1167.Edgar, king of Scotland, died, and was succeeded by his younger brother, Alexander I.
1536.Catharine of Arragon, died; queen of Henry VIII and mother of Mary, queen of England.
1642.Galileo Galilei, the astronomer, died, aged 78.
1676. French Admiral Duquesne defeated the Dutch and Spanish fleets under De Ruyter, who had both legs shattered.
1704.Laurentio Bellini, a Florentine anatomist, died, aged 61. He was held in great estimation by prince and pontiff. His theory and practice are out of date now, and his works also, in consequence of the vast improvements in medicine and surgery since his day.
1775.John Baskerville, an English printer and type founder, of rare celebrity, died. As a philanthropist he was also well known to large circles.
1777. British evacuated Elizabethtown, N. J.; Gen. Maxwell fell on their rear, and took 70 prisoners and a schooner loaded with baggage.
1780. British Admiral Rodney captured 22 sail of Spanish ships. One of these, the Guipuscaio, of 64 guns, was named the Prince William, from a son of George III who was in the action.
1784. Whitestown, N. Y., settled about this time.
1795. French ship Esperance, 22 guns, captured off Cape Henry by British ship Argonaut, Capt. Ball.
1796.Samuel Huntingdon, governor of Connecticut, and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, died aged 64.
1796. French took by surprise the British camp at Mount William, island of St. Vincent, West Indies. British lost 54 killed, Brig. Gen. Strutt and 109 wounded, and 200 missing.
1799. French privateer cutter La Rancune, from St. Maloes, captured, by the British cutter Pigmy, Capt. Shepheard, who at the same time recaptured two British brigs, prizes to La Rancune.
1815. Battle of New Orleans. The city was attacked by the British under Packenham, consisting of 15,000 disciplined troops, and was defended by 6000 militia and volunteers, under Gen. Jackson, prepared to die in its defence. The result was a brilliant victory over the British. Packenham was killed, and 5,000 men surrendered—the rest fled to their vessels. The loss of the Americans was trifling, 13 killed and wounded, that of the British 2,600.
1815. Total loss of the Americans in this war up to the last battle, 1344 killed, 2673 wounded, 651 missing, 1351 taken prisoners.
1817. Two shocks of earthquake at Charleston, S. C, and at Savannah, Ga.
1825.Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin, died.
1848. The lives of thirty persons lost by the bursting of the boilers of the steamer Blue Ridge on the Ohio river. The boilers had been in use nine years.
1849. The pope threatened all who should take part in electing a new assembly, with excommunication.
1850. First ship in the United States dry dock at Brooklyn.
1853.Charles Humphrey Atherton, an eminent New Hampshire lawyer, died, aged 79.
1854.William Carr Berresford, a distinguished British field officer and nobleman, died, aged 85.
1854. Metropolitan hall and Lafarge hotel, two of the finest buildings in New York destroyed by fire.
1514.Anne of Bretagne, queen of France died, aged 37.
1584.William Carter, a daring London printer, hanged, boweled, and quartered at Tyburn, for printing lewd pamphlets, popish and others, and particularly aTreatise on Schisme.
1596.Francis Drake, the English navigator, died. He served with distinction under his relative Sir J. Hawkins; and having lost all his property in an action with the Spaniards, he conceived an inveterate hatred against them. He signalized himself in the destruction of the Spanish Armada; and finally died on the coast of America in a war against the Spanish settlements. He made the first voyage round the world. To him is attributed the introduction of the potatoe into Europe. The day of his death is differently stated.
1621. The Plymouth colonists commenced the erection of their projected town, which they built in two rows of houses for greater security. The same street still exists, leading to the water side.
1658. Birthday ofNicholas Couston, a famous French sculptor, from whose labors the art of statuary received a noble impulse. He died at Paris 1733.
1757.Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, a French author of great repute, died. He was born at Rouen 1657; his mother was the sister of Corneille. Although his works are now obsolete in consequence of the advancement of science, no learned man exerted a more decided influence on the age in which he lived than Fontenelle.
1766.Thomas Birch, an English historian and biographer, died. He was of quaker parentage, and by unwearied industry educated himself. His literary labors were prodigious, which early rising and a strict economy of time enabled him to perform. He bequeathed his library to the British museum; it contained an incredible number ofMSS.in his own handwriting.
1770.Catharine Talbot, authoress ofReflections on the Seven Days of the Week, and a contributor to theRambler, died.
1779.John Reinhold Foster, author ofNorthern Voyages, and who circumnavigated the globe with Cook, died in his 70th year.
1788. Connecticut, the fifth state which adopted the constitution of the United States without amendments.
1792. Treaty of peace signed at Jassy between Russia and Turkey.
1793.Mr. Blanchard, the French æronaut, made the first balloon ascension in the United States, at Philadelphia, in the presence of General Washington.
1795. Thiel in Holland taken by the French under Macdonald.
1799. The habeas corpus act suspended in Great Britain.
1805.Noble Wimberly Jones, a revolutionary character, died. He came to America under Gen. Oglethorpe, and at the breaking out of the war was a practicing physician in Savannah. He was elected to the Georgia legislature a number of years and then resumed his practice again, at the solicitation of many of his former patients.
1809. Congress passed laws to enforce the embargo.
1810. The Diocesan court of the officiality of Paris pronounced a nullity of marriage between Bonaparte and Josephine.
1811. The Spanish cortes published a manifesto declaring their determination not to enter into a treaty with Bonaparte until his troops should have entirely evacuated the Peninsula.
