learned French
critic, died.
1751. Thomas Shaw, an English divine and antiquary, died; a writer on
Barbary and the Levant.
1758. Kustrin, the capital of the new march of Brandenburg, bombarded by
the Russians, and reduced to a heap of ruins.
1758. Pierre Bouguer, a celebrated French mathematician, died. He was
employed to measure a degree of the meridian in Peru, a difficult task,
which he accomplished with great fidelity.
1760. Lacy Ryan died; an English dramatic writer, but more eminent as an
actor.
1764. Iwan, son of prince Anthony Ulric, of Russia, massacred in prison
by his keepers. He was grandson of Peter the Great, and had been kept in
prison almost from his birth.
1769. Birthday of Napoleon Bonaparte, at Ajaccio, in the island of
Corsica.
1771. Birthday of sir Walter Scott, at Edinburgh.
1780. American general Sumpter attacked and carried a redoubt on the
Wateree, and intercepted a convoy from fort Ninety-six, with 40 wagons
loaded with stores, and took 100 prisoners.
1782. Briant's Station, near Lexington, Ky., attacked by 500 Indians and
Canadians, who were repulsed, and retreated on the third day, having
lost 30 killed.
1786. Thomas Trywhitt, an English antiquary and critic, died; author of
several learned works, and one of the many commentators on Shakspeare.
1793. Levée en masse was proposed in the French assembly which proved
the foundation of the famous but tyrannical conscription act of
Napoleon.
1794. French convention ordered the French and American flags to be
united and hung up together in the hall of their sitting. James Monroe
was received as minister from the United States.
1799. The French under Massena defeated the Austrians and Russians under
the archduke Charles, at Richterswyl, Etzel and Schwindelezzi, in
Switzerland. Lecourbe forced the famous pass of the Devil's bridge, took
possession of St. Gothard, and seized on the Valois.
1801. Charles Louis l'Heritier de Brutelle, a French botanist,
assassinated. He published Stirpes Novæ, a splendid book, and was
engaged in preparing a work on English plants.
1802. Bonaparte invested with the sole power of nominating his successor
and of appointing two subordinate consuls, and nominating a large number
of additional senators, &c.
1812. British general Brock summoned the city of Detroit to surrender,
occupied by general Hull.
1812. Battle of fort Chicago; the garrison, consisting of 54 regulars
and 12 militia, was attacked by the Indians and after a resolute
resistance of some hours, in which 26 of the regulars, all the militia,
2 women and 12 children, were killed, they surrendered on the promise of
protection. The survivors, however, 25 men and 11 women, were brutally
massacred.
1814. Assault on fort Erie by the British under colonel Drummond, who
were repulsed with great loss. The attack commenced at 2 o'clock in the
morning, and it was a part of the British orders that no quarters should
be given. The action was desperate and bloody; the British lost by
official report, 57 killed, 309 wounded, 539 missing—by another account
they lost 222 killed, 174 badly wounded, and 186 prisoners, besides 200
killed at Snake Hill. Colonel Drummond was killed; acting up to his
barbarous order, when a wounded American officer asked quarter, he shot
him with a pistol, whereupon a soldier leveled his piece and shot
Drummond in the breast. Total American loss, 93—killed 26, wounded 92,
missing 11.
1815. John Meerman, a celebrated Dutch author, died. Under Bonaparte he
was made director of the fine arts and minister of public instruction,
and became a count of the empire and senator. His library sold in 1824
for 131,000 florins.
1816. Great fire at Constantinople; 1200 houses and 3000 shops and
magazines destroyed.
1844. William Leet Stone, a New York editor, died, aged 52. He published
memoirs of Brant, and of Red Jacket, and some other works, and edited
for a long time the New York Commercial Advertiser. He was also
superintendent of common schools in that city.
1849. Riot at Montreal; house of L. H. Lafontaine, head of the Canadian
ministry, was assailed by a mob. Fire arms were discharged from the
building, by which one person was killed, and the rest driven back.
1851. A violent and destructive tornado occurred at St. Louis, Missouri.
1853. A conspiracy discovered in Rome; 146 persons arrested.
1854. Stephen Simpson, died at Philadelphia. He was at one period of his
life an editor, and gained considerable celebrity as a political writer,
especially against the United States bank, over the signature of Brutus,
in Duane's Aurora.
1191. The Saracen hostages, 2500 in number, put to the sword beneath the
walls of Acre, by order of Richard, with the sanction of his
confederates. The galls of the murdered infidels were converted into
Christian medicines.
1380. John of Gaunt erected a court of minstrels at Tutbury, England,
with legal jurisdiction over the men in that profession in five
counties. It consisted of a king and four other officers, who had
sovereign authority upon this day.
1424. Battle of Verneuil, in France; the French and Scotch under Buchan,
constable of France, defeated by the English. The Scottish auxiliaries
were nearly annihilated.
1494. Ferdinand and Isabella addressed letters of approbation to their
high admiral of the Indian seas, Columbus, from Segovia, wishing "to
know all the seasons of the year, such as they take place there in each
month separately: some wish to know if there are two summers and two
winters in the same year."
1513. Battle of the Spurs, in France, between the French, and the
English under Henry VIII, at Guingette. It received its title from the
flight of the French gendarmerie, and the pursuit of the English, in
which the contest was one of speed.
1519. Cortez set out from his colony of Villarica on his expedition to
Mexico, with 415 Spanish infantry, 16 horses, 200 Indians to transport
his artillery and baggage, and some native troops, among which were 40
nobles, whom he took as auxiliaries in war, and hostages of the
Totonecas.
1604. Hubertus Gifanius, a Dutch critic and civilian, died at Prague. He
wrote notes and commentaries on Homer, Aristotle, Lucretius, and other
authors, and was a noted professor of philosophy.
1654. Onondaga salt springs discovered.
1677. The second ship from England arrived at West Jersey, bringing 230
passengers, most of whom were quakers, some of good estates in England.
1681. Nikon, a celebrated person in the annals of Russia, died. He was
the sixth patriarch in the Russian church.
1705. Battle between the French and Imperialists at Cassino in Italy.
Both claimed the victory and sang a Te Deum.
1718. Action off Sicily, between the British and Spanish squadrons, in
which the latter were defeated, and several large vessels taken or
destroyed.
1721. No. 1 of the New England Courant was issued. James Franklin,
brother to Benjamin, was the publisher. It lived only about six years.
1730. Lawrence Echard, an English historian and divine, died. His works
were creditable performances.
1733. Matthew Tindal, a celebrated English polemical writer, died.
1738. Joseph Miller, better known as Joe Miller, died. He was an
English comedian, and the compiler of a popular jest book.
1777. Battle of Bennington; general Stark with about 1600 New Hampshire
militia, attacked and defeated a detachment of 1500 British regulars and
100 Indians, sent out by Burgoyne, under the command of the Hessian
generals, Baum and Breyman, to take a magazine at Bennington. British
loss 226 killed, and 33 officers and 700 privates prisoners; they lost
four cannon, with all their baggage, wagons and horses. Americans lost
less than 100 killed and wounded.
1780. Battle of Camden; the Americans under general Gates totally
defeated by the British under Cornwallis. Baron De Kalb received 11
wounds in this engagement, which proved mortal.
1792. First theatre opened in Boston. It was called the New Exhibition
Room; the statute of the state prohibiting dramatic performances, they
advertised to represent the moral lecture of Douglas! One evening,
about two months after, as sir Peter, and lady Teazle were representing
their parts of the moral lecture of School for Scandal, the sheriff
made his first appearance on that stage, and arrested them by virtue of
a peace warrant.
1800. Samuel Barrington died; a distinguished admiral in the British
navy.
1806. Action between the French ship Veteran, under Jerome Bonaparte,
and 6 British vessels of the Quebec fleet, homeward bound, which were
captured.
1812. Detroit surrendered by general Hull to the British under general
Brock, without firing a gun from the fort or consulting an officer. The
American force amounted to 1100 men. The British took about 40 cannon,
2500 stand of arms, 400 rounds 24lb. shot fixed, 40 barrels powder,
100,000 musket cartridges made, and 15 days' provisions.
1814. The United States fleet, employed in the expedition to Mackinaw
having failed in its object, colonel Croghan re-embarked his troops.
1824. Charles Thomson, died, aged 94. He was the first secretary of
congress, in which office he continued 15 years. The Indians called him
The man of truth. He translated the Septuagint in 4 vols. 8vo.
1825. The northern sea discovered by captain Franklin, who traced the
Mackenzie river to its source.
1844. Turhand Kirtland, aged 89, died at Poland, Ohio. He was one of the
pioneers of the Northern Ohio, then called New Connecticut.
1848. An immense conflagration at Constantinople consumed about 2500
shops and 500 houses.
1848. A serious insurrection took place at Ceylon against the British
authorities, which was subdued by strong measures.
1851. George McClure, a general in the war of 1812, died at Elgin,
Illinois, aged 80. He resided a long time at Bath, Steuben county, N.
Y., was many years member of assembly from that county, and at different
times judge, surrogate and sheriff.
1851. Stephen Olin, an eloquent Methodist divine, died at Middletown,
where he was president of the University, aged 54. He held the
presidency of Macon college also, in 1833; and is known as an author.
1851. The division of the forces of Lopez under colonel Crittenden
having been driven to the coast, where they embarked in open boats,
were captured and shot at Havana.
1854. The Russians blew up the fortifications at Hangho, in sight of the
allied fleets; the evacuation of the Principalities by them was
continued.
1854. The allied fleets in the Baltic accomplished the final conquest of
the Bomarsund forts, situated on the largest of the Aland islands,
accompanied by the capture of 2000 Russians.
1855. Battle of Tchernaya; the Russians under Gortschakoff attacked with
great force the lines of the allies, and drove in the outposts, defended
by the Sardinians; but after a severe contest were driven back with
great loss; 4000 supposed to have been killed, and 2200 left prisoners
and wounded. Loss of the allies 1200, of whom 200 were Sardinians.
1856. Henry Colburn, an eminent London publisher, died. He brought out
the works of Bulwer, D'Israeli, Hook, Maryatt and James, and originated
several very popular magazines.
1408. John Gower, an early English poet, died. He was a member of the
bar, and a severe contemner of the vices of the age.
1483. Edward V of England, and his brother the duke of York, smothered
in prison by order of the duke of Gloucester, their guardian.
1502. Columbus sent his brother Bartholomew on shore at Orejas, and took
possession of South America in the name of Ferdinand and Isabella.
1544. St. Dizier surrendered to the emperor Charles V, after a noble
defence made by the French governor.
1590. The governor of the colony of Roanoke returned from England,
whither he had been for supplies (see August 27), and found the
settlement deserted, the houses taken down, and the word Croatoan
written upon the trees. He was compelled to return without finding the
place of their removal.
1657. Robert Blake died; one of the most intrepid and successful
admirals that have adorned the British navy.
1673. Regnier de Graaf died in France, where he acquired great celebrity
as a physician and a writer; aged 32.
1679. Jonas Moore, an English mathematician, died; noted in the reigns
of Charles I and II for his labor and enterprise in the cause of
science.
