1118.Baldwin I, king of Jerusalem, died, and was buried on mount Calvary. He accompanied his brother, Godfrey de Bouillon, to Palestine during the crusades, and on the death of Godfrey was made king.
1141.Mauddeclared queen of England in a national synod.
1196.William Longbeard, a factious priest, executed. He was notorious for raising seditions in London, during the reign of Richard I. He was torn to pieces by horses, and then hung upon a gallows.
1498.Charles VIII, (the affable,) king of France, died. He was crowned king of Naples, and emperor of Constantinople, but afterwards met with reverses, and was driven back into France.
1521.Magellanerected the Spanish standard on one of the Philippine islands.
1656.Jerome Bignon, a French statesman, died. He was born 1590, and his attainments were so rapid that at the ageof 10 he published a description of Palestine, and at the age of 14 a treatise on the election of the popes.
1668.William Davenant, an English poet and dramatist, died. He succeeded Ben Jonson as poet laureate, and obtained a patent for a theatre in Lincoln's Inn fields, which was in operation a number of years.
1684. Dublin castle in Ireland burned.
1710.Thos. Betterton, the actor, died. He was esteemed the greatest master of tragic action in his time.
1710.Edward Codringtondied at Barbadoes. He was a native of the West Indies, and distinguished himself by his learning, and by his courage in defence of the British islands against the French.
1712.Richard Simon, a French critic and historian, died. His works are numerous, and evince extensive learning and strong judgment.
1766.Tiberius Hemsterhuys, a Dutch critic, died. He was appointed professor of mathematics and philosophy at Amsterdam at the early age of 19, and is the author of several learned works.
1776.Charles Peter Colardeau, a French poet, died. He translated a part of Pope and Young with great spirit and elegance, and also wrote for the stage.
1780.Robert Watson, a Scottish historian, died; author ofPhilip III of Spain.
1785. First paper issued in Hudson, Columbia county, New York.
1786. The celebrated catacombs of Paris consecrated, with great solemnity. They lie under a part of the city which was undermined some centuries ago, to furnish stone for the ancient edifices of Paris, and at length became closed up. This cemetery had been used more than a thousand years by twenty parishes, and it is estimated that more than three millions of people had been inhumed within its inclosures. In process of time, as the city extended, palaces and churches were built over the subterranean caverns, and were in imminent danger of sinking into the pit below, before it was again discovered. The mighty city of Paris had until now but one burial place, where a pit was dug, and the bodies laid side by side, without any earth being put over them, till the first tier was full; then a thin layer of earth covered them, and another tier of dead came on; thus by layer upon layer, and dead upon dead, the hole was filled up. These pits were emptied every thirty or forty years to receive new tenants. The last grave digger, Francis Pontraci, had by his own register, in less than thirty years, inhumed more than 90,000 bodies in that ground. The great increase of burials rendered the cemetery still more inconvenient, and it was at last happily thought of converting the quarries under the city into a receptacle for the dead.
1788. The first settlement in Ohio began, at Marietta, by 47 persons from New England.
1789.Peter Camper, a Dutch physician and naturalist, died. He was distinguished for the extent of his knowledge. A splendid edition of his works was published in 6 vols. accompanied by 100 folio plates.
1789.Achmet IV, one of the most enlightened of the Turkish rulers, died. The first act of his successor Selim was the execution of the grand vizier, on the pretext that he had occasioned the loss of Oczakov.
1796. The British squadron under Warren captured 3 French brigs and 1 sloop, laden with provisions.
1797. Suspension of arms between Napoleon and the Archduke Charles.
1797.William Mason, an English poet, died. He was chaplain to the king till the American war, when his name was erased from the list in consequence of the sentiments he entertained in regard to the liberties of the subject.
1800. Action between the British ship Leviathan, admiral Duckworth, and the Spanish frigates Carmen and Florentia, 36 guns each, and 650 men, with 3000 quintals of quicksilver on board. The Spaniards were captured, together with 7 vessels under convoy.
1806. Alleghany county in western New York erected.
1807.Lalande(seeApril 4: by some authorities his death is put down on the 7th.)
1812. Capt.Agar, a celebrated English pedestrian, undertook to walk a distance of 59 miles in 8½ hours, for 200 guineas. He won the match 3 minutes within the time.
1812. Mrs.Bumbydied at Ekring, England, aged 80; remarkable for a horn growing from her forehead in a spiral form to the length of nearly six inches.
1814. About 200 British marines and sailors landed at Saybrook, in Connecticut, spiked the cannon and destroyed several vessels, and escaped in the night to their shipping.
1817. The county of Tompkins in the state of New York erected.
1835.James Brown, an American statesman, died. He rose to a high rank at the bar, and was several years minister to France.
1836.William Godwin, an English novelist, and political and miscellaneous writer, died, aged 81. He commenced his career as a dissenting minister, which station he relinquished to gain a subsistenceby literature. His works are numerous, and acquired him much celebrity, though tinctured more or less with skepticism.
1844.Morgan Lewis, a distinguished American military officer and statesman, died at New York, aged 90. He served with fidelity under the colonial government, and with honor and gallantry in the war of the revolution, and in the war of 1812. He held various important civil offices from 1791 to 1810.
1849.Irvine Shubrick, an American naval officer, died. He had been thirty-five years in the service, and fought under Decatur and Downes. He commanded the expedition against the island of Sumatra in 1832, which captured Qualla Battoo, and broke up a horde of pirates who molested vessels there.
1850.James Emott, a distinguished member of the New York bar, died at Poughkeepsie, aged 80.
1854. All English and French vessels were ordered out of the port of Odessa.
1856. The steamship Adriatic, the largest vessel of the kind that had ever been built, was launched at New York.
431B. C.A body of 300 Thebans surprised the town of Platæa, in Greece, in the dead of night, and were all destroyed or captured by the inhabitants.
46. Battle of Thassus, in Africa; Scipio and Juba defeated by Julius Cæsar.
217.Caracalla, the Roman emperor, assassinated at Edessa.
1341.Petrarchcrowned with laurels at Rome, with great pomp. This distinction was awarded him on the appearance of his Latin poem entitledAfrica, in which he celebrates Scipio, his favorite hero. This poem he considered his best, yet it was never finished. His reputation now rests as a poet, on his Italian poems.
1364.John I, king of France, died. He was taken by Edward III at the battle of Poictiers, and conducted to England, where he was retained in captivity four years. He returned from France in 1363, which he had visited on parole, and died at his palace in London, aged 45, after a reign of 14 years, which had been extremely calamitous to France.
1492.Lorenzo de Medicis, surnamedthe Great, and the father of letters, died at Florence. He was a great merchant, and an eminent statesman; whose public services so recommended him to the Florentines that he was declared chief of the republic; and whose wisdom and judgment were so conspicuous, that foreign princes made him the arbiter of their differences.