1811. The whole militia of New Orleans ordered into immediate service by Gov. Claiborne to suppress a negro insurrection.
1812. Valentia in Spain surrendered to the French under Suchet, with 374 cannons, 18000 troops and stores of all kinds.
1813. British manifesto against the United States.
1815. Truce between Gen. Jackson and Gen. Lambert to bury the dead of the battle of the previous day.
1815. The British began the bombardment of the American fort St. Philip, defended by Major Overton, which was kept up daily until the 17th.
1816. A society instituted at Trenton, N. J., for forming a colony of blacks.
1818.Old Johndied. During eighty years, from the premiership of Walpole to that of Liverpool, he acted as messenger in the Royal printing office, London. He styled himself King's messenger.
1827.Elizabeth Ogilvy Benger, an English authoress, died. In her 13th year she wrote a poem, and afterwards attempted the drama. Her reputation isbased upon herHistorical Biographies, which were originally published in 10 vols.
1828.Francis de Neufchateau, a French statesman, died. He was born 1750, and in his 13th year published a volume of poems, which indicated more for the future than was realized. He took part in the affairs of the revolution, but was condemned for his moderation. Napoleon took him into favor; his pursuits were chiefly literary, however.
1843. Great fire at Port-au-Prince; 600 houses burnt and property to an immense amount destroyed. The blacks who inhabited the mountains rushed down and completed the work of destruction, by firing and plundering such houses as the fire had not reached, and committing every sort of excess.
1854. The Astor library in New York opened to the public.
1640.Maurice Abbot, a distinguished London merchant, died. He acquired great consequence by his own efforts in commercial affairs, and was employed in 1624 in establishing the settlement of Virginia. At the time of his death he was mayor of London.
1645.William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, beheaded on Tower hill, aged 70. Sentenced to be hung for political misdemeanors, he was pardoned by the king; but parliament overruled the pardon, and substituted theprivilegeof being beheaded instead of hanging. He acquired so great an ascendency over Charles as to lead him, by the facility of his temper, into a conduct which proved fatal to that prince, and by which he lost his kingdom, and met the same fate four years after at Whitehall.
1661. A proclamation issued by the king of England prohibiting conventicles for religious meetings.
1661. The fifth monarchy men, headed by Venner, a wine cooper, arose to proclaim "King Jesus against all the powers of the earth." But King Charles's power was found too strong for them.
1754.Edward Cavedied, an English printer and founder of theGentleman's Magazine. When his indentures expired as a printer's apprentice, he was employed in the post office, and occupied his leisure in writing for the newspapers. In 1731 was first published the Magazine, and it has continued to this day, more than a century, amid the crowd of magazines which have perished around it; and is one of the most successful and lucrative periodicals that history has upon record.
1756.Francois, marquis de Beauharnois, died at Paris. He was a member of the national assembly, and took part in the king's favor; subsequently joined the army under Conde; and was banished by Napoleon in 1807. The heroic wife of Lavalette was his daughter.
1757. The British under Admiral Watson took by assault, Houghley, situated about thirty miles above Calcutta.
1761.Edward Boscawen, the English admiral, died. He was born 1711, and entered the navy at an early age. He acquired honorable distinction under Vernon, and afterwards signalized himself in many important contests with the French, in which he had the singular fortune to take the French commander, M. Hoquait, a prisoner three times, viz. in 1744, 1747 and 1755. On his return to England in 1759, after destroying the Toulon fleet in the Mediterranean, he was rewarded with a pension of £3000 a year.
1763.Casper Abel, a voluminous German historian and antiquary, died.
1765. Stamp Act passed the British Parliament. How little did that body anticipate the consequences that were to follow their decision on that subject.
1776. The New Hampshire convention dissolved itself and assumed legislative powers, chose twelve counselors as an executive branch, and delegates to Congress, which were recognized.
1782.George Costarddied. A classical, mathematical and oriental scholar, whose reputation as an author is chiefly derived from aHistory of Astronomy, highly appreciated in Europe.
1791. Vermont, the last of the thirteen original states which composed the Union, adopted the constitution and took her place in the confederacy.
1795. The French frigate Iphigenie, 32 guns, captured by the Spanish fleet off Catalonia.
1797. French sloop Atalante, 16 guns, captured off Scilly by the British frigate Phœbe, 36 guns, Capt. Barlow.
1800. The first soup establishment for the poor was opened at Spitalfields, London.
1806. The Dutch surrendered the cape of Good Hope to the British.
1808.Phillips Cosby, British admiral of the Red, died aged 78.
1809. Samana taken by the British, together with two privateers, and four vessels laden with coffee.
1812. London involved for several hours in impenetrable darkness. The sky, where any light pervaded it, showed the aspect of bronze. It was the effect of a cloud of smoke, which, from the peculiar state of the atmosphere, did not passoff. Were it not for the peculiar mobility of the atmosphere, this city of a hundred thousand chimneys would be scarcely habitable in winter.
1815. The British under Gen. Lambert having abandoned the enterprise on New Orleans began to re-embark their artillery and munitions, preparatory to a general retreat.
1816. The schooner Eliza cast away near Newport; the captain and crew saved by Com. Perry, who with part of the crew of the frigate Java, went five miles in a boat to their relief.