1682. A comet made its appearance before the people of New England, with
a tail of the very respectable length of 15 degrees; which that goodly
folk did not see the last of till the 15th September.
1714. George I arrived in England to succeed on the throne.
1720. Anne le Fevre Dacier, a French lady of great learning, died. She
translated the principal Greek and Latin poets into her native language,
and was noted for her many virtues. (6th by some authors.)
1748. Jonathan Baxter performed the singular feat of crossing the Thames
at Blackfriars in a butcher's tray in 1h. 10m., paddling with his hands.
1755. George Jeffreys, an English dramatic and miscellaneous writer,
died.
1758. Richard Houseman, a laborer of Knaresborough, was committed to
York castle on suspicion of having murdered Daniel Clark.
1765. Timothy Cutler, an Episcopal clergyman, died at Boston, aged 82;
formerly president of Yale college.
1779. The independence of the United States declared at New Orleans by
beat of drum.
1785. Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut, died. He bore a
conspicuous part in public affairs during a period of 50 years; and
retired at the close of the revolution.
1786. Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia, died. He distinguished
himself as a warrior, and a man of letters, and was one of the most
celebrated characters of his day.
1796. The Dutch fleet under admiral Lucas surrendered to the British at
the cape of Good Hope.
1807. British army invested Copenhagen; at the same time the Danish gun
boats attacked the British with grape and round shot.
1808. Battle of Roleia, in Portugal, between the French, 6,000, under
Laborde, and a much superior force of British under Wellesley. The
French were compelled to retreat with the loss of 1,500; British loss
500.
1809. Matthew Boulton, an English engineer, died. He erected an
extensive establishment at Soho, and expended £47,000 in the course of
experiments on the steam engine, before Watt perfected the construction
and occasioned any return of profit.
1812. First day's battle of Smolianovo, on the Dwina; the Russians under
count Witgenstein defeated the French under Oudinot, with great carnage.
Oudinot was dangerously wounded, and St. Cyr took the command.
1812. Battle of Smolensko, on the Boristhenes. Upwards of 100,000 men
were engaged, and the conflict was long and bloody. The French under
Bonaparte and his best generals maintained their ground; the Russians
retreated in the night, after having fired the city. The French are
supposed to have lost about 13,000, and the Russians about half the
number.
1813. Battle near lake George, between the United States troops under
Gen. P. B. Porter and a body of British and Indians; the latter were
defeated.
1818. James Constantine Perier, an able French machinist, died. He was
the greatest manufacturer of machinery in France, having at one time no
less than 93 establishments. Notwithstanding this weight of business, he
found time for literary pursuits, and was an author.
1830. La Fayette created marshal of France.
1832. Jean St. Martin, an eminent French orientalist, died at Paris of
cholera. He was principal editor of the Journal Asiatic, and
particularly distinguished for his knowledge of the languages of western
Asia.
1836. M. de Rayneval, an eminent French diplomatist, died. He was
employed in important missions under Bonaparte, and after the
restoration had a still more distinguished career in diplomacy.
1838. Lorenzo da Ponte died in New York, aged 89. He was an Italian by
birth, but long a resident of the city of New York; distinguished for
his attainments, particularly in Italian literature and art, and author
of various publications, among which are some celebrated operas.
1840 Mordecai Moor, died at Clinton, Me., aged 104.
1848. Disastrous fire at Albany; several hundred buildings burned, and
one million of property destroyed.
1849. Henry Colman, many years Unitarian minister at Salem, Mass., died
in London. He had for some time devoted himself to agricultural
inquiries, and published several volumes on the agriculture of foreign
countries.
1850. Ashtabula county court house, Ohio, with all papers and records,
destroyed by fire.
1852. Pompeo Litta, an Italian author, died at an advanced age. He began
in 1819, a costly illustrated work on the genealogies of the principal
Italian families, existing and extinct.
1853. A difficulty occurred at the Chincha islands between the Peruvian
commandant and the American shipmasters in port.
1857. A block of pure chrystalline ice weighing 25 lbs. was discovered
in a meadow near Cricklewood, England. On the day previous a
destructive hail storm passed over the spot. Mezray, in his history of
France mentions a block of ice that fell of the weight of 100 lbs.,
during a thunder and hail storm in the year 1510.
332 B. C. Gaza, in Palestine, entered by Alexander the Great, and 10,000
of her inhabitants put to the sword. This was during the Isthmian games,
and shortly after the fall of Tyre, which was taken in the month
Hecatombæon.
328. Helena, empress of Rome, died, aged 80. She was the mother of
Constantine, and distinguished for her zeal in the cause of the
Christian religion.
852. Abdurrahman II, sultan of Cordova, died, aged 65. He was the patron
of learning and scholars, though constantly engaged in war.
1187. Geoffrey, son to Henry II, killed in a tournament at Paris.
1348. A three-fold scourge, which during this year visited the continent
of Europe, first appeared in England upon this day; earthquakes, deluges
of rain, and a vast ephemeral pestilence, traveling the belt of Asia
from Cathay to Delta; over Greece to Italy, beyond the Alps into France,
reached London in November.
1510. Edmund Dudley, an English statesman, executed for treason; known
as an instrument of Henry VII in the arbitrary acts of extortion
practiced during the latter years of his reign.
1510. Richard Empson, another characteristic of the same stamp, perished
at the same time.
1559. Paul IV (John Peter Caraffi), pope, died. He ascended the throne
at the age of 80, and conducted himself with so much haughtiness and
indiscretion that his death was unlamented.
1587. The first English child born in America, at Roanoke, Virginia. She
was the grand-daughter of the governor, and was baptized on the
following sabbath, by the name of Virginia.
1609. The Half Moon having pursued a course south and west for ten days,
arrived at the entrance of Chesapeake bay, where the first effectual
attempt to plant an English colony had been commenced only two years
before. (See Aug. 28.)
1642. Guido Reni, the celebrated Italian painter, died. His skill as an
artist attracted great attention, and he was loaded with honors and
wealth. His pictures are valuable, and adorn the collections of the
great.
1655. Cromwell, as protector, adopted the We, in answering a
petition. Instead of the capital W, he had at first written the more
familiar I; then a small w, which was finally erased with his finger for
the royal character.
1670. Dryden created laureate by royal patent.
1707. William Cavendish died; first duke of Devonshire, an able English
statesman, who was active in procuring the invasion of England by
William III.
1746. William, earl of Kilmarnock, and Arthur Balmerino, beheaded in
London, as traitors for levying war against George II, in behalf of the
pretender.
1659. Action between the British fleet, admiral Boscawen, and the French
fleet, M. de la Clue, off the coast of Barbary. The French were
defeated, and on the following day, five of their largest ships were
taken or destroyed.
1765. Francis I, of Germany, died. He commanded the Austrian armies in
Hungary against the Turks, and his reign of 20 years' duration was
distinguished by many memorable events.
1780. British under Tarleton attacked Sumpter on the Wateree, and
killed, captured or dispersed the whole of his party, and retook 300
British prisoners.
1780. Battle of Musgrove's mills; 500 British and tories defeated by the
Americans under colonel Williams, and 120 killed or wounded.
1783. John Dunning, lord Ashburton, died; noted for his extensive
practice as a lawyer in London. He defended Wilkes and opposed the
American war.
1783. Benjamin Kennicott died; an English prelate, well known in the
learned world for his elaborate edition of the Hebrew Bible and other
valuable works.
1798. General Humbert landed at Killala, Ireland, with 700 French; a few
days afterwards they were all captured.
1803. James Beattie died; a Scottish poet and miscellaneous writer, and
professor of moral philosophy and logic.
1807. The Danish gun boats renewed their attacks upon the British army
before Copenhagen, but were finally driven back into the harbor.
1810. Charles Peter Clarel de Flurieu, a French hydrographer, died. He
was also a statesman under Louis XVI and Napoleon.
1812. Second day's battle of Smolianovo. The French under St. Cyr
defeated with great slaughter. The battle continued 12 hours. The French
lost 2,500 killed and wounded, and 3,000 taken prisoners. Russian loss
1,000 hors du combat in both engagements.
1813. Battle of St. Antonio; the Spanish royalists under Aredonda
defeated the Mexican patriots.
1814. British admiral, Cochrane, addressed a letter from on board the
Tonnant, in the Patuxent, to the American government, declaring his
determination to destroy and lay waste such towns and districts upon the
American coast as might be found assailable, though contrary to the
usages of civilized warfare.
1829. David Baird, of Aberdeen, a distinguished British general, who led
the storming party at the capture of Seringapatam, died.
1834. A tremendous eruption of Vesuvius, which continued several days,
and destroyed about 1,500 houses.
1838. The first United States exploring expedition sailed, under Com.
Wilkes.
1838. Battle of Morella, in Spain; the queen's troops defeated by the
Carlists with the loss of 2,000 men; the victors left in possession of
Lower Aragon.
1840. Timothy Flint, a noted missionary in the Mississippi valley, died,
aged 60. He published an account of that region in two works, which are
interesting and valuable.
1851. Ebenezer Young, a Connecticut civilian, died at West Killingly,
aged 67. He was often in public life, especially in the legislature of
his native state, and in congress.
1853. John Taliafero, librarian of the treasury department at
Washington, died, aged 85. He had also been a member of congress
fourteen years.
1855. Jabez D. Hammond, an eminent New York lawyer, died, aged 77. He
filled several important offices, and wrote a Political History of New
York, and some other works.
1855. Thomas Metcalfe, an American officer of the war of 1812, died in
Kentucky, aged 75. He also filled various civil offices with ability,
under the state and general government.
1855. The queen, Victoria, and prince Albert, left Osborne at day break
to visit Louis Napoleon; arrived at Boulogne, 96 miles, in 4¼ hours,
and reached Paris the same evening.
1855. Abbot Lawrence, a noted Boston merchant, died, aged 63. He was a
liberal and public spirited citizen, and endowed the Lawrence scientific
school at Cambridge with $100,000.
335 B. C. The city of Thebes demolished by Alexander, during the
mysteries.
14 (A. U. C. 766). Octavius Cæsar Augustus, the great and virtuous
emperor of Rome, died at Nola. This day is also the anniversary of his
first exaltation to the consular dignity.
1493. Frederick III, of Germany, died. He was fifty-eight years emperor
of Austria, and fifty-three emperor of Germany, during which time he was
constantly embroiled in troubles, and suffered many humiliations and
indignities from the neighboring princes, who took advantage of his
imbecility. During his reign the Turks took Constantinople, and the art
of printing was discovered.
1579. Louis de Clermont Bussy d'Amboise assassinated; a French nobleman
distinguished for his bravery and his crimes.
1601. William Lambarde, an eminent lawyer and antiquary, died at
Westcombe, in England. His collection and translation of the Saxon laws
was among the first of his works.
1617. Sir Walter Raleigh sailed from Cork on his last voyage, with
fourteen vessels.
1646. Ragland castle, in Montgomeryshire, England, surrendered to the
parliament forces. This was one of the last fortresses that held out for
Charles.