1546. The council of Trent declared against the Lutheran system, and adopted the Latin or vulgate translation of the Bible by St. Jerome.
1663. The first play bill issued from Drury Lane theatre. The play was advertised to be acted "by his majesty's company of comedians," and was entitled theHvmovrovs Lievtenant, and was to commence at three o'clock precisely.
1679. Bosia, a village near Piedmont, in Italy, suddenly sunk into the earth, by which about 200 persons perished.
1702.Thomas Gale, an English divine, died. Though engaged the best part of his life in active and laborious employments, he yet found much time to devote to literature and classical learning. His publications are numerous and display great ability.
1704.Job Ludolphus, a German linguist, died, aged 80. He was one of the most eminent orientalists of his time, and the first European who acquired the Ethiopic language, of which he published a grammar and dictionary, and a history of the country. He was well versed in twenty-five languages.
1704.Henry Sidney, earl of Romney, died. He was brother to the famous Algernon Sydney, and an accomplished statesman.
1731.Elizabeth Cromwell, grand-daughter of the lord protector of England, Oliver Cromwell, died at Bedford row in her 82d year.
1735.Francis Leopold Ragotzki, prince of Transylvania, died. He wrote an interesting memoir on the revolutions in Hungary.
1793.Edmund C. Genet, first minister from the French republic to the United States, arrived at Charleston. He was superseded by Fauchet at the request of Washington the next year.
1801. The French surrendered Rosetta, in Egypt, to the British troops under Col. Spencer.
1803.Louis Frederick Antoine Arbogast, a French mathematician, died. He was a member of the national convention, but appears not to have taken any active part in politics, his name appearing only to some report on scientific subjects. His works place his name high among the distinguished men of the day; his character was blameless.
1806.Herring, aged 60, and his wife, executed at Newgate, London, for coining money.
1808. County of Cortland in New York state erected.
1811. First law passed by the New York legislature respecting the Erie canal.
1812. Louisiana became a member of the United States confederacy.
1821.Simon Assemanni, one of the most learned of Maronites in modern times, died at Padua, where he had long been a professor. His explanation of the Arabian antiquities is much esteemed.
1832.Robert Simsondied at Montreal, aged 101. He was at the attack on Quebec under Wolfe.
1835. Mr.Clayton, an American æronaut, made an ascension at Cincinnati, which proved an extraordinary affair. The spot at which he came to the earth was on Stevenson's knob, a mountain in Virginia, 3000 feet above the level of the sea, and 350 miles from Cincinnati, which distance he was wafted in 9½ hours.
1835.William Von Humboldt, a distinguished philologist, died, near Berlin, Prussia. He was elder brother of the celebrated traveler of that name, and distinguished as a statesman and a scholar.
1838.John, a negro, drowned at Washington, aged 115.
1854. An explosion on the steam boat Gazelle, at Canemah, Oregon, destroyed the boat and killed 21 persons.
1854. A fire at Salonica, in Greece, destroyed 600 houses and warehouses.
1854. The Ganges canal, a work of vast magnitude, was opened by the lieutenant-governor of Agra, with great ceremony and a display of troops.
1483.Edward IV, of England, died. He disputed the crown with Henry VI and involved the kingdom in war and bloodshed, till the death of the latter, when he ascended the throne unmolested. He became a voluptuary, and died from excessive eating.
1483. Dr.Shaw, brother to the lord mayor of London, preached a sermon on the text "Bastard slips shall not thrive." It was not productive of many converts.
1547.Edward VIsucceeded to the throne of England on the death of Henry VIII.
1589.Thomas Sampson, a noted English nonconformist divine, died. During the reign of Mary, he fled to Geneva, where he was engaged in the translation of theGenevan Bible.
1609.Hudsonleft the Texel on his memorable voyage of discovery, in the yacht "Halve Maan," of forty lasts (80 tons) burden; a size which easily admits the supposition that he ascended the river as far as Half-Moon, or Waterford.
1626.Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, died, aged 66. At the age of 13 he entered the university, where he made the most astonishing progress in all the sciences then taught, and at the age of 16 attacked the Aristotlean philosophy. He succeeded rapidly in office under government, and in 1619 was appointed lord high chancellor of England and baron of Verulam. Here, unfortunately, he sullied his name, and was fined, imprisoned and degraded, for bribery and corruption. This extraordinary man is justly entitled to the appellation of "the father of experimental philosophy."
1648. A great insurrection of the people of London by reason of the parliament abolishing holydays.
1670.Samuel Sorbierre, a French writer, died. He was educated for the protestant ministry, but abandoned that faith for popery, without much advantage to himself, as his sincerity was suspected. His literary reputation is also somewhat tarnished.
1697.William, earl of Craven, died in his 89th year. The nobility of England are famed for longevity.
1747.Simon Frazer, Lord Lovat, executed on Towerhill, aged 80. He was a Scottish statesman, educated among the Jesuits in France. His life was a scene of treachery and misdemeanor, which compelled him to fly from one country to another. Finally, joining the rebellion of 1745, he was seized and condemned, and died like a martyr.
1754.Christian Wolff, a Prussian philosopher, died. In consequence of a Latin oration on the Chinese, which gave offence to the clergy, he was expelled from the country; but the honors conferred upon him by other countries, led to his recall by the king, when his merits were duly rewarded, and his former injuries obliviated. His whole life was devoted to advance the interests of science and virtue.
1759.Nicholas Hardingedied, an eminent English scholar, and author of some Latin poems.
1761.William Law, an English dissenting divine, died. He is well known as the author of theSerious Call.
1780. Charleston invaded by the British land and naval forces under Sir Henry Clinton.
1790.Nicholas Sylvester Bergier, a French ecclesiastic, died. He is the author of several learned and valuable works. His talents and worth commanded preferments, until he declined any more, replying that he was rich enough!
1795. An act for the encouragement of common schools passed by the legislature of New York.
1796. A British squadron under Sir Edward Pellew captured a large French convoy, under the protection of La Volage, 26 guns, which was driven on shore.
1804.James Necker, a Swiss statesman, died. He was sent as ambassador to France, where his abilities were so much respected, that he was twice elevated to the rank of prime minister. But the revolution destroyed his popularity, and he retired to Copet, where he died. He is the author of a work on the finances of France.
1807.John Opie, an eminent English painter, died. He was the son of a humble carpenter, and was drawn from obscurity by the patronage of Dr. Wolcott (aliasPeter Pindar). He not only became an excellent artist, but also an admirable writer on the art.
1813. The Chesapeake frigate, Capt. Evans, returned to Boston from a cruise, having captured during an absence of four months, 2 British brigs and 1 ship, 1 American brig with a British license, and a schooner.