1824.Thomas Edward Bowditch, the African traveler, died. He went to Africa at the age of 21, and engaged in a series of expeditions into the country. In 1822 he went out from England with a view of devoting himself to the exploration of the African continent. He had only arrived at the mouth of the Gambia when a disease occasioned by fatigue and anxiety of mind put an end to his existence.
1833.Adrien Marie Legendre, so well known as a profound mathematician, died at Paris. His life work on geometry is much used.
1840. The uniform penny postage commenced in England; the number of letters despatched from London on this day being 112,000; the average, for January, 1839, being 30,000.
1840. Battle between the Russian and Khivian cavalry; the latter commanded by the khan in person were completely routed and pursued to the city of Khiva.
1848.Miss Caroline Herschel, member of the Royal astronomical society, London, died at Hanover.
1855.Mary Russel Mitforddied, aged 68; a distinguished English authoress.
1856.Thomas H. Perkins, a wealthy and liberal Boston merchant, died aged 89. His was the first American firm engaged in the China trade.
395.Theodosius the Great, emperor of Rome, died. He was born about the year 346, and on coming to the throne distinguished himself by his orthodoxy, and his zeal against heresy and paganism. His public and private virtues, which procured him the name ofThe Great, will scarcely excuse the fierceness of his intolerance, or the barbarity of his anger and revenge.
1569. The first English lottery drawn at London. It continued day and evening four months. The prizes were money, plate and merchandise. It had been advertised two years at the time it took place.
1698.Peter, the czar of Russia, arrived in England and wrought as a mechanic in the dockyard at Deptford, as well as in the workshops of various mechanics, with view of carrying the English arts into his own country. He was well received by William III.
1751. A globular bottle of glass was made at Leith measuring 40 by 42 inches, the largest ever made in Britain.
1753.Sir Hans Sloane, the eminent English naturalist, died, aged 93. He was born at Killileagh in Ireland; studied medicine in London, and settled there in the practice of his profession. He was the second learned man whom science tempted to America. His museum, composed of the rarest productions of nature, he bequeathed to the public, on condition of the payment of £20,000 annually to his family, and was the foundation of the British Museum.
1775. The first provincial congress of South Carolina met at Charleston.
1778.Charles Linne(or Linnæus), the Swedish botanist, died, aged 71. In his twenty-fourth year he conceived the idea of a new arrangement of plants, or a sexual system of botany. In 1732 the Academy of Sciences at Upsal appropriated 50 Swedish dollars to send him on a tour through Lapland, and with this small sum he made a journey of more than 3500 miles, unaccompanied, traversing the Lapland desert, and enduring many hardships. A series of offices and honors were conferred upon him, till in 1753 he was created aKnight of the Polar Star, an honor never before conferred on a literary man; and in 1761 he was elevated to the rank of nobility.
1778. A collection amounting to £3815 was made for the 924 American prisoners in England. Dr. Franklin, at Paris, applied to the British ambassador for an exchange of prisoners, but his lordship was pleased to return only the following answer: "no application received from rebels unless they come to implore his majesty's pardon."
1782. Ostenburg, near Trincomalee, in the island of Ceylon, taken from the Dutch by the British Admiral Hughes.
1795. The French, under Pichegru, crossed the Waal on the ice at different points.
1800.William Newcome, archbishop of Armagh, died, aged 79. He rose gradually in the church to the primacy of Ireland; was a worthy man, and author of a great number of theological works.
1801.Cimarosa, the celebrated Italian musician, died.
1803. The Hindostan, East Indiaman, lost on the Culvers, off Margate, in a dreadful storm.
1805. Letters of marque and reprisal issued by Great Britain against Spain.
1807. Breig in Silesia surrendered to the French and Bavarians; 3 generals, 1400 Prussians, and considerable magazines were captured.
1810. In the night the mercury in three thermometers froze at Moscow and withdrew into the ball. At Iraish it was observed at -44½° of Fahrenheit immediately before it froze.
1811.Marie Joseph de Chenier, a French poet, died. By flattering the passions of the people he soon gained great popularity, and during the revolution was one of the most violent democrats.
1815. Cumberland island, Georgia, taken possession of by Capt. Barrie of the British ship Dragon. Same day British sloop of war, Barbadoes, Capt. Fleming captured privateer schooner Fox, of 7 guns and 72 men from Wilmington.
1817.Timothy Dwight, president of Yale college, died, aged 65. He entered Yale college at the age of 13, and became a tutor at 19. His health becoming impaired, by the advice of his physicians he traveled, walking 2000 and riding 3000 miles in the course of a year. It had the effect to restore his constitution completely. His published works consist of theology, poetry and travels. His biography is interesting; he was an uncommon character.
1829.Gregorio Funes, a patriot of La Plata, died at Buenos Ayres. He was actively engaged in the South American revolution from its commencement. He was also an author.
1839.Alexander Coffin, the last survivor of the original proprietors who settled the city of Hudson in 1784, died, aged 99. He was highly respected for his talents, integrity and usefulness.
1839. Earthquake at Martinique, which did great damage, particularly at Fort Royal, where only 18 houses were left standing, of 1700, and 900 hundred sufferers were dug out of the ruins.
1843.Francis S. Key, district attorney of the United States and author of the national song, theStar Spangled Banner, died in Baltimore.