1648. Ibrahim, son of Achmet, sultan of Turkey, assassinated.
1662. Blaise Pascal, a French divine, died; noted for his mathematical
abilities. His works are published in 5 vols.
1680. John Eudes, the founder of the sect of Eudists, died at Caen, in
France.
1692. Five persons executed at Salem, Mass., for witchcraft.
1699. George Burroughs, a New England minister, hung for witchcraft. He
was a man of unblemished character, and fell a victim to one of the most
astounding delusions that ever disgraced the name of religion.
1702. Action near Santa Martha, in South America, between the British
fleet, admiral Benbow, and the French squadron, Du Casse. The cowardice
of the English lost them the battle.
1708. The British under sir John Leake and major general Stanhope took
Minorca, which was retained by the government.
1744. John Baptist Silva, a distinguished French physician, died at
Paris.
1763. Under cover of a severe hail storm and an unusual darkness in the
neighborhood of London, the populace attempted the rescue of a criminal
to be executed, but though they detained the execution till eight in the
evening, they were unsuccessful.
1772. Gustavus, king of Sweden, effected a revolution, which totally
overturned the Swedish constitution of government, without any
bloodshed. It was a masterly stroke of policy, that placed him in the
attitude of absolute master over the laws.
1772. Revolution in Poland; the prerogatives of the crown, lost more
than half a century before, were restored.
1777. Nicholas Herkimer, a brave officer, wounded at the battle of
Oriskany, died at his house near Little Falls, New York.
1782. Battle near the Blue Licks, between the Kentucky pioneers, 176 in
number, under colonel Boone, and 500 Indians. The Indians were defeated
with the loss of 71; Boone's loss 63 killed, 7 taken.
1782. British man-of-war, Royal George, 100 guns, sunk off Spithead.
Admiral Kempenfeldt, with 400 seamen and 200 women, perished. The wreck
was visited by means of a diving bell in 1817, and found to be a mass of
shapeless timber.
1792. The grand army of the allies entered France.
1807. The Danish gun boats again attacked the British before Copenhagen.
The latter gained some advantages.
1811. The French under Macdonald captured Figueras, in Spain, after a
desperate resistance by its famished defenders.
1812. Action between United States frigate Constitution, captain Hull,
and British frigate Guerriere, 49 guns, captain Dacres. The Guerriere
was sunk in 30 minutes, with the loss of 15 killed, 61 wounded, 24
missing. Constitution lost 7 killed, 7 wounded.
1812. Battle near Gedeonovo, in Russia, between the French, 90,000 and
the Russians, stated at 40,000. The French drew off at night with the
loss of 600 killed, 2,500 wounded. The Russians admitted the loss of
1,000 killed, 3,000 wounded. Not a prisoner was taken.
1814. Gustavus Maurice, count of Armfelt, a distinguished Swede, whose
chief misfortune was that of being in advance of his age, died at
Czarshoesels.
1814. Benjamin Thompson, count Rumford, died. From the humble station of
a yankee schoolmaster he rose by his talents to distinction and wealth.
His inventions and discoveries will perpetuate his name.
1823. Robert Bloomfield, an English poet, died. He learned the trade of
a shoemaker, but was constrained to write poetry by nature. The one
sustained his body while the other was perpetuating his memory.
1825. Juan Diaz (or John Martin), a Spanish partisan officer,
executed; distinguished for his conduct during the French invasions.
1826. Paul Allen, an American poet, historian and editor of considerable
merit, died at Baltimore, aged 51.
1838. The United States exploring expedition, consisting of 6 vessels,
sailed from Hampton roads.
1839. Aaron Ogden, an officer during the revolution, died at Jersey
City, aged 83. He was governor of New Jersey in 1812; was also senator
of the United States, and practiced law with reputation.
1851. "The great aggregate meeting" of Roman catholics from all parts of
Great Britain, was held at Dublin for the inauguration of the catholic
defence association.
1852. A destructive tornado, accompanied with hail, passed over an
extensive district in Hancock county, Me. Utter devastation followed its
track, which was a fourth of a mile wide, and 40 miles long.
1853. George Cockburn, who ordered the destruction of the public
property at Washington, on the capture of the city by the English, died
at the age of 82.
1854. Grisi and Mario, the two most renowned artistes of the old world,
arrived at New York.
480 B. C. Battle of Salamis, in Greece, and defeat of the Persians under
Xerxes. This great achievement occurred on that day of the mysteries
devoted to the solemnities of Bacchus.
332 B. C. Tyre taken by Alexander, which with the subsequent conquest of
Gaza, gave to him Egypt.
984. John XIV, pope, died. He was imprisoned in the castle of St.
Angelo, by Boniface VIII, where he died, either of poison or grief.
1153. St. Bernard, of Clairvaux, died, and was cannonized on this day.
He was an extraordinary character, who obtained great influence over the
ecclesiastical affairs of Europe, by the mere force of personal
character, without any adventitious advantages, and is styled the last
of the fathers.
1485. The earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII, halted with his army
at Atherstone, two nights previous to the decisive battle of Bosworth
field. The troops encamped in a meadow to the north of the church, which
now bears the name of the Royal meadow. During the night, Henry held a
conference in the town with the two Stanleys, when the measures were
agreed upon which resulted in the defeat and death of Richard III.
1513. Norham castle taken by the Scots; its ruins yet remain about eight
miles west from Berwick.
1580. Jerome Osorio, an able Portuguese divine and author, died.
1639. Martin Opitius, an elegant German poet, died of the plague at
Dantzic.
1648. Edward Herbert died; an eminent English statesman, and writer on
history, philosophy and criticism.
1648. Battle of Lens; the French under Conde defeated the Spaniards and
imperialists, under the archduke Leopold, of whom 3000 were killed, and
general Beck and 5000 taken prisoners.
1660. John Lugo died; a Spanish Jesuit, professor of theology at Rome.
He introduced Jesuit's bark into France, was created cardinal, and
wrote 7 vols. folio.
1677. Peter Petit died; a learned Frenchman, celebrated for his
mathematical and philosophical writings. (Penny Cyc. says 1667; other
authorities 1687.)
1680. William Bedloe, the famous witness in the Titus Oates plot, died,
charging the queen and the duke of York with being concerned in the
plot, except the assassination of the king.
1694. William Penn was reinstated in his province of Pennsylvania, which
had been taken from him and annexed to New York.
1701. Charles Sedley, an English poet, died. He flourished at the court
of Charles II. (1703?)
1704. Battle of Narva; the town taken by assault by Peter the Great, who
on the occasion killed several of his soldiers with his own sword, for
disobedience in committing excesses upon the inhabitants. He had been
defeated here four years previous by Charles XII.
1724. Louis I, king of Spain, died of small pox; in consequence his
father, the abdicated monarch, resumed the throne.
1746. Fort Massachusetts, situated in the town of Adams, surrendered to
the French and Indians. It was garrisoned with 22 men under captain
Hawks, when attacked by 900 French and Indians. The little band kept the
horde at bay while their ammunition lasted, and then capitulated on
promise of protection—to be humanely treated, and none delivered to the
Indians. In violation of the terms, Vaudreuil delivered one half to the
irritated savages. Hawks lost but one man in the siege; while the loss
of the enemy was afterwards ascertained to have been 47.
1756. Thomas Winslow, a native of Ireland, died, aged 146.
1760. James M'Donald, died at Cork, Ireland, aged 117, and 7 feet 6
inches in stature.
1768. Joseph Spence, an eminent English poet and critic, drowned in a
canal in his garden.
1783. John Demeste died; chaplain and chief surgeon in the army of the
prince of Liege, and known as the author of Letters on Chymistry.
1785. John Baptist Pigalle, a eminent sculptor, died at Paris.
1794. Battle of Miami, in Ohio, between the United States troops under
general Wayne, and the British and Indians; the latter were defeated
and driven out of the United States. The most hostile tribes were the
Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees and Miamis. The number of Indians engaged
in this battle was 2000; that of our troops did not amount to 900.
1799. Surinam surrendered to the British under admiral Seymour.
1801. The French garrison at fort Mirabou, at Alexandria, Egypt,
surrendered to the British under general Coote.
1815. Richard Alzop, an American poet, died at Middletown, Ct., aged 56.
1829. Adrianople captured by 28,000 Russians under general Diebitsch.
The garrison of the city, amounting to 100,000 regular troops, laid down
their arms immediately on the approach of the Russians, abandoning all
their artillery, camp equipage, and munitions of war.
1840. Michael Walsh died, aged 77; author of the Mercantile
Arithmetic, formerly in extensive use in this country. He was a native
of Ireland, and settled in America in early life.
1841. Dreadful explosion at Syracuse; 26 lives destroyed.
1847. The Mexican works at Contreras near the city of Mexico were
carried by general Smith's command. Falling back on Cherubusco a severe
battle was fought and the Mexicans completely routed. Many were slain on
both sides.
1849. Major Emory, in the United States service, gave information that a
river forty feet wide and more than waist deep, with good drinkable
water, broke forth from the desert about this time, between the river
Gila and the mountains.
1852. The steam boat Atlantic came in collision on lake Erie with the
propeller Ogdensburgh, and sunk in half an hour. Of 500 passengers, 250
were lost.
1854. Frederick William Joseph von Schelling, one of the most prominent
among the philosophers of modern Germany, died in Switzerland, aged 79.
638. Antioch in Syria taken by the Saracens.
1130. Abdulmumen, ibn Ali, elected sultan of eastern Africa by the
following stratagem. Having trained a parrot and a lion, he assembled
the chiefs in his tent, and urged upon them the necessity of naming a
successor to their rising empire. In the midst of their deliberations
the parrot perched himself upon one of the poles of the tent, and
pronounced distinctly "Victory and power be the lot of the khalif
Abdulmumen, commander of the faithful." The lion then made his way
through the terrified assembly, licked his hand, and lay down at his
feet. Deeply impressed with this wonder, and the manifest interference
of heaven, the simple Almohades unanimously proclaimed him sultan.
1553. John Dudley, duke of Northumberland, beheaded. He acquired almost
unbounded authority after the death of Henry VIII, and by the abortive
attempt to place lady Jane Grey on the throne, lost his own life and
brought about the ruin of all concerned in the scheme.
1560. The great solar eclipse, which first turned the attention of Tycho
Brahe, at the age of 14, to the science of astronomy.
1561. Mary (the Myrtle of the South), arrived in Scotland, after an
absence of thirteen years in France. It was on her passage that she
composed that simple and touching chanson, beginning, "Adieu, plaisant
pays de France."
1621. A cargo of marriageable ladies consisting of one widow and eleven
maids, consigned at London to the colony in Virginia, to be sold for
tobacco, at the rate of 120 lbs. of the best leaf for each.
1682. William Penn, to prevent any future claim, obtained a release from
James, duke of York, of all his right to Pennsylvania.
1703. Thomas Tryon died. He was the son of a tiler and plasterer at
Bibury, England, and became a shepherd. At the age of 13 he learned to
read, and at 14 he gave one of several sheep he had obtained, to be
taught the art of writing. Afterwards, selling his stock, for three
pounds, he went to London and apprenticed himself to a hat maker, where
he spent the day in learning his trade, and most of the night in
reading. He commenced business, and acquired a considerable fortune. He
rejected animal food, lived in "temperance, cleanliness and innocency,"
and died at the age of 69.