1831. Battle near Siedlce, in Poland, in which the Russians were defeated.
1854. The English and French vessels on the coast of Thessaly were directed to search all vessels suspected of having munitions of war on board, and to seize such as were so found.
1855. All the English and French batteries opened on Sebastopol, and continued incessantly through the night and following day. The Russian loss was acknowledged by Gortschakoff at 833 killed and wounded.
879.Louis II.of France, died. He is characterized as a weak prince, who had not sufficient firmness to maintain his rights.
1534.James Cartiersailed from France with two small ships and 122 men, with a view to the establishment of a colony. He arrived at Newfoundland in May, and named the gulf St. Lawrence, from his entering it on the day of that festival. He returned without effecting a settlement.
1563. The city of Goa in India introduced printing.
1599.Gabrielle d'Estrees, a mistress of Henry IV, died. She was descended from an illustrious house, and was 20 years of age when her beauty captivated the king. He procured a divorce from Margaret of Valois, in order to raise Gabrielle to the throne; but her sudden death, probably by poison, frustrated the plan, and plunged him in excessive grief. Her amiable disposition, gentleness of character and modesty, won her general favor, and she was universally lamented by the French.
1603. A couple of vessels, fitted out by the mayor and aldermen of Bristol, under the command of Martin Pring, to make discoveries on the north of Virginia, and collect sassafras, sailed for the American coast. The sassafras, which was greatly overrated for its medicinal virtues, formed a profitable article of traffic, and is still extensively exported to Great Britain. Of this, they procured a cargo near Bristol, Rhode Island.
1606. The colony of Virginia, as it was called, divided by the king into two colonies. Although 109 years had elapsed since the discovery of the country by the Cabots, in the service of Henry VII, the English had made no effectual settlement in the new world. Twenty years had elapsed since Walter Raleigh attempted the settlement of a colony in Virginia, but not an Englishman was now to be found in the country.
1630.William Herbert, earl of Pembroke, died. He was the son of the illustrious Mary Sidney, and united in himself the virtues of his mother with the manners and accomplishments of a scholar. He is the author of a volume of poems.
1651. Birthday ofEhrenfried Walter von Tschirnhausen, an ingenious Lusatian mathematician, and founder of the celebrated Dresden porcelain manufactory. He also constructed, about the year 1687, an extraordinary burning mirror.
1653.Oliver Cromwell, having turned out the long parliament, locked the doors upon them.
1703.Andrew Morel, a Swiss antiquary died. He was a diligent and curious collector of medals, and in a work published in 1683 promised to give a description of twenty thousand medals, exactly designed. A part of this great work appeared after his death, in two vols., folio, describing 3,539.
1728.Robert Woodcock, an eminent English musician and composer, died. He also excelled as a painter of sea pieces.
1736.Francis Eugene, prince of Savoy, died, aged 73. He was born at Paris, and destined for the church, against his own inclinations. He applied to the king for a company of dragoons, and on being refused, entered the Austrian service. His first campaign was in capacity of a volunteer against the Turks; where he acquitted himself with so much distinction, that he was appointed to the command of a company of dragoons. He finally rose step by step to the rank of commander in chief of the Austrian army, and achieved a succession of brilliant victories and enterprises in Europe, which humbled the arms of the French, and rendered his name immortal in the annals of fame. His successful campaign in conjunction withthe duke of Marlborough, rendered him so popular in England, that a maiden lady bequeathed him £2500, and a gardener £100. [By some authorities, 21st.]
1741. Battle of Molwitz, between the Prussians and Austrians. The latter were defeated with the loss of 7000 men and 180 officers. The Prussians took 1200 prisoners; their loss was 1500 killed, and 3000 wounded.
1752.William Cheselden, an eminent English surgeon and anatomist, died. He acquired great professional reputation, and published several popular works. He was the first foreigner admitted into the French royal academy of surgery.
1756.Joseph Vaissette, a French ecclesiastic, died. He published aHistory of Languedoc, and aUniversal Geography.
1774.John Saas, a French canon and librarian, died. He wrote an abridgment of the FrenchHistorical Dictionary, and other works.
1786.John Byron, the English admiral, died. He enjoys a high and merited reputation for courage and professional skill.
1794. The islands of the Saints, in the West Indies, captured by the British.
1795. Action between the British ship Astrea, Capt. Pawlet, and French ship La Glorie, 24 guns: the latter was captured.
1796. Battle of Montenotte, which was attacked by the Austrians under Beaulieu, and defended by the French under Rampon, with such desperate resistance that Bonaparte had time to come up and obtain a victory, taking 2000 prisoners.
1797. MissFarren, the actress, took leave of the stage, after the performance of her part in theSchool for Scandal, to marry the earl of Derby.
1798.Bernadotte, the French ambassador at Vienna, in obedience to the Directory, displayed the tri-colored flag at his lodgings; but the populace in a rage tore it down. Not receiving the satisfaction he desired, he left the court.
1806.Horatio Gates, a distinguished officer in the revolutionary war, died. He came over from England as a soldier, and at the defeat of Braddock, 1755, was shot through the body. He joined the American army in 1775, and in 1777 captured Burgoyne. He was afterwards defeated by Cornwallis, at Camden. In 1790 he liberated his slaves in Virginia, and removed to New York, where he died.
1813.Von BergerandFinkexecuted at Oldenberg, Germany. When the Russians approached the town, the French magistrates fled, leaving a committee of regency of which the above were members. This committee were summoned before a court martial, at which Vandamme presided, and these two excellent men were unjustly condemned to death, although their accuser had only proposed their imprisonment.
1813.Joseph Louis Lagrange, a Sardinian mathematician, died. He went to Paris 1787, where he met with great favor, and under Bonaparte was invested with honors and dignities. His chief work is theMéchanique Analitique.
1814. Battle of Toulouse, at which the French under Soult were defeated by Wellington.
1816. The bank of the United States incorporated by act of congress, with a capital of $35,000,000.
1818.John Cleves Symmes, "of Ohio, late captain of infantry," promulgated "to all the world," his theory that the earth is hollow, containing a number of solid concentric spheres, one within the other, and that it is open at the poles 12 or 16 degrees. His theory amused the world for a number of years.
1823.Charles Leonard Reinhold, an Austrian philosopher, died. He was sent to study with the Jesuits, whose order was abolished while he was a student. In 1787 he settled at Jena, which owes much of its reputation to him, and in 1797 at Kiel, where he died. His works are numerous.
1835.Jacob Schmuck, a distinguished officer in the war of 1812 with England, died. He was a native of Pennsylvania, died at St. Augustine.