1853. Russia, Austria and Prussia, after considerable delay, finally acknowledge Napoleon III as emperor of France.
1853. The caloric ship Ericsson made her trial trip from New York to the Potomac.
400.B. C.Xenophon, with the 10,000, forced a passage through the defiles of Armenia.
1519.Maximilian I, emperor of Germany, died. He was elected king of the Romans 1486, and ascended the imperial throne 1493. Under him the Turks were checked in their enterprises against Germany, and repelled from his hereditary territories.
1598. The MarquisDe la Rochereceived from Henry IV a commission to conquer Canada. He sailed from France with a colony of convicts from the prisons. He landed them on the Isle of Sable, and sailed for Acadie, from whence he returned to France. The survivors of the colony, twelve in number, were taken off seven years afterwards, and presented to the king in their sealskin clothes and long beards. He gave them fifty crowns each and pardoned their offences.
1640. An engagement of four days' duration near the Island Tamaraca, Brazils, between the Dutch and Portuguese, in which the latter were defeated and the Dutch admiral killed.
1678. A remarkable darkness at noon in England.
1777. GeneralMercerdied of the wounds of the battle of Princeton.
1781. The states general of Holland issued letters of marque and reprisal against England.
1793.Arthur Lee, a distinguished American statesman, died at Urbana, Va. The long and faithful services which he rendered his country during his arduous struggles for independence, in the alternate character of ambassador and statesman, are universally known and acknowledged.
1794.John George Adam Forsterdied, aged 40. He was of Scotch descent, born in Prussia, studied at St. Petersburg, taught German and French in England, accompanied Cook in his voyage round the world, accepted the professorship of natural history at Hesse Cassel, was appointed historiographer of a Russian expedition round the world; this project being frustrated by the Turkish war, he went to Germany, and residing at Mentz when the French took that city 1792, was sent by the republicans to request a union of that city with France. During his absence the Prussians retook the city, by which he lost all his property, including his books and papers, and died soon after. The Germans number him among their classical writers.
1795. In consequence of a great thaw, the communication of the main army of the French under Pichegru and the four divisions that crossed the Waal the day before on the ice, was totally interrupted during two days.
1795. Mr.Pittrecommended in the British parliament that a premium be given by government to large families.
1805. British frigate Doris, Capt. Campbell, lost on the Diamond rock, Quiberon bay. The crew saved themselves and blew up the frigate.
1805. The thermometer at Danbury, Ct., stood at 19° below zero; being the coldest weather known there since 1780.
1807. A fatal explosion at Leyden, in Holland. A vessel containing 40,000 pounds of powder, moored before the house of Prof. Rau, exploded with a tremendous crash. Upwards of 200 houses were overthrown, besides churches and public buildings, 150 persons killed and 2000 wounded.
1809. Cayenne surrendered by the French, to the British and the Portuguese under Capt. Yeo.
1815. National fast in the United States.
857.Ethelwulf, son of Egbert, sometimes styled the first king of England, died. In his reign the tax called Peter's pence was levied.
1399. The Tartars, under Tamerlane, pillaged the imperial city of Delhi, and two days after wantonly massacred the entire Indian population.
1400.Richard IIof England murdered. He came to the throne at the age of 11, and after a turbulent reign of 22 years, was deposed and imprisoned.
1404. It was enacted at this short parliament of Henry's that no chemist shall use his craft to multiply gold or silver.
1560.John de Lasci, a learned Pole, died.
1618.Galileodiscovered the fourth satellite of Jupiter.
1669.John Bochius, a Dutch poet, died. He excelled in Latin, and is called the Virgil of the Low Countries.
1691.George Fox, founder of the sect of quakers, died, aged 67. His father was a poor weaver, and George was apprenticed to a shoemaker; but he left his employment and wandered about the country in a leather doublet, and finally set up as a teacher. He visited different countries, and had the satisfaction to see his tenets taking deep root in his life time.
1705. A house in London where fireworks were manufactured, blew up, and destroyed 120 houses, and killed 50 persons.
1711. The last No. of theTatlerappeared (No. 271).
1715. Great fire in Thames street, London; many lives lost.
1716.Elizabeth Patchdied at Salem; the first female born in the old colony of Massachusetts.
1717.Maria Sybilla Merian, the distinguished painter, and writer on entomology, died at Amsterdam.
1738. The famous convention of Pardo signed.
1759. Execution of the conspirators against the life of the king of Portugal. The whole family of the Marquis Tavora was executed, and the name suppressed for ever.
1797. British ships Indefatigable, 44 guns, and Amazon, 42 guns, had a night action of six hours, in the bay of Audierne, with the French 74 gun ship Les Droits des Hommes, 1600 men; the latter was driven on shore, and the crew made prisoners; Gen. Renier and 750 men were lost in the action. The Amazon was also lost in the action.
1798. Lieut. Lord Camelford shot Lieut. Charles Peterson, at English harbor, Antigua, for disobedience of orders, was afterwards tried and acquitted.
1798. The Swiss cantons armed against France.
1809. The French under Marshal Victor defeated the Spanish under Castanos at Cuenca.
1811. The British merchant ship Cumberland, Captain Barrat, beat off 4 French privateers, and took 170 men who had boarded her.