1708. Haverhill burnt. A force of about 400 French and Indians made an
irruption from Canada, and shaping their course to the Merrimack, fell
upon the town in the morning, plundered and burnt the houses, killed
about 40 persons, and captured many more. The enemy were pursued, and
many of them killed, among whom was a brother of the French leader,
Rouville. Among the captives was the clergyman; his two daughters 6 and
8 years old, were preserved by the servant, who concealed them under
tubs in the cellar, which the Indians did not disturb.
1726. Great destroying earthquake at Palermo, in Sicily.
1762. Mary Wortley Montague, an English lady of great literary
reputation, died. She introduced the practice of inoculation for small
pox into England.
1770. A leaden equestrian statue of George III was erected in the
Bowling Green, New York, near fort George, by Wilton, a celebrated
statuary of the day. It being the birth day of the king's father, prince
Frederick.
1775. The continental army under Gen. Montgomery arrived at Ticonderoga.
1780. French king abolished the application of torture to extort
confession.
1791. The American army under Gen. Wilkinson arrived at the Rapids on
the Ohio, returning from an expedition against the Ouiattanons, having
destroyed their principal town, and a Kickapoo village, made many
prisoners, and cut down 430 acres of corn. The army sallied from fort
Washington, and made a march of 450 miles. Only 2 men were lost.
1792. Lafayette abandoned the French army, of which he was commander in
chief, and with his three friends surrendered to the Austrians. They met
with a long imprisonment.
1805. Brest fleet attacked in Camaret bay, by the British under
Cornwallis, who with an inferior force compelled them to retire into the
inner harbor.
1808. Battle of Vimiera, in Portugal. The French army, 12,000, under
Junot and Kellerman, made a desperate assault on the English and
Portuguese, 20,000, under Wellesley. The French were defeated.
1810. Revolution in Santa Fe, South America.
1818. The renowned Warren Hastings died.
1821. Francis Hargrave, an eminent English law writer, died. His State
Trials comprise 11 vols. folio. His library was purchased by parliament
at about $40,000.
1823. Marco Bozzaris, the Leonidas of modern Greece, killed. He was a
native of Souli, in the mountains of Epirus, and on the breaking out of
the revolution headed a battalion of Suliotes. The pasha of Schodra
advancing with a numerous force of Albanians to attack Missolunghi,
Bozzaris with a handful of devoted followers attacked the camp by night,
and fell.
1831. Insurrection of the negroes in Virginia, and massacre of the white
population.
1835. John McCulloch, distinguished for his geological writings and
other works of merit, died in consequence of being thrown from his
carriage.
1846. The water in lake Ontario had fallen since the first of December,
1845, 28 inches, and was lower than ever known before. Gulf island,
which had been submerged seven years before, again appeared above
water, and many rocks and sandbars never before known made their
appearance.
1848. A hurricane devastated the islands of Antigua, St. Kitts, Nevis,
and St. Thomas.
1849. A national convention of inventors met at Baltimore; Horace H.
Day, of New York, president.
1850. Daniel P. Parker, a Boston merchant, died, aged 60. He gave close
attention to the construction of merchant vessels, and had in his
service many ships of superior model and sailing qualities.
1851. A prisoner under sentence of death at Sacramento, California, was
reprieved by the governor; but was hung, notwithstanding, by some of the
disaffected citizens.
1851. New Orleans riot, growing out of the Cuban expedition. The office
of La Patria, the Spanish paper, was destroyed, as well as the cigar
shops kept by Spaniards; and the Spanish consul was obliged to ask
protection, and was placed in the city prison for safety.
1856. The famous Charter oak at Hartford, Conn., was blown down in a
storm.
1857. A hurricane passed over the town of Woodland, Wisconsin, and
destroyed every house in the place.
1138. Battle of North Allerton, in England, and defeat of the Irish
under king David.
1280. Nicholas III, pope, died. His reign is noted for a missionary
expedition to Tartary.
1357. Isabella, queen of England, died in prison, where she had been
confined 28 years.
1485. Battle of Bosworth field, in which the forces of Richard III were
defeated and himself killed. The forces of Richard exceeded 16,000,
while those of Richmond did not amount to 5,000. The battle lasted
little more than two hours, and was determined by the defection of
Stanley. He is the only English king since the conquest who fell in
battle, and the second who fought in his crown.
1540. Burial of William Budæus, a learned French critic and commentator;
styled by Erasmus Portentum Galliæ (the prodigy of France).
1567. Capt. Gourges sailed from Bourdeaux to dislodge the Spaniards in
Florida. (See May 3, 1568.)
1567. Murray proclaimed regent of Scotland.
1572. Thomas Percy, earl of Northumberland, beheaded at York.
1613. Dominique Baudius died; advocate of the parliament of Paris, and
author of some Latin poems.
1615. Arthur Agard, a learned English antiquary, died.
1642. Charles I of England erected the royal standard at Nottingham. It
was supposed equivalent to a declaration of hostilities.
1650. Eusebius Andrews, an English barrister, and colonel in the army of
Charles I, beheaded by Cromwell.
1651. Christopher Love was beheaded at Tower hill. His offence was a
desire to restore monarchy, that presbyterianism might succeed.
1711. An expedition from New England against Quebec, frustrated by the
loss of a number of transports among the rocks, at midnight, about 9
miles up Canada river. About 1000 men perished.
1711. Lewis Francis de Boufflers, a distinguished French military
character, died. He was opposed to prince Eugene, and celebrated for his
defence of Lisle.
1739. James Vaniere died; a French Jesuit and famous Latin poet.
1752. William Whiston, an eminent English divine, died. He was also a
mathematician, and succeeded sir Isaac Newton as professor of
mathematics at Cambridge.
1766. Philip Carteret sailed from England in the sloop-of-war Swallow,
on his voyage round the world, in company with captain Wallis in the
Dolphin. They parted company April 10, 1767; the latter returned in
1768, the former March 20, 1769.
1773. George Lyttleton, an elegant English poet, historian and
miscellaneous writer, died.
1776. The British troops, 24,000, under lord and sir William Howe,
landed on Long island, between Gravesend and Utrecht.
1777. The siege of fort Stanwix raised by St. Leger, who retreated in
great confusion, losing his tents, most of his artillery and stores.
1777. An unsuccessful attempt was made by general Sullivan and colonel
Ogden on Staten island. The latter took 130 privates and some officers,
burnt a magazine of hay and 7 vessels, and destroyed some stores, &c.
The general deviated from his original plan, whence his enterprise was
not so completely successful.
1778. Count d'Estaing sailed from Newport for Boston, which compelled
general Sullivan to raise the siege of Newport and fall back; 2 or 3,000
volunteers having left him in consequence.
1779. General Williamson and colonel Pickens entered the Indian country,
and burned about 50,000 bushels of corn in eight of their towns.
1779. Charles Clerke, the English circumnavigator, died of consumption
off Kamschatka, and was buried at Paratounca. He had but a short time
previous succeeded captain Cook in the command of the expedition.
1792. Longroy, in France, captured by Clairfait, with 3,500 troops and
71 cannon.
1795. French convention adopted a new constitution, by which a council
of 500 was established, and a council of ancients consisting of 250.
1798. The French under general Humbert landed in Ireland and took
possession of Killala. (18th.)
1808. Armistice signed by the French general Junot and sir Arthur
Wellesley, by which the French agreed to evacuate Portugal.
1814. The inhabitants of Nantucket declared themselves neutral, under
the protection of England. Same day 27 sail of square rigged British
vessels arrived at Benedict; commodore Barney, in conformity to his
orders blew up his flotilla and retreated to Nottingham. The British
landed and marched to Marlborough.
1818. Warren Hastings, an English statesman and scholar, died. He was
employed in the service of the East India company, and by oppression and
injustice raised the revenue of the company from three to five millions
pounds.
1826. A barge belonging to Beechey's expedition reached longitude 156°
21´ west. Here they were embedded in ice some days, and were about to
abandon the bark, and return on foot 120 miles, to the ship, when it was
fortunately extricated, and made sail to rejoin the ship.
1828. Franz Joseph Gall, founder of the science of phrenology, died at
Paris, aged 71. His works are voluminous; his style is characterized as
vivid and powerful; his description as accurate and striking: and he may
be looked upon as one of the most remarkable men of his age.
1848. The rail road train made the transit from Springfield to Hartford,
26 miles, in 33 minutes.
1849. The fortress of Moultan was destroyed by a freshet, "remaining an
island of mud in an expanse of waters."
1849. A convention called the Peace congress, opened its sittings at
Paris.
1849. Venice capitulated to marshal Radetsky.
1850. Nathaniel Berry died at Gardiner, Me., aged 94; a member of
Washington's life guard.
1851. The American yacht America, at the regatta at Cowes, England, won
the "cup of all nations."
1852. Æneas Munson, the oldest graduate of Yale college, died at New
Haven, aged 89. He was an assistant surgeon in the war of the
revolution, afterwards became a merchant, and for a long period was
president successively of several banks.
1853. Pietro Bachi, a Sicilian exile, died at Boston, aged 66. Being
implicated in Murat's attempt to reascend the throne in 1815, he was
banished, and arrived in America in 1825. He was highly accomplished in
ancient and modern languages, and became an instructor of Italian in
Harvard college.
634. Abdallah Atik Ben Abi Kohafah, better known as Abu Bekr, died. He
was the first caliph or successor of Mohammed in the government of the
faithful. He enlarged the empire, and caused the precepts of the prophet
to be collected in a volume, called Al Koran, which is the sacred and
classical book of the Mohammedans.
1305. William Wallace, "the peerless knight of Ellerslie," at the age of
about 35, executed on Tower hill, and his head set up on London bridge,
to the public gaze.
1350. Philip de Valois, king of France, died. His crown was disputed by
Edward VIII of England, which gave rise to a disastrous war.
1400. Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, burnt by the armies of Henry IV
of England.
1481. Thomas Littleton died; a celebrated English judge in the time of
Edward IV, and author of a treatise on tenures or titles, by which all
estates were anciently held in England.
1500. Don Francisco de Bobadilla arrived at St. Domingo, a royal
commissioner to inquire into the conduct of Columbus.
1532. William Warham, bishop of Canterbury, died; some time chancellor
of England, from which office he was removed to make room for Wolsey.
1622. The Certain News of the Present Week is the title of a small
quarto of 18 pages published this day in London, supposed to be the
first weekly newspaper in England.
1628. George Villiers, duke of Buckingham, a noted English statesman,
assassinated, at the age of 36.
1630. The first court of assistants held at Charlestown, Mass. They
determined that ministers should be settled, houses built and salaries
raised for them at the public expense. They settled the price of
mechanical labor; carpenters, joiners, bricklayers, sawyers and
thatchers, should take no more than 2s. a day, under a penalty of
10s. to giver and taker. At this court Edward Palmer was sentenced for
extortion, in charging 2l. 13s. 4d. for the wood work of Boston
stocks, to sit in them one hour and pay a fine of five pounds.