1842.John Sutherland, commonly calledKillyman, died at Merigonisbe, aged 116. He was born in the last year of the reign of George I, and consequently lived under all the sovereigns of the house of Hanover, six in number. He emigrated to Nova Scotia about 1822, and continued to wear the kilt to the end of his life, declaring that he would never disgrace his country by adopting a foreign garb.
1856. The Americans under Lieut. Green attacked 200 Costa Ricans, killed 27 of them and dispersed the rest. American loss 1 killed and 2 wounded.
1856. A company of 208 men left New York to join Gen. Walker in Nicaragua.
52B. C.Trial ofMilofor the murder of Clodius, in the consulship of Pompey. All the unwashed industry of the city was crammed within the forum on that momentous day; but neither Cato's candid ballot, nor the splendid labors of Tully, were sufficient to save the tyrant-killer; so that he was banished to Marseilles, and his estate confiscated.
44B. C.Marc Antonyrecorded in thesenate a decree of Julius Cæsar, on behalf of the Jews, made thirty-four days before his assassination. The decree is addressed to the senate of Paros, who had forbidden the Delian Jews to worship in the manner of their forefathers.
1415.Pierre Plaont, bishop of Senlis, died. A large quarto Bible fairly written on vellum was presented by him to the House of the Sarbonne for the use of the poor, valued at £15.
1447.Henry Beaufort, brother of Henry IV of England, died. He held the highest ecclesiastical and civil offices in England, under the king; was created cardinal and pope's legate in Germany; and is characterized as proud, haughty and ambitious.
1512. Battle of Ravenna, in Italy, between the Spanish and papal troops, and the French under the brave Gaston de Foix. The French were victorious, with the loss of their general, who was killed in endeavoring to cut off the retreat of the Spaniards. He was but 24 years of age.
1544. Battle of Cerisoles, between the imperialists under the marquis del Geasto, and the French, count de Enguin, who obtained the victory. The marquis was wounded, and 10,000 of his men slain; his tents, baggage and artillery, and many prisoners taken.
1555.Thos. Wyattbeheaded; acquitting with his last breath the princess Elizabeth and the earl of Devonshire.
1585.Gregory XIII, (Hugh Buoncompagno), pope of Rome, died, aged 83. He was an able pontiff, and has rendered his name immortal by the reformation of the calendar, and the adoption of the style which bears his name. This plan, necessary and useful, was long pertinaciously rejected by the protestants, and not adopted by them generally till about two centuries after, and not yet by Russia.
1644. The parliamentary forces under the two Fairfaxes victorious at Selby; 1600 common soldiers, 2000 stand of arms and 500 horses, the result. The parliament ordered a day of thanksgiving.
1669.Clifford,Arlington,Bucks,Ashley,Lauderdale, constituted the cabinet council of Charles II. From the initials of their names, this was called the king'scabal.
1713. The celebrated peace of Utrecht concluded, and with it the twelve years' war for the throne of Spain, in which the principal powers of Europe had been engaged, at a vast expense of life and treasure.
1733. The sheriffs of London and eminent merchants in 200 carriages, went to the house of parliament with a petition against the excise bill, then pending.
1737.Philip Hecquet, a French physician, died. He is the original of the immortal Sangrado ofGil Blas. He was a man of great simplicity of diet, and a friend to bleeding and the use of warm water at proper times, whence the caricature. He published several medical works.
1758. The wooden bridge over the Thames at London was burned down.
1766. Above 100 convicts left Newgate, in London, for the American colonies. They passed along with music playing before them.
1786. The first commencement of Columbia college, New York, when, the papers of the day say, "the public with equal surprise and pleasure, received the first fruits of reviving learning, after a lamented interval of many years."
1798.Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, the last king of Poland, died. He was elected to the throne in 1764 under the influence of Russian bayonets; was an elegant and accomplished gentleman, with good intentions, but without the energy and firmness of purpose necessary to sustain a tottering throne, and bridle a licentious nobility. The three great robbers, Russia, Prussia and Austria, divided his kingdom between them, and he retired to private life at St. Petersburgh, on a pension, where he died.
1799. Battle of Ledjars, in Syria; the French under Kleber defeated the Turkish and Arabian army, consisting of 4000 cavalry and 5000 foot, and compelled them to retreat across the river Jordan.
1801.Anthony de Rivarol, a French author, died. He was a man of great acquirements, and associated with the learned men of France before the revolution.
1804.James Thomasdied in Tatnal county, Georgia, aged 134.
1805. Treaty signed between Great Britain and Russia, the basis of the anti-Gallican alliance.
1808. British order in council encouraging evasions of the United States embargo law.
1812. Four British barges taken in Hampton roads by the frigate Constellation and revenue cutter Jefferson; prisoners 80.
1814.Napoleonsubscribed the treaty of abdication at Paris. On the same day the white banner was advanced by lord Wellington on the ramparts of Toulouse.
1816. Act of the British parliament regulating the intercourse with St. Helena during Bonaparte's confinement there. It legalized the detention of the fallen emperor as a prisoner of war during the king's pleasure; British subjects aiding or assisting him to escape, to suffer death.
1817.William Beloe, an English divine and critic, died. He is principally known as the translator of Herodotus and Aulus Gellius, though his works are numerous and highly creditable.
1817. At Dartmoor, England, a man sold his wife in the market place. She stood as in olden times, with a rope round her neck. Her first lover was the purchaser at the price of two guineas.
1823. County of Wayne erected in western New York.
1824.Jean Baptiste Drouet, who arrested Louis XVI in his flight, and was expelled from France as a regicide, died under the assumed name of Meyer, at Macon in France.
1829. The catholic relief bill passed the house of peers, in the British parliament after much discussion.
1832.Raffaele Morghen, a celebrated Italian engraver, died at Florence, aged 72.
1833.Rowland Hill, an able and eccentric preacher, died, aged 89. He usually spent a considerable part of the summer in visiting various parts of England, preaching in churches of every denomination that would admit of his services, and occasionally to large assemblies in the open air. He preached for the last time to an immense audience, but three days before his death.
1837.Kirk Boottdied at Lowell. He was a native of Boston, and received an excellent education, partly in England; went to Spain, and joined the British army as an officer under Wellington; spent two years at the military school at Woolwich, Eng.; on his return to Boston he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and subsequently was called to superintend the erection of manufacturing establishments at Lowell, where, by his enterprise, energy and extraordinary talent, his name became identified with the prosperity of that new and flourishing city.
1840.Alexander Nasmith, the father of the Scottish school of landscape painting, an eminent artist, and author of numerous productions, died at Edinburgh, aged 83.
1844.James Stewart, commonly known as Jimmey Strength, died in England, aged 116. He was born at Charleston, S. C., 1728, and at the age of 20 enlisted as a soldier—was at the battle of Quebec and Bunker's Hill. He had five wives and 27 children. Ten of his sons were killed in battle. His strength was remarkable. During the last 60 years of his life he traveled thebordersas a wandering minstrel, scraping upon a wretched violin.