1814. British and Prussians repulsed in an attack on Antwerp; part of the suburbs were burnt.
1814. The emperor of Russia and king of Prussia crossed the Rhine to invade France; the emperor of Austria, who had arrived the evening before at Cassel, went out to meet them, and they entered Basil, in Switzerland.
1814. General thanksgiving throughout Great Britain for the successes gained over Bonaparte.
1814. Capt. Barrie of the British ship Dragon, took the fort on Point Peter and the tower of St. Mary's, in Georgia; they afterwards destroyed the fort.
1817. The ship Georgianna, of Norfolk, experienced a tremendous shock in the Gulf stream supposed to be by earthquake; the day was calm.
1822.Johann Gottlieb Schneider, a German philologist and naturalist, died, aged 72; a voluminous author.
1836.Karl Chr. Traug. Tauchnitz, an eminent German printer, died, aged 75. At the age of 35 he commenced business for himself with a single press; but his establishment soon became very extensive, including a letter foundry and book store. He was most indefatigable in improving and perfecting whatever he undertook, as his publications attest. His founts of oriental type were unsurpassed in Germany.
1838. ChancellorEldondied.
1840. Steam boat Lexington burnt, on her passage from New York to Stonington. Of 145 persons on board, only four escaped with their lives. Among the sufferers were many highly esteemed and valuable members of society.
1848. A severe battle took place at Chillianwallah between the British and Sikh forces without decisive results.
1854 An earthquake at Finana in Spain, crumbling down the Alcazaba, an ancient Moorish castle, prostrating houses and causing chasms in the streets, and loss of lives.
1526. Treaty of Madrid between the emperor Charles V, and Francis I of France, by which the latter obtained his liberty.
1604. The episcopal divines and puritans held a conference at Hampton court in the presence of King James.
1611.Edward Bruce, a Scottish statesman, died. He occupied some of the highest offices under the government, and his services were important in establishing the peaceable accession of James to the English throne.
1622.Pietro Sarpi, better known as Father Paul of Venice, died, aged 90. He employed the latter part of his life in writing a history of the council of Trent, in which he has developed the intrigues connected with the transactions of that famous assembly, with a degree of boldness and veracity, which renders the work one of the most interesting and important productions of the class to which it belongs.
1634. Of seven sailors left at Spitzbergen in the fall of 1633, by the Dutch fishermen, for the purpose of wintering there, the first of the number died. The journal which they kept relates that they sought in vain for green herbs, bears and foxes, in that desolate region. In November the scurvy appeared among them. Their journal ended February 26, and they were all found dead on the return of their countrymen in spring. (SeeApril 16.)
1696.Marie de Rabutin Sevigne, a French woman of quality, died, aged 70. HerLetters(11 vols. 8vo.) are models of epistolary style, and have been translated into English.
1738. The famous convention of Pardo signed.
1739. The pope issued an edict against the assemblies of freemasons, under penalty of the rack and condemnation to the galleys.
1742.Edmund Halleythe astronomer, died, aged 86. He devoted himself to mathematics with great success, and spent much time abroad in astronomical observations and experiments. His astronomical pursuits tended greatly by their results to improve the art of navigation.
1753.George Berkley, bishop of Cloyne in Ireland, died, aged 85. He appeared as an author before his twentieth year. He devoted seven years and a considerable part of his fortune in an effort to establish a college at Bermuda, for the education of Indian preachers, which miscarried. He published several philosophical, mathematical and theological works, and is said to have been acquainted with almost every branch of human knowledge.
1781. French took the island of Nevis.
1783.Cervetto, an Italian of extraordinary musical genius, died at London, aged 103. He was a member of the orchestra of Drury lane theatre.
1784. Congress ratified the definitive treaty of peace.
1792.Joseph Jackson, a celebrated English type founder, died. While an apprentice his master had carefully kept from his view the mode of making punches, but by boring a hole through the door he got an occasional glimpse of the art, and succeeded.
1795. Intense frost in Holland, which enabled the remainder of the French army to cross the Waal.
1795. The French were repulsed in an attack on all the posts of the allies, from Arnhem to Amerongen. In the night the allies retreated to Amersfoort, leaving 300 sick behind them.
1797. Battle of Rivoli in Italy. The contest was continued three days, and decided the fate of Mantua. The French under Joubert were victorious over the Austrians.
1798. Five English gentlemen who had been sent to investigate the title of Vizier Ally, were by his orders assassinated at Benares in India.
1801.Robert Ormedied, aged 73; historiographer to the East India company.
1801. An embargo laid in England on all Russian, Swedish and Danish ships. More than 100 Swedish and Danish vessels were immediately seized.
1809. Formal treaty of peace, friendship and alliance between Great Britain and Spain.
1813. An engagement off Pernambuco between the United States privateer schooner Comet, Capt. Boyle, 14 guns and 120 men, and three British vessels of 24 guns, convoyed by a Portuguese ship of 32 guns and 165 men. The Portuguese were beaten off, and the British vessels captured. She also captured three other vessels on the passage.
1814. Treaty of peace signed at Kiel between Denmark and England.
1814.Charles Bossut, a French mathematician, died, aged 84. He studied under D'Alembert, and rose to eminence. On the breaking out of the French revolution he lost the offices he had acquired, and subsisted by his writings. He was a contributer to theEncyclopedie.
1815. Com.Decatur, sailed from New York in the frigate President.
1822. The Grand DukeConstantinedeclined, by letter to his brother Alexander, the succession to the throne of all the Russias.