1642. John George Wirsungus, an Italian anatomist, assassinated. He was
professor of anatomy at Padua, where he discovered and explained the
pancreatic duct.
1679. William Owtram died; an eminent English preacher and scholar in
the reign of Charles II.
1686. Buda, the capital of Hungary, after being in possession of the
Turks for 145 years, was taken by the imperialists.
1693. The first printing executed in New York, was a proclamation of
governor Fletcher bearing this date.
1719. Henry Clements, an eminent bookseller in London, died. His death
was memorable on account of the occasion it furnished for the
publication of his funeral sermon, entitled the Christian's Support
under the Loss of Friends.
1720. James Vergier, a French poet, assassinated at Paris. He possessed
great talents; but dissipation and licentiousness were unfortunately his
distinguishing characteristics.
1723. Increase Mather died; a New England clergyman during the
witchcraft delusion, which he labored to mitigate. It is said that he
usually spent 16 hours a day in study; the number of his publications
was 85, the number of his years 84. (His tomb stone says Aug. 27.)
1727. Hosier, the English admiral, died off Porto Bello. He had been
sent out the year previous with 7 ships of war to intercept the Spanish
galleons. On his arrival the galleons unloaded their treasure, and to
prevent them from sailing the fleet lay off that pestilential coast
until both the ships and their crews were desolated. Glover, author of a
little poem called Admiral Hosier's Ghost, represents the number of
dead at 3,000.
1756. Foundation stone of Columbia college laid at New York.
1782. Henry Lewis du Hamel died at Paris; eminent for his knowledge of
mechanics, agriculture and commerce.
1782. Cape River fort surprised and carried by assault by the British
captain Campbell with 150 negroes. He lost but 2 killed; Spanish loss 65
killed, 9 taken, mostly wounded.
1789. Silas Deane, minister of the United States to France in 1776, died
in England in extreme poverty.
1793. Massacre of the French in St. Domingo.
1793. The British took Pondicherry from the French.
1795. French convention decreed that all assemblies known by the name of
clubs or popular societies in France, should be suppressed immediately,
their places of meeting shut up, and the keys delivered to the secretary
of the town house.
1795. William Bradford died at Philadelphia, aged 39; some time attorney
general of the United States, and known as an author and poet.
1804. Tripoli bombarded the third time by the American commodore Preble,
from 2 P. M., until daylight the next morning, without much effect.
1806. Charles Augustin de Coulomb, a French engineer, died. He is noted
for his brilliant experiments and discoveries in electricity and
magnetism.
1813. Battle of Gross-Beeren, near Berlin in Prussia; the French under
Oudinot, about 80,000, defeated with considerable loss.
1813. Alexander Wilson, the naturalist, died at Philadelphia; author of
the American Ornithology, 7 vols. 4to, a work of great accuracy and
comprehensiveness.
1818. First steamer from Buffalo to Detroit.
1820. Oliver Hazard Perry, a distinguished American naval officer, died
at Trinidad of yellow fever, on the anniversary of his birth day, which
was the 23d August, 1785. His victory on lake Erie over a British force
superior in men and guns to his own, has given his name a permanent
place in the history of his country.
1826. Koller, an Austrian general, died. He accompanied Napoleon, where
he had to protect him against the rabble infuriated by priests and
ultras, which was done by an exchange of garments. He left a valuable
collection of antiques.
1835. Isaac Pococke died; one of the most successful dramatic writers of
his day.
1835. Massacre at Para in Brazil by the Indians. The attack commenced on
the 14th. The United States consul barely escaped with his life. It is
supposed that the slaughter must have been immense, and a more complete
sack of any city probably never took place.
1850. Charles Dyer, a midshipman in the United States navy, was drowned
at Pensacola, in nobly attempting to save the crew of a vessel in
distress. Alexander Hale, assistant engineer in the service and a
graduate of Yale college, lost his life also in the same cause.
1855. Henry Lawson, an English astronomer, died at Bath, aged 81.
79. First eruption on record of Vesuvius, which overwhelmed the towns of
Herculaneum and Pompeii, and destroyed the martyr of nature. The
younger Pliny, the nephew of that greater man, has described the
terrific catastrophe in two letters to Tacitus.
93. Cneius Julius Agricola, a celebrated Roman general, died. He was
governor in Great Britain, and by doubling the northern point of
Scotland, first discovered it to be an island. (Sept. 1st?)
410. Alaric, at the head of the Goths, entered Rome at midnight, and
gave up the town to be pillaged for six days, but with orders to his
soldiers to be sparing of blood, to respect the honor of the women, and
not to burn the buildings dedicated to religion. A part of the city was
burnt, and many ancient works of art destroyed. The treasures of the
city collected from all parts of the world fell a prey to the
barbarians, and the once proud mistress of the world experienced a
severe retribution for the sufferings which her heroes had caused to so
many cities, countries and nations.
1227. Gengis-Khan, a renowned Mogul prince, died. He suddenly rose from
the lowest fortunes, and in the space of 28 years subdued the greater
part of Asia.
1344. Battle of Cressy, which gained Edward, the black prince, immortal
honor. Here was slain the blind king of the Bohemians, the ornaments on
whose sword were adopted as the coat of arms of the princes of Wales,
Ich Dien, with three ostrich feathers.
1481. Alphonso V, of Portugal, died of plague. He was a great patron of
learning, and conquered several places belonging to the Moors.
1525. Francis I, king of France, entered Madrid a prisoner to the
emperor Charles V.
1572. Massacre of St. Bartholomews, which commenced in the city of
Paris, and was continued throughout the kingdom during thirty days. The
number of protestants who were butchered in this bloody affair, is
estimated at 30,000, and by others at 70,000.
1572. Gaspard de Coligny, admiral of France, fell at the massacre of St.
Bartholomews. He was distinguished for valor in battle, for strict
discipline, and for his conquests over the Spaniards; and was feared by
the court as the powerful leader of the Calvinist party.
1581. An assemblage of divines deputed by the states of Carniola, Styria
and Carinthia, met at Laybach, to examine and revise the translation of
the Vandalie Bible.
1605. The Turks having overrun the Persian provinces along the Caspian
sea, their army of 100,000 was met by 66,000 Persians under schah Abbas,
and completely overthrown.
1634. Abbasah, pasha of Erzerum, executed. He was the untiring enemy of
the Janisaries, who succeeded in awakening the suspicions of the sultan
Murad IV.
1653. An act passed by the parliament of the commonwealth of England
permitting marriages to be solemnized by justices of the peace.
1662. The English act of uniformity in religion took effect; about 2,000
ministers were ejected from their benefices, without any provision for
themselves or their families. Soon after they were banished five miles
distant from every corporation in England. Several ultimately died in
prison, for exercising their ministry in private, contrary to law; but a
considerable number of them found an asylum in New England.
1682. The duke of York conveyed to William Penn all his right to the
three lower counties on the Delaware river, now state of Delaware.
1683. John Owen, an English non-conformist divine, died, aged 63. He
preached the first sermon before parliament after the execution of
Charles I, was promoted to high places under Cromwell, which he lost at
the restoration, by the influence of the presbyterian party. His works,
which are of a high Calvinistic character, amount to 7 vols. folio, 20
quarto and 30 octavo. (See Oct. 15, 1651.)
1702. Sixth action between the British fleet, admiral Benbow, and the
French under Du Casse. The brave English admiral had his leg carried off
by a chain shot, and received two other wounds.
1756. Eighty Acadians arrived in New York from Georgia.
1777. General Washington marched his troops through Philadelphia for the
Chesapeake.
1781. The allied French and American army under Washington and
Rochambeau crossed the Hudson river and marched for Philadelphia.
1782. Jean de la Perouse, a distinguished French seaman and navigator,
took fort York, on Hudson's bay, from the English. Here he found a
manuscript of Hearne's journey to the Coppermine river, which Hearne
received back as his private property on condition of publication.
1793. Marseilles subjected to the French convention, against which it
had revolted.
1797. Thomas Chittenden, first governor of Vermont, died, aged 67.
1799. Bonaparte left Egypt.
1803. Gregory Fontana, a Swiss mathematician, died; distinguished as a
professor and an author, during a period of thirty years, in Italy.
1811. Swiss cantons recalled their troops from the British service, and
voted 6,000 additional men for the French service.
1814. Battle of Bladensburg, and capture of Washington city by the
British under general Ross and admiral Cockburn. The capitol,
president's house and public offices were burnt in a spirit unworthy of
any nation. A dreadful retribution, however, overtook them, by the
explosion of a magazine, by which one half their number was either
killed or wounded. American loss, 40 killed, 60 wounded.
1829. Reuben Kelsey died at Fairfield, Vt., of voluntary starvation,
after a fast of 52 days, during which he took no other nourishment than
water.
1833. Adrian Hardy Haworth died of cholera in England: a distinguished
botanist, entomologist and ornithologist; author of the Lepidoptera
Britannica, and various other works.
1842. Benjamin Wright, a distinguished American civil engineer, died.
The great Erie canal afforded him an opportunity for the exercise of his
mathematical knowledge.
1844. Great outrages committed in Rensselaer county, New York, by the
tenantry on Rensselaerwick.
1845. Samuel Haskell, the oldest episcopal minister of the state of New
York, died at New Rochelle.
1848. The American ship Ocean Monarch burnt in the Irish channel, and
more than 170 lives lost.
1849. John Pierce, of the Congregational church, Brookline, Mass., died.
He was distinguished as a preacher and one of the earliest advocates of
total abstinence from intoxicating drinks in the state.
1849. The chamber of representatives of Hayti, acting upon a petition
which had been circulated one day, brought in a bill conferring the
title and dignity of emperor upon Faustin Soulouque, the president of
that government.
1851. James McDowell, a Virginia statesman, died. He was sometime
governor of the state, and representative to congress.
1851. A fire in Concord, New Hampshire, destroyed the best part of the
business portion of the town.
1851. During devotional exercises at the jail in San Francisco, two
prisoners, Samuel Whittaker and Samuel McKenzie, were taken from the
jailer by force, and hung by the vigilance committee.
1852. Joseph Vance, an Ohio statesman, died. He served the state in
various stations, being governor in 1836.
1857. Thomas Clayton, a Delaware judge, died at Newcastle, aged 76. He
was sixteen years in congress and occupied the bench with ability for a
long time.
383. Gratianus, emperor of Rome, assassinated at the age of 24. He was a
powerful Christian ruler, but of an unfortunate turn of mind to conduct
a government.
1170. Strongbow, under king Dermot, carried Dublin by storm.
1270. Louis IX, of France, died. He made two crusades for the recovery
of the Holy Land, and died of a contagion off Tunis, in Africa.
1313. Henry VII, emperor of Germany, died. He entered Rome sword in
hand, at a time when the country was distracted by the war of the
Guelphs and Ghibelines, and was crowned by the pope.
1381. An eruption of Etna, which consumed all the olive yards around
Catania.