1854. One of the college buildings of the Indiana University was destroyed by fire; it contained a library of 2700 volumes.
1854. The emperorNicholasissued a manifesto to all his Russian subjects, stating the object of the war with Turkey and the allied powers.
1855. Broussa, in Asia Minor, again visited by an earthquake, and the wooden buildings in the place were mostly destroyed by fire.
1856. The great bridge over the Mississippi at Rock Island completed, and locomotives passed from the Illinois to the Iowa side.
1856. Battle of Rivas; GeneralWalker, with 400 Americans and 300 natives, attacked the Costa Ricans, numbering 3000 men, who after a long contest left the city. The latter acknowledged a loss of 200 killed and 400 wounded; Walker's loss, 80 killed and disabled, including almost all of his official staff.
205B. C.The shrine of the potent goddess Cybele received at Rome from Pessinus, and deposited in the temple of Victory; Scipio Africanus and Crassus Dives, consuls. This was done in pursuance of an oracle in the sybilline books, which affirmed that if a foreign enemy invaded Italy, they might be vanquished by introducing the goddess Cybele into the capital.
65.Lucius Annæus Seneca, the Roman philosopher, destroyed himself by order of Nero. He was born in the first year of the Christian era, received a careful education, and became a disciple of the stoic school of philosophy. He was the tutor of Nero, who, listening to the calumnies of his enemies, had him accused of treason and condemned. He professed a contempt for luxuries, but was not indifferent to wealth, for he acquired an immense estate. HisMoralshave often been republished in English.
276.Marcos Claudius Tacitus, emperor of Rome, died, at Tyana upon Saurus. He claimed descent from Tacitus the historian, was a wise, benevolent and patriotic ruler, and had reigned but six months when he was snatched away by assassination or some violent disease.
1204. Siege of Constantinople by the French and Venitian crusaders. In the pillage which followed the conquest of this superb city, all the admirable monuments of Grecian art were demolished, including a colossal Hercules, by Lysippus. This deed by Christians is a great offset to the wanton depredations upon works of art of which the Turks and pagans are so often accused.
1443.Henry Chicheley, archbishop of Canterbury, died. His talents fitted him for the office; and the office enabled him to exercise his benevolence and charity with munificence. He founded the college of All Souls.
1520.Francis Alvares, a Portuguese priest, arrived at the court of David, king of Abyssinia, where he remained six years, and on his return published an account of his embassy.
1549.Joanof Kent, an anabaptist, condemned to be burned.
1646.Francis de Bassompierre, marshal of France, died. He was one of the most distinguished and the most amiable men of the court of Henry IV. Incurring the displeasure or the jealousy of Cardinal Richelieu, he was sent to the Bastile, where he remained 12 years, until the death of the cardinal. He wrote his own memoirs and a history of his embassies, while in prison.
1655.Francis Guyet, an eminent French critic, died. He employed many years in traveling and study, and finally settled in Paris, where he became so much esteemed that he might have risen to the highest honors, had he not preferred retirement.
1678.Thomas Stanley, a learned English writer, died, aged 34. He published aHistory of Philosophy, containing the lives and opinions of philosophers, of every sect, a work of great merit and popularity, and which was translated into Latin for the use of the German literati.
1695. Votes of the assembly of New York first published.
1695.John Kittlewell, an English divine, died. He acquired great reputation previous to the revolution, but refusing to take the oath of allegiance after that event, was deprived of his living, and devoted his time to writing.
1704.James Benignus Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, in France, died. He distinguished himself as a preacher and a writer of great erudition. His works were published in 12 vols. quarto.
1709. First number of theTatlerappeared.
1734.Thomas Fautet de Lagnydied at Paris. His mathematical efforts and researches were directed more to subjects of curiosity than utility. He carried the quadrature of the circle to 120 decimal places.
1743.George Cheyne, a Scottish physician, died. He was studious and abstemious in his youth, but on coming to London, cultivated the society of free livers for the advantages of trade! till he became at length extremely asthmatic, lethargic, listless, and corpulent, exceeding 32 stone in weight. Finding the power of medicine unavailing, he returned to a milk and vegetable diet, and recovered his strength, activity and cheerfulness, with the free and perfect use of his faculties; and by a regular observance of this regimen, reached the mature age of 72. His writings are numerous, and principally on health and longevity.
1749. British ships Namur, 74 guns, 700 men; Pembroke, 60 guns, 400 men; Apollo, 40 guns, 300 men; and a great many merchantmen, lost on the coast of Coromandel; 23 men only saved from the Namur.
1749.Francis Bellenger, a learned doctor of the Sarbonne, died at Paris. He translated some of the ancient historians, and wrote criticisms on Rollin's works, to show his ignorance of Greek.
1757. Subsidiary treaty between England and Prussia; England to pay annually 4,000,000 crowns to Frederick II.
1765.Edward Young, the English poet, died, aged 84. He was educated for the church, but was unfortunately induced to abandon it for politics, in which he was unsuccessful. HisNight Thoughtshad their origin in a melancholy state of mind, produced by his misfortunes.
1770.George IIIgave his assent to the act for repealing the duties on glass, paper and colors, in America; but the duty was continued from a point of honor, and as a badge of sovereignty over the colonies.
1780. The British opened their fire upon the American batteries at Charleston, which they continued until the 20th.
1782.Pietro Metastasio, an Italian poet, died. He supplied the opera for a number of years with popular operas and oratorios. He has been styled the poet of love. In all his works he stands high; in his operas he is unrivaled.
1782. The French fleet under count de Grasse defeated by the British under Rodney, with the loss of 9,000 killed and wounded. A French 74 gun ship was blown up, and one of the same rate sunk; two 74's, one 64, and the Ville de Paris, of 110 guns, having on board the French admiral, were taken. Thirty-six chests of money, the whole train of artillery, battering cannon, and traveling carriages, were on board the captured vessels—a circumstance which totally disabled the French from carrying on offensive operations against the British possessions in the West Indies. British loss 1,050 killed and wounded. A new system of tactics for breaking through the line of an enemy was here made use of for the first time. It was invented by John Clerk, of Eldin, a country gentleman, unacquainted with navigation. His principles have since been applied by all the English admirals, and Howe, St.Vincent, Duncan and Nelson, owe to them their most signal victories.
1782. Action off Ceylon, between the French under Admiral Suffrein, and the British under Hughes. British loss, 144 killed and 400 wounded.
1784.Joseph Raulin, an eminent French physician, died. He was induced by Montesquieu to remove to Paris, where he acquired great reputation, and was employed by government to write medical works.