1831.Henry Mackenzie, the novelist, died, aged 86. He studied the law, at the same time cultivating elegant literature. His first effort was a tragedy, which was favorably received; his first novel appeared in 1771, in which he was eminently successful. Scott entitles him the Scottish Addison.
1834.William Polk, a revolutionary officer, died. He held the rank of colonel at the close of the war, and was the last surviving field officer of the North Carolina line. He was among the small band of patriots who declared independence in Mecklenburg county, N. C., May 20th, 1775.
1838. Navy island evacuated by the Canadians, &c., under Mackenzie and Van Rensselaer, 510 in number. The arms belonging to the United States were surrendered, as also the cannon belonging to the state of New York.
1852.T. Hudson Turnerdied, aged 37; one of the ablest of the British archæologists.
1854.Joshua Bates, a distinguished New England clergyman, died, aged 77. He was twenty-three years president of Middlebury college.
69.Sergius Galba, the Roman emperor, assassinated, at the age of 72. He was the successor of Nero, and reigned but three months.
936.Rodolph, king of France, died, in the 14th year of his reign, and was succeeded by Lewis the Stranger.
1549. The liturgy of the English church established by parliament. All the divine offices were to be performed according to the new liturgy, and infringements were to be punished by forfeitures and imprisonments, and for the third offence imprisonment for life. Visitors were appointed to see that it was received throughout England. From this time we may date the era of the Puritans.
1655.Daniel Heinsius, a Dutch philologist, died. He made great progress as a student, under Scaliger, and was appointed to a professorship at Leyden. He was also successful as a Greek and Latin poet.
1559. QueenElizabeth, crowned at Westminster, by the bishop of Carlisle, who was the only person that could be prevailed upon to perform the ceremony.
1672.John Cosin, bishop of Durham, died; a lover of literature and prodigal in his expenditures on book-binding. He ordered that all his books should be rubbed once a fortnight to prevent their moulding.
1693. An army of six or seven hundred French and Indians set out from Montreal to invade the Mohawk castles. (SeeFeb. 6.)
1730. Gov.Montgomeriegranted the city of New York a new charter. Although that city had been put under the government of a mayor in 1665, it was not regularly incorporated until 1686.
1773. At Duff house, the residence of the countess dowager of Fife, the first masquerade ever seen in Scotland was exhibited.
1777. Vermont declared itself a free and independent state. It had been settled as a part of New Hampshire, but was claimed as a part of New York, and so decided to be by the British crown. But by the dissolution of the bonds which had held America in subjection to the crown of Britain, they considered themselves free from New York, to which the most of them had never voluntarily submitted; and being, as they said, reduced to "a state of nature," they assumed the right to form such connections as were agreeable to themselves. Accordingly they formed a plan of government and a code of laws, and petitioned congress to receive them into the Union.
1778. Nootka sound and the Sandwich islands discovered by Captain Cook.
1780. First exportation of woolen goods from Ireland to a foreign market.
1780. Unsuccessful attack by the Americans under Lord Stirling on the British at Long island.
1781. The traitorArnoldsucceeded in burning some stores at Smithfield.
1783.William Alexander, Lord Stirling, an officer in the revolutionary army, died at Albany, aged 57. He was of Scotch descent, and from early youth a mathematician. Throughout the war he acted an important part, and was warmly attached to Washington. He left behind him the reputation of a brave, discerning and intrepid officer, and an honest and learned man. He was generally styled Lord Stirling, and was considered the rightful heir to the title and estates of that earldom in Scotland.
1794. A desperate engagement off the island of Corsica between three Sardinian ships and two Barbary xebecs. One of the xebecs was captured, but the other, rather than surrender, was blown up; upon which the prisoners taken, Turks and Algerines, 92 in number, were put to death.
1795. The French attacked the British outposts at Rhenen.
1795. The French national convention liberated Gen. Miranda and Capt. Lacrosse from prison.
1799. A revolution at Lucca in Italy, without bloodshed. Titles and exclusive privileges were abolished, the sovereignty of the people proclaimed, and a contribution of two millions of livres levied on the nobility alone, which was immediately presented to the French general Serrurier.
1805.Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil Du Perron, the French orientalist, died, aged 74. He studied theology, but afterwards devoted himself with ardor to the study of the eastern languages. In 1754 he embarked for India, and with difficulty succeeded in finding some priests to instruct him in the sacred language of the Parsees. He returned to Paris in 1762 with a number of manuscripts, and proceeded to arrange them for publication. During the revolution he shut himself up with his books; but continued labors and an abstemious diet exhausted his constitution. He was a learned and excellent man.
1807. Battle between the forces under Christophe and Petion for the governorship of Hayti, which had been assumed by Christophe as the oldest general, on the death of Dessalines; but Petion had been subsequently duly elected. Christophe was defeated after a fierce encounter. A separation of the republic followed. Petion instituted a pure republic, while Christophe founded a monarchy.
1810. Masquerades and masked balls prohibited in the city of New York.
1815. The United States frigate President, Com. Decatur, captured by four British vessels, after a sharp action, and a chase of 18 hours. Loss of the Americans 22 killed, 59 wounded; British loss 11 killed, 14 wounded.
1825.Robert Goodloe Harper, an American statesman, died. He was born in Virginia, of poor parentage; acquired the rudiments of a classical education; served a campaign in the revolutionary army; after which he entered Princeton college. He subsequently settled in South Carolina, in the practice of the law, and acquired great reputation as a professional man and a politician.