1482. Margaret, of Anjou, queen of Henry VI, of England, died. She
became conspicuous by her heroism in battle for the rescue of her
husband, and being taken prisoner was ransomed with 50,000 crowns.
1576. The earl of Essex died in Ireland, suspected to be poisoned by the
earl of Leicester, who married his widow.
1585. Sir Richard Grenville, planted the first English colony in
America, on the island of Roanoke, consisting of 107 persons. This
settlement was begun 17 years after the French had abandoned Florida, on
the same coast, but far to the north of the settlements for which France
and Spain had contended. The expedition was fitted out by Sir Walter
Raleigh, and consisted of 7 ships.
1654. Battle of Arras, in France; the Spaniards under Conti defeated by
Turenne.
1675. Battle of Sugarloaf hill, a few miles above Hatfield, on the
Connecticut river. The Hadley Indians had betrayed their conspiracy with
Philip's party, by fleeing from their dwellings, were pursued by
captains Lathrop and Beers, and overtaken at this place, where a
skirmish took place, in which 9 or 10 of the English fell, and about 26
Indians.
1725. A Hungarian picture of this date has the following inscription:
"John Roven, in the 172d year of his age, and Sarah, his wife, in the
164th year of her age. They have been married 147 years, and both born
and died at Stradovia. Their children, two sons and two daughters, yet
live; the youngest son is 116 years of age."
1758. Battle of Zorndorf between the Prussians, 30,000, under Frederick
the Great, and 50,000 Russians, under Fermor. The Russians were
defeated, with the loss of 19,000 killed, and 3,000 taken, and 103
cannon. Prussian loss, 10,000 killed. This was the bloodiest and one of
the most remarkable battles of the seven years' war.
1770. Thomas Chatterton, an English poet of astonishing genius, died at
the age of 18, by taking poison, to escape hunger and misery.
1776. David Hume, the Scottish historian, died. His History of England
is a work of great merit, and has long been the most popular work of the
kind.
1782. A large foraging party of British attacked at Combahee, in South
Carolina, by the Americans under general Gist and colonel Laurens, who
captured a schooner. Laurens was mortally wounded, and died aged 27.
1788. Archbishop Sens, premier of France under Louis XVI, seeing the
finances of the state utterly desperate, and fearing for the king and
more for himself, retired from the administration, and left the monarch,
while bankruptcy and famine threatened the kingdom, to manage as he
might, amid the storms which the measures of the minister himself had
provoked to the uttermost. He fled to Italy with the greatest
expedition, after having sent his resignation to his unfortunate
sovereign.
1789. Mary Washington, mother of the illustrious general, died at
Fredericksburgh, Va., aged 82.
1796. Lafayette and other prisoners released from the castle of Olmutz,
at the requisition of the French government.
1797. John Baptist Louvet de Couvray, a French advocate, died;
distinguished as an actor in the revolution, and an author.
1799. John Arnold, eminent for his improvements in the mechanism of
timekeepers, died. He was the inventor of the expansion balance and
detached escapement, and was the first artist who applied the gold
cylindrical spring to the balance of a timepiece.
1800. Elizabeth Montague died; an English lady of considerable literary
celebrity.
1803. Tate Wilkinson died; an English comedian and manager, often
noticed by the writers of his day.
1804. Fifth attack on Tripoli by the Americans under commodore Preble.
1805. John Skey Eustace, a distinguished officer of the revolution,
died, aged 45. In 1794 he went to France, and commanded a division of
the French army in Flanders.
1806. John Philip Palm, a Nuremberg bookseller, shot for a publication
against Bonaparte.
1807. Edward Preble died; the brave and intrepid commodore of the
American fleet, which in 1804 subdued Tripoli.
1808. Action between the British and Swedish squadron under admiral
Hood, and the Russian squadron, in which the latter was defeated.
1810. The solemn inauguration of the column to the glory of the grande
armée in the place Vendôme, Paris, took place on the 15th.
1812. The French raised the siege of Cadiz, which had long resisted
their efforts. Among the artillery abandoned, was a large mortar, which
had been employed in throwing shells the immense distance of three
miles.
1814. Washington city evacuated by the British under major general
Robert Ross and admiral Cockburn.
1819. James Watt, an eminent Scottish natural philosopher, died;
celebrated for his improvements in the steam engine.
1822. William Herschel, the English astronomer, died. He discovered the
planet Georgium Sidus, which sometimes bears his name.
1830. Insurrection of the Belgians commenced at Brussels. The populace
attacked and destroyed several houses belonging to the most obnoxious
individuals, and skirmishes followed between the inhabitants and the
troops.
1834. Morris Evans died at Raleigh, N. C., aged 105.
1835. Earthquake in Natolia, by which 2,000 houses were destroyed in the
city of Kaisarieh.
1836. Christian William Hufeland, an eminent Prussian physician and
medical writer, died, aged 75. He was a popular lecturer, distinguished
for his profound and extensive learning, and ingenious application of
his theory to practice.
1837. The cholera raged at Rome, and was fatal to 300; the greatest
number of deaths that occurred in any one day.
1849. The French admiral, de Tromelin, took possession of and dismantled
the fortifications at Honolulu, Sandwich islands, the government having
refused to comply with the demands of the admiral. He relinquished the
possession three days after.
1854. The city of Troy, N. Y., visited by a destructive fire, which
consumed more than a hundred houses and manufactories.
331 B. C. Battle of Arbela, the modern Irbil, on the Lycus, between the
Macedonians under Alexander, and the Persians under Darius (26th
Boedromion). The Persians were defeated and the fate of Darius sealed.
55 B. C. Julius Cæsar made a landing on British ground, at a point eight
miles north of Dover.
55. A surprisingly great comet was seen by the inhabitants of China.
1278. Battle of Marchfeld, in Austria, between Ottocar and Rodolph of
Hapsburg, in which Ottocar fell. This day laid the foundation of the
house of Hapsburg, which is still seated on the throne of Austria.
1346. Battle of Crecy, in France; the English, less than 30,000 under
Edward III, defeated the French, 90,000, under Philip VI, who received
two wounds, and was one of the last who fled. It is estimated that of
the French upwards of 30,000 soldiers, 1,200 knights, 80 bannerets and 9
princes fell in the battle and pursuit.
1595. Antonio, a pretender to the throne of Portugal, died. He was
assisted in the struggle for the crown by several of the European
powers, but was driven out, and died in exile.
1635. Lopez Felix de la Vega died; a Spanish divine, poet and a dramatic
writer of great fertility of genius. His works form upwards of 70
volumes.
1693. Peter Barriere, a French soldier, who attempted to assassinate
Henry IV, of France, broken on the wheel.
1723. Anthony Van Leeuwenhoek, a celebrated Dutch physician, died. He
became famous throughout Europe by his experiments and discoveries with
the microscope.
1762. Valentia de Alcantara, in Spain, taken by assault by the British,
under Gen. Burgoyne.
1765. Riot in Boston occasioned by the stamp act; several private houses
destroyed, and among them that of the lieutenant governor Hutchinson,
one of the best in the province; his books and papers, which he had been
30 years in gathering, were destroyed, together with his plate,
furniture, &c., and £1,000 in money.
1766. Thomas Winslow, an English military officer, died, aged 146.
1775. The Americans opened their entrenchments on Plowed hill, near
Boston. The British threw about 300 shells at them.
1775. James Burgh, an ingenious English moral and political writer, died
at Islington.
1776. Germain Francis Poullain de St. Foix, a French historical
tourist, died. He retired from the army to devote himself to literature,
at Paris, and was appointed historiographer.
1777. Francis Fawkes, an English poet, died. He translated several of
the Greek poets, and wrote many miscellaneous poems, in a pleasing and
elegant style.
1785. George Sackville, an English nobleman, died. He was an officer
under Marlborough, and present at several important engagements.
1794. Sluys, in Dutch Flanders, surrendered to the French under Moreau,
22 days after the opening of the trenches. The sudden capture of this
fortress, exceedingly strong by nature and art, and defended by the
brave general Vanderduyn, so intimidated the remainder of the Dutch and
Hanoverian garrisons, that they thought only how to escape the fate of
Sluys, and evacuated several fortresses equally strong; besides nearly
30 less important forts, and all Dutch Flanders.
1795. Trincomalee, a Dutch colony in the island of Ceylon, taken by the
British under admiral Rainer.
1795. British squadron under Nelson, captured in the bay of Alaeso, 11
French vessels.
1806. Edward Thurlow, an eminent English lawyer, died. He became
attorney and solicitor-general to the king, a member of parliament and
lord high chancellor of England. He possessed a vigorous and active
mind, which added to close application, gave him a high rank among the
professional men of his day.
1813. Battle of Katzbach, in Silesia; the French defeated by the
Russians and Prussians under Blucher. The day was so rainy that fire
arms could not be used, and the battle was fought hand to hand. The
French were driven into the river and perished in great numbers.
1813. Battle of Dresden. The citizens beheld a spectacle of an army of
60,000 troops marching through the streets to the field of battle, under
Napoleon. An army of 120,000 allies were drawn up around the city.
1813. Theodore Korner, a German poet, killed in battle. Many of his
pieces have been set to music, and become national.
1832. Adam Clarke, an eminent English divine, died of cholera, aged 72.
He commenced his career as a methodist preacher at the age of 18, and
became so popular that few men have ever drawn so large congregations.
He was a man of great talents and extensive learning, particularly in
the oriental languages and Biblical literature, and author of a well
known and learned commentary on the scriptures, and various other
publications.
1836. Buffalo and Niagara rail road opened.
1838. Caleb Stark, an officer of the revolutionary war, died. He entered
the army at the age of 15, and commenced his career at the battle of
Bunker hill as an ensign in his father's regiment. He remained in the
army till the close of the war, at which time he was a brigadier-general.
1848. A battle took place at the cape of Good Hope, between the British
and Boors. The former were victorious, with the loss of 54 men killed
and wounded; the Boors lost 199.
1849. The senate of Hayti, having concurred in the bill of the chamber
of representatives, Faustin Soulouque submitted to the wishes of the
people, and was crowned emperor of Hayti, under the title of Faustin I.
1849. J. A. Yates, an eloquent divine and learned professor of Union
college, died, aged 49.
1850. Louis Philippe, the exiled king of the French, died at Claremont,
England, aged 77.
413 B. C. The Athenian army under Nicias lost on account of the
general's fright at an eclipse of the moon.
524. Flavius Severinus Bœthius, a celebrated Roman philosopher, died
in prison, probably executed by order of Theodoric.
1556. Charles V, emperor of Germany, resigned the government to his
brother Ferdinand, and set out for Spain.
1565. William Rastal died; an eminent English judge of the sixteenth
century, and author of a work on the statutes of England.
1587. At the urgent solicitation of the colony of Roanoke, Gov. White
returned to England for supplies; but of his countrymen whom he left
behind nothing was ever afterwards known. Thus, says Holmes, terminated
the exertions of Raleigh for colonizing Virginia.
1590. Sixtus V (Felix Peretti), died; distinguished for the energy
with which he extirpated the outlaws, and opposed the overgrown power of
Spain. He embellished Rome with numerous and useful structures, among
which is the present Vatican.