1788. The first power loom began to work at Philadelphia, and on the first of November following the quantity of cloths manufactured was 3,719 yards jean, 580 corduroys, 67 federal rib, 57 beaver fustian, 3,672 plain cottons, 123 birdseye, and 2,879 linen; total 11,197, besides the quantity then in the looms.
1800.Frederick Conrad Hornemann, a celebrated German teacher, who had undertaken a journey into Africa for discovery, wrote that he was on the point of setting out with the great caravan of Bornou, since which nothing certain has been learned of him.
1804.Joseph Dacre Carlyle, an English orientalist, died. He devoted much attention to the study of Arabic, traveled in the east, and on his return was employed in the publication of the Bible in Arabic, when his constitution gave way under the task imposed upon it.
1809. The French fleet in Basque roads destroyed by the British under Admiral Cochran. The British lost but 10 killed and about 40 wounded. The loss of the French in vessels and men was tremendous.
1810. The French captured the East India company's settlement at Tapanooly, in Sumatra.
1814. Countd'Artois, brother of Louis XVI, entered Paris; Bonaparte set off for the island of Elba; intercourse between France and England opened; and a grand illumination in London, on account of the restoration of the Bourbons, and peace with France, which was continued three days.
1814.Charles Burney, an English musical composer, died. He commenced the study of music as an organist. At the age of 31 he undertook to write aGeneral History of Music, upon which he bestowed nearly 40 years of labor and travel. He visited all the institutions of Europe at which he could obtain important information for his work. He furnished the musical articles for Rees'Encyclopedia, and is the author of several other valuable works.
1815. Great eruption of Tomboro, which commenced on the 5th. The explosions resembled the firing of cannon, and were heard at Sumatra, not nearer than 900 miles. Such were the tremendous effects of the burning lava, the overflowing of the sea, the falling of houses, and the violence of the whirlwind, that out of 12,000 inhabitants on this island, only 26 survived. At Java, 300 miles distant, the air was so full of ashes, as to produce profound darkness at mid-day; and at Bima, 40 miles distant, the roofs of many houses were crushed by the weight of ashes falling on them.
1816. Hamilton county in northern New York erected.
1829.Felix Neff, a Swiss preacher, died. He undertook to improve the education and domestic habits of the peasants of the dreary regions called the High Alps of France. He persevered a number of years with much success; but his unremitting labors destroyed his constitution, and led to a premature death.
1834.N. G. Dufief, a French linguist, died. His mother was distinguished for her heroism in the Vendean war; and the son was driven to America by political disturbances, and resided at Philadelphia. He just survived the publication of his great work, thePronouncing Dictionary.
1839.John Galt, the novelist, died at Greenock, Scotland, aged 60. Being unsuccessful in business in London, he visited the south of Europe in 1809, and soon after commenced an active literary career, which continued till near the close of his life.
1839. The justly celebrated Dr. Black, of Mareschall college, Aberdeen, Dr. Keith so well known as a writer on prophecy, with the devoted Messrs. McCheyne and Bonar of the Scottish church, sailed from Dover in England to inquire into and devise measures for the amelioration of the state of the Jews in Palestine. This mission proved of much benefit.
1840.Francis Anthony, chevalier deGerstner, a distinguished Austrian engineer, died at Philadelphia, aged 44. He commenced at his own risk, the first rail road on the continent of Europe, from Budweis on the Moldau, to Lintz on the Danube, 130 miles. He suggested to the emperor Nicholas the project of a rail road from St. Petersburg to Moscow, a portion of which was undertaken under his direction, and first opened in 1837, and since prosecuted by the government.
1848. New code of New York laws adopted.
1849. SignorGasparis, at Naples, discovered a new planet, making the fourth added to our system in four years.
1850.Adoniram Judson, a celebrated baptist missionary died at sea.
1854. A review of 25,000 troops in Paris, before the British officers.
1854. The French squadron under Admiral Parseval-Deschenes, sailed from Brest to join the British fleet in the Baltic.
1855. The United States gave the twelve months' notice to Denmark of their intention to terminate the treaty of 1826, by which the payment of sound dues was recognized.
58B. C.Julius Cæsarfinished his famous wall of entrenchment, 16 feet in height and 17 miles in length, from Geneva to St. Claude; being a labor of only 6 days.
1436. Paris surrendered to the French under Charles VII, having been almost 14 years in the possession of the English.
1517. Cairo taken by the Turks under Selim, after a gallant resistance, and 50,000 of its inhabitants barbarously massacred. The sultan was hanged on one of the gates, Egypt was reduced to a province, and the power of the Mamelukes crushed, who for more than 260 years had swayed the land.
1584. An expedition fitted out by Sir Walter Raleigh took possession of Wowoken, on the coast of America, since called Virginia. A colony was left there, but they were cut off by the Indians, and every one put to death.
1598.Henry IVof France published at Nantes the memorable edict of toleration; it was revoked 1685, by Louis XIV.
1605.Boris Godoonoff, czar of Moscow, died. He was called to the throne by acclamation, on the death of Fedor, the last of the dynasty of Ruric. In abilities and vigor of character, he resembled Peter the great; and might be called one of the greatest of princes, was not his name tarnished by a crime that led his way to the throne.
1638.Henry, duke of Rohan, a French warrior and historian, died. He signalized himself under Henry IV, both in the field and in the cabinet, but the jealousy of Richelieu drove him to Geneva. He joined the duke of Saxe Weimar against the imperialists, and was wounded in the battle, of which he died.
1640. The English parliament again met by royal mandate, after a refusal on the part of the king to call one for 12 years.
1641.Richard Montague, a learned English prelate, died. He published several controversial works.
1684.Nicolao Antonio, a Spanish author, died. He published an account of all the Spanish writers, in 4 vols. folio, entitledBibliotheca Hispania. He spent his income, which was large, in acts of charity, and in collecting a library, which at his death, amounted to 30,000 volumes.
1686.Antonio de Solis, a Spanish author of note, died, aged 76. He was appointed historiographer of the Indies, and wrote theConquest of Mexico, on which his fame as an author principally rests.
1699. Birthday ofMaria Catharina Walter, in Germany. She died in Philadelphia, 1802, aged over 103, having lived in three centuries.
1722.Charles Leslie, an Irish theologian, died. He was a magistrate under James II, and respected for his talents and integrity. His writings were numerous, and sought for with avidity.
1726.Velasco Y. Palomino, a highly admired Spanish painter, died at Madrid.
1742.Oliver Reylofdied at Ghent, eminent as a Latin poet.
1743.Christopher Pitt, an English poet, died. His translation of Virgil'sÆneidis said to be superior to Dryden's.
1759.George Frederick Handel, the illustrious German musical composer, died at London, aged 75. His grand oratorio, theMessiah, appeared in 1741.