1827.Jean Denis Lanjuinaisdied. He was a staunch defender of liberal principles, and opposed first the arrogant pretensions of the privileged class, although himself one of their number: afterwards he arrayed himself against the intrigues of Mirabeau, the violence of the mountain party, and the usurpations of Bonaparte, in the face of destruction. The object of his wishes was constitutional liberty. He escaped the axe of the revolution, and was even promoted to office by Napoleon.
1834. The city of Leira, in Portugal, taken by Count de Saldanha, and the garrison, of Miguelites about 1500 in number, made prisoners.
1836.Charles Lewis, one of the most eminent book binders in Europe, died. The splendidly bound books in the duke of Sussex's library are of his workmanship.
1842.Joseph Hopkinsondied. His speeches in congress on the Seminole war were much admired. He was author of the song,Hail Columbia.
1844. The Fontaine Moliere, a monument to the great French dramatist, at Paris, inaugurated. It combines a public fountain with a monument, and stands opposite the house in which Moliere died.
1849. Reporters excluded from an adjourned meeting of a convention of the southern states.
1543. An act of the English parliament was passed forbidding women, apprentices, &c., &c., to read the New Testament in English.
1556.Charles Vof Germany, (Don Carlos I of Spain) resigned the crown of Spain to his son Philip, after a reign of 40 years. Of all his vast possessions he only reserved to himself an annual pension. It was under him that Cortez conquered Mexico.
1580. An act of the English parliament inflicting a penalty of 20 pounds for absenting from church.
1599.Edmund Spencer, the English poet, died, aged 46. His first poem, theShepherd's Calendar, appeared in 1576. He went to Ireland as private secretary to the lord lieutenant, and commenced theFaery Queenwhile in that country. The rebellion took place with such fury that he was obliged to leave the country in so great confusion, that an infant child was left behind, and burnt with his house. The unfortunate poet died soon after his arrival in England, in consequence of these misfortunes.
1643. Parliament of England forbid free commerce, and ordered no wagon or carriage to go to Oxford without a license.
1668. The earl ofShrewsburyslain in a duel by the duke of Buckingham, who had lived in open adultery with Shrewsbury's wife. It is said that she, in the habit of a page, held Buckingham's horse when he was fighting with her husband.
1706. Articles of union between England and Scotland ratified by the Scottish parliament 110 to 69.
1715.Robert Nelsondied, an English gentleman of fortune, which he employed in works of benevolence and charity. Few works on devotional subjects were more popular than his.
1748. The bottle conjuror imposed on a great multitude at the Haymarket theatre, by announcing that he would jump into a quart bottle.
1760. Pondicherry, defended by the French under General Lally, taken by the English under Colonel Coote.
1772. A revolution in Denmark which terminated in the imprisonment of the royal family, and finally the banishment of the queen, sister to George III of England.
1780. The Spanish fleet of 11 sail, under Langara, destroyed off St. Vincent by the British fleet of 19 sail, under Rodney. Langara was dangerously wounded and taken prisoner. One of the Spanish ships with 600 men on board was blown up, and all perished. The British lost 32 killed and 102 wounded.
1790. The bean-fed friars ejected from their convents by an augean labor of the French revolution.
1794.Edward Gibbon, the historian, died, aged 57. During his visit to Rome in 1764, he formed the plan of writing theDecline and Fall of the Roman Empire. In 1774 he obtained a seat in parliament, and two years after appeared the first quarto volume of his history. A disorder which he had endured twenty three years terminated in a mortification.
1795. Retreat of the British from Utrecht, in Holland, upon which the inhabitants capitulated to the French.
1796. The first theatre at Botany bay opened by the convicts at Sydney cove.
1809. Battle of Corunna in Spain, between the French and English, and death of Sir John Moore, who fell mortally wounded by a cannon shot, at the moment of victory achieved by the troops under his command. His men buried him in his cloak, and the French, in testimony of his gallantry, erected a monument over his remains. He was unmarried and in his 47th year.
1812. The king of Sicily, on account of ill-health, abdicated the throne in favor of his son, until he should recover. It is remarkable that Great Britain, Spain, Portugal and Sweden were governed by regents or viceroys at the same time.
1813.Lewis Barneydied at Champlain, New York, aged 105. He had 24 children by one wife.
1815.Henry Thornton, founder of the Sierra Leone company, and a writer on the credit of Great Britain, died.
1816. The bridge at the falls of the Schuylkill fell with the great body of snow upon it.
1816.John Wright, the first constable of Cumberland county, Virginia, died, aged 107.
1817.Alexander James Dallas, an eminent lawyer of Philadelphia, died. He filled the office of secretary of state in Pennsylvania many years; and also that of secretary of the treasury of the United States a short time previous to his death.
1838.Dorothy Torreydied at Windsor, Conn., aged 107.
1843. State lunatic asylum, at Utica, New York, went into operation.
1854.Alden Partridgedied at Norwich, Vt.; nearly fifty years engaged in military instruction, and some time principal of West Point academy.
86.B. C.Caius Marius, the Roman consul, died. He was the son of a farmer in indigent circumstances; but by his talents and energy raised himself to the highest dignity of the greatest state in the world.