1630. The first church founded at Charlestown and Boston; their pastor
was to receive a salary of £40.
1664. Articles of capitulation signed, by which the Dutch colony at New
Amsterdam became subjects of England, with the privilege of continuing
free denizens; to possess their estates undiminished; to enjoy their
ancient customs with regard to inheritance, to their modes of worship
and church discipline, and were allowed a free trade to Holland. The
doughty governor, Stuyvesant, could not be prevailed upon to ratify it
with his signature till two days afterwards.
1683. Thomas Dongan arrived as governor of the province of New York. He
was a man of integrity, moderation, and genteel manners, and may be
classed among the best of the provincial governors of New York.
1748. James Thomson, an eminent English poet, died; author of the
Seasons.
1758. Fort Frontenac surrendered at discretion, to the English and
provincials under Col. Bradstreet, after a siege of two days. They found
in the fort 60 pieces of cannon, 16 mortars, a large number of small
arms, a vast quantity of provisions, military stores and merchandise,
together with 9 armed vessels in the harbor.
1770. John Jortin, an eminent divine of the English church, and writer
on ecclesiastical history, died, aged 72.
1776. Battle of Flatbush, or Long Island; the Americans surprised by the
British and Hessians, and defeated with the loss of about 500 killed and
1,100 taken prisoners; British loss about 70 killed, 350 wounded.
1791. Placidus Fixmilner died; an Austrian ecclesiastic, and writer on
astronomy and the canon law.
1793. Adam Philip de Custines, a French nobleman and general,
guillotined. He served in the seven years' war and in the American
revolutionary war.
1794. Valenciennes, after Lisle the strongest place of the famous
northern barrier of France, surrendered to the republicans at the first
summons.
1813. Second day's battle of Dresden. The allies were defeated and
forced to retreat, with the loss of 30,000. The French had 10,000
wounded; the number of killed not known. Moreau had both legs shot away
by a cannon ball.
1816. Algiers bombarded by the British and Dutch fleets, under lord
Exmouth. The dey's fleet and defences were utterly destroyed, and he was
compelled to submit to a treaty on his enemy's terms.
1825. Lucretia Maria Davidson, an American poetess, died before
completing her 17th year. Her pieces amount to 278, of which Amir Khan
is the principal; some of them written at the age of 9 years.
1834. George Clymer, inventor and manufacturer of the Columbian printing
press, died in London. He was instrumental in improving many other
mechanical improvements.
1847. Silas Wright, an eminent American statesman, died at Canton, St.
Lawrence county, N. Y., aged 52.
1849. Gabriel H. Ford, an American jurist, died at Morristown, N. J.,
aged 85. He was one of the most eloquent and efficient lawyers of New
Jersey, and held the office of judge of the supreme court twenty-one
years. His residence was the head quarters of Washington in 1777.
1850. Benjamin Chambers, died, aged 86. He was a native of Pennsylvania,
who entered the revolutionary army at the age of 16, and afterwards
settled in Indiana. He held various important civil and military
appointments under the early presidents.
1854. The city of Louisville, Ky., was visited by a tornado, which blew
down and unroofed a large number of buildings; a church fell upon the
congregation while at worship; 25 were killed and 67 seriously injured.
1857. Rufus W. Griswold, a voluminous American author, died, aged 42. He
wrote for numerous periodicals, and left several unfinished works.
430. Aurelius Augustinus (or St. Augustin), one of the fathers of the
Christian church, died at Hippo, in Africa.
876. Louis I, of Germany, died. He acquired the title of the pious, at
the same time rendered himself powerful and formidable to his neighbors.
1443. John V, duke of Britanny, died, and was succeeded by his son
Francis.
1595. Drake and Hawkins sailed from England with six of the queen's
ships and twenty-one private ships and barks, on an expedition against
the Spanish settlements in the West Indies.
1608. Francis Vere, died; an English general, who distinguished himself
in the expedition to Holland, 1585.
1609. Hudson, having retreated his steps from Chesapeake bay, discovered
another great bay, which has since acquired the name of Delaware. He
anchored the Half Moon in eight fathom water, and took possession of the
country.
1645. Hugo Grotius, an eminent Dutch philosopher, died. He was a man of
great talent and laborious study, and notwithstanding he passed a stormy
life, his works are very numerous.
1654. Axel Oxenstiern, a Swedish statesman, died. He was placed at the
head of affairs on the death of Gustavus Adolphus, and owed his
elevation to his merit and abilities.
1686. Cassini, an Italian astronomer, discovered the satellite of Venus.
1710. Joseph Keble, an English law writer, died. Besides his published
works, which were few, he left 100 large folio, and 50 thick quarto
volumes in manuscript.
1722. Port Royal in Jamaica, destroyed by a hurricane; 26 ships and many
lives lost.
1731. Charles Boyle, earl of Orrery, died, aged 56. He made a figure
from the age of 19 up, in literary, military, and almost every other
kind of warfare.
1737. John Hutchinson, an English author, died: founder of a well-known
philosophical sect, which opposed Newton's doctrine of gravitation. His
theories are curious, but no longer in repute.
1754. An irruption of the French and Indians upon Hoosick and
Schaghticoke, by which those settlements were broken up, two persons
scalped, and the houses fired.
1775. George Faulkner, a celebrated Irish printer, died. He was the
first to carry the art to a high degree of perfection in that country,
and appears to have been a worthy and useful citizen.
1788. Elizabeth Chudleigh, duchess of Kingston, died at Paris;
celebrated for her matrimonial speculations.
1792. Dumourier took his post at the head of 20,000 men, undisciplined
and unorganized. Yet with these materials he arrested the progress of
80,000 Prussians and Hessians, and forced them to retreat with the loss
of half their army.
1794. Battle of Powassin, between the Prussians and the Poles, in which
the former lost their batteries and cannon, after a bloody engagement.
1798. James Wilson died, one of the signers of the declaration of
independence. He was eminent for his talents and integrity, and
continued in the discharge of some public office till his death.
1804. Margaret, widow of Benedict Arnold, died in London, aged 44. She
was the daughter of Edward Shippen, of Philadelphia. It was said of her,
that with a superiority and strength of mind seldom equaled, she
possessed such polished and fascinating manners, as to convert every
acquaintance into a friend.
1811. John Leyden, a distinguished linguist, died on the island of Java,
in his 36th year. He was ordained as a minister, but never attained any
popularity as a preacher.
1814. Bombardment of fort Erie continued by the British; a shell entered
the roof of Gen. Gaines's quarters, and burst at his feet, by which he
was so severely wounded as to be obliged to resign the command of the
fort.
1816. Treaty signed between Algiers and England, by which Christian
slavery was to be abolished, and all slaves, of whatever nation, to be
delivered up. The number released was 1,033.
1839. William Smith, an eminent English geologist, died, aged 70. In his
employment as a land surveyor and engineer, he turned his attention to
the geology of England, and published upwards of 20 geological maps of
the counties. He is styled the Father of English Geology.
1839. A grand tournament appointed at Eglintoun castle in Ayrshire,
Scotland. The day was very stormy, and the multitude from all parts of
Great Britain who had assembled to witness the feats, estimated at
80,000, suffered greatly from the inclemency of the weather, and the
impossibility of procuring shelter, food, or vehicles. An immense sum
had been expended by the romantic nobleman in getting up the festival,
which proved a total failure.
1851. The yacht America beat the iron yacht Titania, on a race of forty
miles out and back, and left her eight miles astern.
1854. Maria Christina, queen mother of Spain, left Madrid for Portugal,
under escort of a body of government troops, but against the will of the
people; she was indebted to the state 71,000,000 reals.
1855. Spencer H. Cone, a Baptist minister, died in New York, aged 70. He
was an actor, and on the stage for the last time when the Richmond
theatre was burnt. He afterwards edited a newspaper, and finally became
one of the most distinguished of the Baptist ministers.
1855. The vessel engaged to lay the submarine cable between cape Ray in
Newfoundland and cape North in cape Breton, 55½ miles, began to pay
it out. The cable afterwards broke, and a gale coming on, it was found
necessary to let it go.
1856. The Dudley observatory was inaugurated at Albany.
30 B. C. Conquest of Alexandria by Augustus; exactly three lustra or
fifteen years preceding the great victory of Drusus over the Rhœtians
and Vindelici, which concluded the Barbaric war.
30. St. John (the Baptist) beheaded. The decollation of the Baptist
determines the birthday of Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, called Antipas,
who for his ambition was banished by Caligula to Spain or Lyons, with
Herodias, in the year 38.
410. Alaric evacuated Rome and ravaged the provinces of Italy.
284. Era of Diocletian (or the martyrs), commenced, still used by the
Copts and Abyssinians. It receives its name from the persecution of the
Christians in the reign of Diocletian, and was much used by the
Christian writers until the introduction of the Christian era, in the
sixth century.
1350. Great naval battle in the English channel, off Winchelsea, between
the English under Edward III and the mariners of Biscay. Fourteen
Castilian ships were carried triumphantly into port.
1353. Action between the Genoese fleet under Antonio Grimaldi, and the
combined Venitian and Catalonian fleets, under Pisani, in which the
former suffered so great a defeat that only 17 vessels escaped.
1445. Paul, of Burgos, a learned Jew, died. He was converted to
Christianity, and was baptized at the same time with his three sons, who
all distinguished themselves.
1527. Battle of Mohatz, between the Turks under Solyman, and the
Hungarians under Louis II, in which the latter were defeated with the
loss of 20,000 killed. The Turks carried nearly 200,000 persons into
captivity.
1583. Stephen Parmenius Budeius, a learned Hungarian, shipwrecked on the
coast of Newfoundland. He accompanied sir Humphrey Gilbert's squadron of
discovery, for the purpose of recording their discoveries and exploits
in Latin. He was on board the Delight, which carried down more than 100
persons with her.
1657. John Lilburne, a famous English enthusiast, died. He was the
ringleader of a party called the levelers.
1660. The act of indemnity signed by Charles II, out of which most of
those called regicides were excepted.
1692. Col. Benjamin Fletcher arrived at the port of New York, with a
commission as governor of the province, which he published the next day.
1708. Haverhill, on the Merrimack, surprised by the French and Indians,
who burnt part of the town, killed about 40, and carried away 100
prisoners.
1749. Mathias Bel, died at Presburg; a Hungarian ecclesiastic, ennobled
for his literacy.
1750. Letitia Pilkington, a lady of great wit and literary celebrity,
died at Dublin.
1764. John Bernard, a distinguished London merchant, died. He
represented the city in parliament forty years, and was so highly
esteemed by the public that his statue was placed in the Royal Exchange
during his life time.
1769. Edmund Hoyle died; author of a celebrated treatise on whist and
other games.
1776. Americans retreated from Long Island. Gen. Mifflin commanded the
rear guard, with whom Washington remained until the retreat was
effected. The army amounted to 9,000.
1778. The rear of the American army under Gen. Sullivan attacked by the
British, who were repulsed. British loss 260; American loss 206.