1759. Battle of Bergen, in which the duke of Broglio defeated the allies under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, who lost 2,000 men and the Hanoverian prince Ysemberg.
1777. Battle of Boundbrook, New Jersey, in which 500 Americans under Gen. Lincoln were attacked by 2000 British under Cornwallis, and effected a retreat with the loss of 60.
1782. Third action off Ceylon, between the British under Admiral Hughes, and the French under Suffrein; latter defeated.
1787. Board of regents of the university of the state of New York established.
1788. Great riot in New York, occasioned by the imprudent manner in which the physicians procured subjects from the burying grounds; several lives lost.
1794.Peter Gaspard Chaumette, a French revolutionist, executed. He was the son of a cobbler, displayed great courage at the taking of the Bastile, and became one of the most sanguinary and reckless characters of the time, till his career was arrested by the guillotine.
1795. Riots in England on account of the high prices of food.
1796. Battle in the defiles of Millesimo, Italy, in which the French under Augereau and Joubert defeated the imperialists, who retreated to the mountains of Cossaria.
1799. Schaffhausen, on the Rhine in Switzerland, taken by the imperialists.
1801. The canal at Alexandria, Egypt, cut by the British, and the country inundated.
1804. Makey, a Malay settlement on the coast of Sumatra, destroyed by the British.
1807.Robert Heron, an erudite and popular writer, died. By unwearied industry he raised himself from an obscure to a prominent situation in society.
1813. Battle of Castilla, in Spain; the British under Sir John Murray, defeated the French under Suchet.
1815. The bill for the construction of the Erie canal from the Hudson river to lake Erie, passed the house of assembly, 84 to 15.
1818.Thomas Hatchcockdied in Richmond county, North Carolina, aged 125, leaving a son aged 93 and another 16, and a great progeny besides.
1827.Hugh Clapperton, a Scottish traveler, died. He was employed by the British to explore the interior of Africa, and died at Sackatoo, on his second journey thither.
1832.Shadrach Bond, first governor of Illinois, died at Kaskaskia.
1839.Robert Hillhouse, an English poet, died. He was a stocking-weaver of Nottingham, and had no advantages of education but such as were afforded by Sunday schools. His works "will insure his celebrity as a poet of no mean grade."
1850. PopePius IXreturned to Rome.
1853.William R. King, vice-president of the United States, died. He was for many years a diplomat abroad, and his career furnished a remarkable instance of the eminent and deserved success of probity, fidelity, industry, gentlemanly spirit and bearing, and inflexible honor.
1855.Henry Thomas de la Beche, an eminent English geologist, died, aged 59. He was the author of many geological works, and director-general of the geological survey of the united kingdom, and was knighted in 1848, in recognition of his valued and long-continued services.
1856. Philadelphia visited by a tornado, 150 houses unroofed.
979.Ethelred II, crowned at Kingston by the famous Dunstan, then archbishop of Canterbury. This was the first king in England who took a coronation oath, and the first it is said to institute trial by jury. In this reign priests were forbidden to marry.
1040.Harold I(Harefoot), king of England, died. He was succeeded by his brother Hardicanute, whose first act was to order the body of Harold to be dug up and thrown into the Thames.
1293. Naval engagement in the British channel, between the French and English fleets, by mutual agreement, with the whole of their respective forces. The English, under Edward I, were victorious, carrying off more than 250 sail of their opponents.
1293. The mariners of Portsmouth and the Cinque Ports captured the Norman fleet, of 200 ships, off Brittany, and massacred the crews.
1322.Fitz-SimeonandHughthe illuminator, two friars of Dublin, commenced their pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre.
1345.Richard Aungerville, an English scholar and statesman, died; better known as Richard de Bury. He may be classed as the first bibliomaniac upon record in England. He purchased thirty or forty volumes of theAbbot of St. Albans, for fifty pounds weight of silver; and so enamored was he of his collection, which became very large for that period, that he expressly composed a treatise on the love of books, entitledPhilobiblon.
1471. Battle of Barnet, between Edward IV and the great earl of Warwick, in which the latter was defeated and slain, together with his brother and 10,000 men. Margaret (the queen of Henry VI, who was confined in the tower,) landed from France on the same day with troops, only to hear the tidings of the disaster which had befallen her cause.
1558. Marriage of the dauphin of France with Mary Stuart, queen of Scots, to whom he had been affianced ten years.
1619.John van Oldenbarneveldt, a statesman in the time of Elizabeth, beheaded for his praiseworthy attempts to limit the power of the stadtholder Maurice, which were construed into crimes. His noble lady, who witnessed his death without emotion, was afterwards solicitous for the pardon of a son, telling the astonished Maurice that she did not ask pardon for her husband for he was innocent, but she entreated for her son for he was guilty.
1662.William Fiennes, Lord Say and Sele, died. He was a troublesome subject under Charles I and Cromwell; but became tractable under Charles II (as he had been under James I), and was promoted, instead of others who had been more devoted to the royal cause.
1685.Thomas Otway, an English dramatist, died. His tragedy ofVenice Preservedstill keeps the stage; and though his pieces were generally successful, he died at a public house (where he had secreted himself from his creditors) in a state of great destitution, at the early age of 34.
1707. Battle of Almanza, in which the combined English and Portuguese armies were totally defeated by the French and Spaniards under the duke of Berwick, with the loss of 5,000 killed and wounded, and 10,000 prisoners.
1711.Louis, the dauphin of France, died of smallpox, aged 50.
1743.Thomas Rundle, a learned English prelate, died. He was the intimate friend of the learned and polite of his age. A volume of his letters has been published.
1760.Louis Silvester, an eminent French painter, died. He was ennobled by the king of Poland.
1769.John Gilbert Cooper, an English miscellaneous writer, died. He was a man of wealth, who made literature his amusement. His works, original and translated, are lively and elegant.
1780. Battle of Monk's Corner in South Carolina; the American cavalry surprised and defeated by Tarleton.
1783.Michael Francis Dandre-Bardon, a French painter, died. He was professor in the academy of painting, and admired for his historical writings.
1785.William Whitehead, an English poet, died. His principal works are theRoman FatherandCreusa, dramas, which were received with great applause.
1793. Action between the British ship Phæton and French privateer Dumourier, with a Spanish prize in tow. The prize was taken; her cargo was valued at £1,300,000, and £935,000 was adjudged salvage for her recapture.
1793.John Baptist Gobel, a French bishop, guillotined. He took an active part in the revolution, abjured religion, and wascondemned by Robespierre for atheism, and executed.
1795. A cargo of boards arrived at Newburyport, the first arrival through the locks and canals on Merrimack river—an expensive project of inland navigation, which was the best then in vogue.
1796. Battle of Millesimo, Italy; the French under Napoleon defeated the Austrians and Sardinians, who lost 2,500 killed, about 8,000 prisoners, and 22 cannon.
1801.Lemuel Hopkins, a Connecticut physician and poet, died. He was singular in his appearance and habits, but possessed great skill and assiduity in his profession; and as a man of learning and a poet entitled to more fame than is awarded him.
1803.John F. Hamtramck, an officer of the revolution, died at Detroit, where he was stationed as colonel of the first regiment of United States infantry, and commandant of Detroit and its dependencies. He served during the whole war of the revolution, with such distinguished merit as to receive the particular approbation of Washington.
1809.Beilby Porteus, bishop of London, died. His talents and acquirements procured him honors and wealth; and his writings will perpetuate his name.
1814. Congress repealed the embargo law of Dec, 1813.
1855. The office of theIndustrial Luminaryin Parkville, Missouri, was broken into, and ransacked, and the press thrown into the Missouri river, and the editors ordered to leave the state. The mob voted that no person belonging to the northern methodist church should preach in Platte county under "the penalty of tar and feathers for the first offence, and a hemp rope for the second."
1491B. C.The Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sin, on the 15th of Jiar, just a month after their departure from Ramasses.
43B. C.First battle of Mutina, the modern Modena, in which Marc Antony was repulsed by the two consuls Hirtius and Pansa, assisted by Octavius Cæsar. Pansa died of the wounds he received in this conflict, and Hirtius was slain after he had achieved a second and more decisive victory.
1053.Godwin, earl of Kent, died. He was a powerful Saxon baron, who distinguished himself under Canute in the war with Sweden.
1205.Baldwin I, emperor of Constantinople, defeated by Joannices, king of the Bulgarians, and taken prisoner.
1415.Emanuel Chrysoloras, a learned Greek, died. He was employed by John Palæologus as ambassador to different courts of Europe, where he acquitted himself with honor.
1513. The English fleet under sir Edward Howard defeated off Brest by the French.
1521. The faculty of divines of the university of Paris, after many meetings held in the Sorbonne, drew up acensureof the heresies of Luther, which was solemnly proclaimed in a general assembly on this day.
1558. A volcano burst out near a spring in the isle of Palma, one of the Canaries.
1570.William Alley, bishop of Exeter, died. During the reign of Mary he retired, and kept a school and practiced physic, in order to avoid persecution; but on the accession of Elizabeth he was promoted. He wrote thePoor Man's Library, and other works.
1611.Richard Mulcaster, a celebrated scholar and English writer, died at Stanford Rivers, where he was rector.
1632.George Calvert, lord Baltimore, died. He was a learned, amiable and accomplished man, who resigned his offices under James I on embracing the catholic faith. The king, however, raised him to the Irish peerage of Baltimore. He obtained a grant for a plantation in Newfoundland; but the invasions of the Frenchobliged him to abandon it, after he had spent £25,000 in its settlement. In the place of it, he received a territory on the continent, now known as the state of Maryland.
1642. Battle of Killrush in Ireland, in which the Roman catholic army was signally defeated by the duke of Ormond.
1659.Simon Dach, a German poet, died. He lived in a humble condition until he was appointed professor of poetry in the university of Konigsberg. His secular songs are said to be lively and natural; his sacred songs distinguished for deep and quiet feeling.
1670.John Daillie, a distinguished French protestant divine, died. His works evince great learning and judgment, and excited much interest.
1697.Charles XIof Sweden died. He was successful in war, and respected as a just prince.
1702. The proprietaries of East and West Jersey surrendered the government to queen Anne, after which it continued under one government, called New Jersey.
1715. The Yamasses, a powerful tribe of Indians in South Carolina, having meditated the extirpation of the English settlements in that state, fell upon Pocataligo and the neighboring plantations, and massacred all who fell into their hands.
1719.Frances d'Aubigne, madame de Maintenon, a celebrated French lady, died. From a state of want and dependence she rose to be the wife of the king of France, though not publicly married. Her exemplary life and extensive charity after that event, made amends for many errors committed in reaching the height of her ambition.
1720.Luke Melbourne, an English divine, died. He was a prose and poetical writer of considerable ability, and his name is frequently introduced by Dryden and Pope in their works.
1754. The first theatre opened in Philadelphia, at the west corner of Cedar and Vernon streets, with theFair PenitentandMiss in her Teens.
1755. The counters of the bank of England were broken down by the crowd in their eagerness to obtain lottery tickets.
1756.James Cassini, a French astronomer, died. He succeeded his father as astronomer royal, and made many important discoveries.
1758. The strong fortress of Schweidnitz, in Prussia, taken by assault, by the Prussians, and count Theirhaimb with 5,000 Austrians surrendered.
1761.James Cawthorne, an English poet, died. His poems were collected and published quarto, in 1771.
1761.William Oldys, a famous English antiquary, died. He was well versed in English antiquities, a correct writer and a good historian.
1764.Jane Antoinette Poisson, marchioness de Pompadour, died. She was the favorite of the licentious Louis XV. The patronage she extended to literature and the arts in some degree atoned for the follies she committed.
1764.Archibald Laidlie, having accepted a call from the reformed protestant Dutch church in New York, preached the first English sermon before that congregation.
1768. The populace at Peterborough, England, demolished a house that had been opened for the inoculation for small pox. The pretence was to prevent the spreading of a new disease.
1776.James Granger, a learned and ingenious English divine, died. He is the author of a valuableBiographical History of England, 4 vols, quarto.
1777. A party of 100 Indians attacked the settlement of Boonesborough, in Kentucky, and killed 4 of colonel Boone's men.
1777. Congress resolved that no distinction be made between the troops, and that the titles of Congress's Own Regiment, Washington's Life Guards, &c., be abolished.
1777. British picket near Bonumtown, N. J., stormed by a detachment under captain Patterson.
1786.Andrew Wilsonexecuted at Edinburgh. This execution occasioned the subsequent Porteous mob.
1788.Mary Delany, an ingenious Irish lady, died, aged 88. She corresponded with some of the learned men of the day; but is chiefly known by an ingeniousFlorawhich she commenced at the age of 74, and labored at with taste and assiduity nearly ten years, when her sight began to fail her. It was constructed of paper, cut and painted to resemble nature, with great accuracy of form and color.
1791. The first corner stone in the district of Columbia was laid at Jones's point, near Alexandria, with the imposing masonic ceremonies of the time, and a quaint address by Rev. James Muir. By the retrocession of Alexandria, a little more than fifty years after, the corner stone was no longer within the district.
1793.Forster Powell, the celebrated English pedestrian, died, aged 59. His favorite walk was from the monument in London to the cathedral in York and back again, a distance of 340 miles, in less than six days.