1779. The Indians defeated by Sullivan at Elmira.
1780. James Germain Soufflot, an eminent French architect, died.
1782. British ship Royal George, 108 guns, sunk while careening. Admiral
Kempenfelt and about 1,000 persons were lost, of whom 300 were women and
children. (This is put down by other authorities on the 19th, and
differently stated.)
1799. Pius VI (John Angela Braschi), pope, died. He rendered his name
famous by draining the Pontine marshes. Bonaparte entered his state
twice, making him a prisoner the second time, and carried him over the
Alps to Valentia, where he died of excessive fatigue, aged 82.
1804. Com. Preble's fifth attack on Tripoli. The Constitution fired
upwards of 300 rounds, besides grape and canister: sunk a large Tunisian
galliot, and silenced two of the batteries and the castle. American loss
3 killed, 1 wounded.
1816. Scheta, the celebrated astronomer of Liliennthal, died.
1833. Great fire at Constantinople, in which a circuit of three miles,
said to comprise 12,000 houses and 50,000 inhabitants, was devastated,
and many lives lost.
1843. A treaty of peace between Great Britain and China concluded. The
Chinese to pay twenty-one millions of dollars, open 5 of their principal
ports and cede the island of Hong-Kong to the British.
1849. The fortress of Achulga, the residence of Schamyl, a celebrated
Circassian chief, was carried by assault by the Russians, after a siege
of four months.
1851. Lopez, who had invaded Cuba with American volunteers, after
sixteen days of reverses, and having lost nearly all his followers, was
captured in the mountains by the aid of bloodhounds.
1851. A convention of twenty-five delegates assembled in Lewis county,
Oregon, and appointed a committee to prepare a memorial to congress, to
procure a division of the territory, and the organization of a separate
territorial government.
1853. The Austrian minister, M. Hulsemann, addressed a note to the
American government, complaining of the conduct of Capt. Ingraham in the
Koszta affair.
1854. Petropaulowski, a Russian town, attacked and bombarded by the
allied English and French fleet. The town was defended by 1,200 men and
120 guns.
1854. A new asteroid, named Euphrosyne, was discovered at the Washington
observatory, by James Ferguson, assistant astronomer.
30 B. C. Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, destroyed herself by the bite of an
asp, to save herself from the disgrace of captivity.
526. Theodoric, first king of the Goths in Italy, died. He advanced
commerce and the arts, and patronized literature, but committed great
acts of cruelty.
1181. Alexander III, pope, died. He was an able pontiff, beloved by his
subjects and respected by the world.
1483. Louis XI, of France, died. His ambition led him to the commission
of the greatest crimes, by which he acquired the title of the Tiberius
of France.
1563. Wolfgang Musculus, a celebrated German divine, died. He adopted
the tenets of Luther, and by his eloquence gained over the city of
Augsburg.
1566. Solyman II (the Magnificent), sultan of Turkey, died. He
prosecuted war with various success in Europe and Asia, and took the
island of Rhodes from the knights of Jerusalem.
1645. Treaty of peace between the New England colonies and the
Narragansett Indians; by which the latter were to pay the expense of the
preparations already made for war, estimated at 2,000 fathoms of wampum;
restore to Uncus the prisoners and canoes taken from him; keep perpetual
peace with the English and all their allies; and give hostages for the
performance of the treaty. Formidable preparations were made for this
contest with the heathen savages. They drew up a manifesto, containing
such facts as they considered sufficient to justify them in making war
against the Narragansetts. It was entitled, "a declaration of former
passages and proceedings betwixt the English and the Narrohiggansetts,
with their confederates, wherein the grounds and justice of the ensuing
warr are opened and cleared." In this document it is affirmed that the
English colonies, "both in their treaties and converse with the
barbarous natives of this wilderness, have had an awful respect to
divine rules." It was determined immediately to raise 300 men;
Massachusetts to raise 190, Plymouth 40, Connecticut 40, New Haven 30.
1645. A formal treaty of peace between the Dutch in New Amsterdam, under
William Kieft, and the Indians in the vicinity.
1645. Parliament ordered a fast for a blessing on Scotland and sir
Thomas Fairfax's army, and a cessation of the plague.
1690. King William forced to raise the siege of Limerick after
sustaining great loss.
1717. William Lloyd, an English prelate, died, aged 91. He was a zealous
promoter of the revolution, and a voluminous author.
1757. Battle of Norkettin; the Prussians forced the Russian camp and
batteries, and killed 2,000 men with an equal loss on their own part.
1785. By the plague which raged at Tripoli, 30,000 persons had died up
to this date, of which 3,300 were Jews. The brother of the bey, his two
sons, and all the ministers of the bey were dead. All the Christians
established in the city as merchants had died.
1794. The Austrian garrison of Conde laid down their arms as prisoners
of war at the first summons of the French republican general Scherer.
The garrison was strongly entrenched, and might have defied the enemy as
long as their provisions lasted.
1795. Andrew Danican (Philidor) died; noted for his musical
performances and compositions, by which he acquired the sobriquet from
the king, of Philidor, after an Italian musician of that name, and by
which he is generally known as a celebrated chess player. His fondness
for the game grew into a passion, in order to indulge which he traveled
over a great part of Europe, engaging everywhere with the best players.
He remained some time in England, during which he printed his Analysis
of Chess, a standard work. On his return to France he devoted his
attention to the comic opera, of which he produced 21 pieces. A short
time previous to his decease he played two games blindfolded at the same
time against two excellent chess players, and won.
1797. In England, the Leeds methodist conference resolved to eject from
their communion, a brother, who should propagate opinions in opposition
to the established church.
1801. Cairo surrendered to the British, and Egypt evacuated by the
French under Menou. He was the first French general who landed with
Bonaparte, and the last who left it.
1804. Thomas Percival, well known for his writings on moral and medical
subjects, died at Manchester, England.
1804. John Blair Linn, an American poet, died, aged 27. He published 2
vols. of miscellaneous pieces.
1810. John Philip de Cobentzl, an Austrian statesman, died. He was the
last of that illustrious family.
1813. Battle of Nollendorf, in Bohemia, when Von Kleist made a daring
descent from the mountains, upon the rear of Vandamme, and gaining a
decisive victory saved Bohemia, against which Bonaparte had directed his
masterly demonstrations.
1814. Alexandria, in Virginia, capitulated to the British, and delivered
up the public stores, shipping, &c.
1814. The British under sir Peter Parker, having attacked the Americans
at Moorsfield, were repulsed with considerable loss. Among the killed
was sir Peter himself.
1832. Number of deaths in Paris from cholera since March, 18,000.
1834. Harding, an eminent astronomer, died at Gottingen; celebrated as
the discoverer of the planet Juno.
1835. William T. Barry, postmaster-general under president Jackson, died
at Liverpool on his way to Spain, as minister plenipotentiary of the
United States.
1838. David Hume died, aged 82; baron of the exchequer in Scotland, and
author of a celebrated work on criminal law.
1844. Francis Bailey, so favorably known as a stock broker and author,
died in England. He was instrumental in founding the astronomical
society of London.
1848. The United States district attorney of Arkansas had orders from
government to discover and prosecute all those who were engaged in
preparing a military expedition against Mexico, and establishing the
republic of the Sierra Madre.
1849. The chamber of deputies at Turin voted 100,000 livres to relieve
the refugees from different parts of Italy.
1850. John Inman, a New York editor, died, aged 46. He was educated for
the law, but commenced his editorial experience about 1830, with the
Spirit of the Times. He was also for a time connected with the New
York Mirror, and in 1834 became assistant editor of the New York
Commercial Advertiser, which he edited ably on the death of William L.
Stone.
1852. John Camden Neild, an English barrister, died at London, aged 72.
He was privately known by his eccentricities and miserliness, and after
his death became more publicly known by the strange bequest of all his
property, estimated at $2,500,000, to the queen.
1852. George Frederick Von Langsdorff, a noted botanist and traveler,
died at Freidburg, in the duchy of Baden.
1853. The cholera, which prevailed very generally in the north of
Europe, became nearly extinct at Copenhagen, where it destroyed 4,006
lives. In St. Petersburg the deaths during this visitation were 5,609.
1854. The British admiral Price engaged in bombarding the Russian town
Petropaulowski, was killed by a shot from his own pistol.
1855. Feargus Edward O'Connor, leader of the chartists in Great Britain,
died at Notting hill, England, aged 59, in the custody of an institution
for the insane.
1130. Abu Abdillah Mohammed, founder of the sect and dynasty of
Almohades, died. The empire founded by this imposter, lasted 140 years.
1290. Edward I, by a proclamation, exiled the whole race of English Jews
forever, on penalty of death.
1422. Henry V of England died at Vincennes, in France. He had conquered
the kingdom, and was received at Paris as the future master of the
country.
1523. Ulric Hutten, an eccentric German poet, died.
1568. John de la Valette Parisot, grand master of the knights of Malta,
died. He bravely defended the island against a formidable siege by the
Turks in 1557.
1578. Frobisher embarked to return from his third voyage to the
northernmost part of the American continent. His fleet was separated the
next night, by a violent storm, but arrived safe, one ship after
another, in England. Stow, the chronicler, says, "they fraught their
shippes with the like pretended gold ore out of the mines," as on their
last voyage, "but after great charges it proved worse than good stone,
whereby many men were deceived to their utter undoings."
1615. Stephen Pasquier died; an eminent French advocate and poet.
1660. John Freinshemius, a learned German, died. He understood most of
the languages of Europe, and his supplements to Livy and Quintus
Curtius, go far to supply the loss of the originals.
1688. John Bunyan died, aged 60. From an abandoned youth he became a
respectable preacher; the authorship of Pilgrim's Progress will
perpetuate his memory.
1733. Fifty tons of half pence and farthings sent from the Tower of
London to Ireland.
1772. William Borlase, an English writer on natural history, &c., died.
He also devoted much attention to antiquities.
1805. James Currie, an eminent Scottish physician, died. He wrote on
medicine, and published an edition of Robert Burns with an excellent
memoir.
1813. Battle of St. Sebastian; Wellington having driven the French over
the Pyrennes, carried this place by storm and achieved a victory on the
heights of San Marceil. French loss 15,000.
1832. Everard Home, an English anatomist, died, aged 77. He was one of
the most eminent medical men of his day, and his publications are
numerous and in high repute.
1849. The convention for framing a state constitution for California,
assembled at Monterey.
1852. James L. Kingsley, professor of languages and ecclesiastical
history, died, aged 73. He was connected with the college in the
department of classical literature, with high reputation, for half a
century.
1853. The cholera appeared at Newcastle upon Tyne, in England, and
caused 1538 deaths before its disappearance on the 26th October.
1853. A Roman circus of great size was discovered at Tours in France,
where excavations were being made.
1853. The small pox raged at the Sandwich islands, having since May
carried off 1,805 persons out of a population of 60,000.
1855. William H. Fry died at Philadelphia, aged 78. He was one of the
magnates of the press in that city, and the founder of the National
Gazette.
1855. Lewis Weston Dillwyn, a British naturalist, died at Swanse, Wales,
aged 77. He produced several valuable works on natural history, and
communicated various papers on fossils, shells and plants to the Royal
society.