395. TheEmperor Theodosiusdied at Milan, soliciting his heirs faithfully to execute his will.
1009.Abd-el-Malek, a Moorish prince, crucified by his conqueror.
1380. An act of parliament passed, by which foreign ecclesiastics were incapacitated from holding benefices in England.
1467.John Castriotto, (or Scanderbeg) prince of Albania, died. His father placed him as a hostage with the sultan of Turkey, by whom he was educated in the Mohammedan faith, and at the age of 18 placed at the head of a body of troops. He afterwards deserted to the Christians, and on ascending the throne of his fathers renounced the Mohammedan faith. He obtained repeated victories over the Turks. After his death, when Albania submitted to the Moslem dominion, the Turks dug up his bones which they wore to transfer his courage to themselves.
1524.Verrazanosailed from a desolate rock near Madeira, with fifty men and provisions for eight months, arms, munitions and other naval stores, on his voyage westwardly, expecting to reach Cathay.
1546.Martin Lutherpreached his final sermon at Wittemberg.
1556.Philip Nerli, the Florentine historian, died.
1684.Wentworth Dillon, earl of Roscommon, died at Rome. The early part of his life was spent in dissipation, but he afterwards conducted with more discretion, and became distinguished among the wits of the day. Johnson calls him the most correct writer of English verse before Dryden.
1694. A powder magazine of 218 barrels exploded at Dublin, doing much damage.
1701.Roger Morris, an English chaplain, died, aged 73. He was a diligent collector of ecclesiastical manuscripts relating to the history of the English church, whereof, says Strype, "he left vast heaps behind him."
1705.John Ray, an English naturalist, died. He was the son of a blacksmith; received a liberal education at Cambridge, and devoted himself to science and literature. His publications were numerous.
1706. Birthday ofBenjamin Franklin.
1733.George Byng, an English admiral, died. He entered the navy at the age of 15, and gradually rose to the highest honors and distinctions.
1746. Battle of Falkirk, in which the forces of the Pretender were victorious over the royal army.
1750. The singular ceremony of the Greek church of consecrating the water in memory of Christ's baptism, performed at St. Petersburg.
1766.Frederick V, king of Denmark and Norway, died.
1781. Battle of the Cowpens, in South Carolina, and defeat of 1100 British under Tarleton, by an inferior force of Americans under Morgan. British loss 100 killed and wounded, and 500 prisoners; 800 muskets, 2 field pieces, 35 baggage wagons, and 100 dragoon horses fell into the hands of the conquerors. The loss of the Americans was 12 killed and 60 wounded.
1783. Action between the British frigate Magicienne and the French frigate Sybille. The latter lost her masts, and was captured a few days after by the Hussar.
1789.John Ledyard, the traveler, died. He was born at Groton, Conn., 1751; entered Dartmouth college at the age of 19, but for some reproof resolved to escape: accordingly he felled a tree on the bank of the Connecticut, of which he constructed a canoe, and descended the river 140 miles to Hartford: studied theology a while, and then enlisted as a common sailor for a voyage to Gibraltar; accompanied Capt. Cook in one of his voyages, of which he published an account. Not meeting with assistance to prosecute any of the daring enterprises he proposed, he finally determined to make the tour of the globe from London east, on foot; and had proceeded as far as Yakutsk in Siberia, when he was arrested by order of the queen as a French spy and hurried back to the frontiers of Poland. He returned to London, he says, "disappointed, ragged, pennyless, but with a whole heart." He had scarcely taken lodgings when Sir Joseph Banks proposed an African expedition. He accepted the offer and proceeded as far as Cairo, where he was attacked by a disease which carried him off.
1789.Charles IVproclaimed king of Spain.
1791. LordDungarvon, an Irish peer, was tried at the Old Bailey, London, for stealing three and a half guineas from a poor woman in town, but was acquitted.
1792.George Horne, bishop of Norwich, died. HisSermonsandCommentary on the Psalms, are well known.
1795. The stadtholder,William V, obtained permission from the States General to withdraw from Holland.
1800. The church at Chelmsford, England, fell; it was first built in 1424.
1804.Charles Nisbetdied, aged 67. He was a Scotch clergyman, and the first president of Dickinson college in Pennsylvania.
1806. An iris or lunar rainbow was seen for one hour (9¼ to 10¼) at Wakefield in Yorkshire, England.
1810. Masquerades and masked balls prohibited by the authorities in the city of Philadelphia.
1811. The Mexican patriots under Hidalgo totally defeated near Guadalaxara by the Spaniards under Calleja.
1813. Capture of the United States brig Vixen, 12 guns, Capt. Henley, by the British frigate Narcissus.
1815. The king of Spain issued an edict against freemasonry.
1817. At Philadelphia and Albany the singular phenomena of snow, clear weather, rain, snow, thunder and lightning, hail and snow, was observed in succession.
1836. Two engagements in the mountains of Arlaban, between the forces of the queen of Spain under Gen. Cordova and the Carlists, in which the latter were defeated.
1841.Rezin P. Bowiedied at New Orleans, aged 48; "well known in the southwest by his many deeds of valor in its early history, among the Mexicans and savages."
1851.Spencer Compton, marquis of Northampton, died, aged 61. He was president of the Royal society; was associated with Wilberforce in the anti-slaverycause, and with Macintosh as a criminal law reformer.
1854. Two rail road bridges and crossings at Erie, Pa., destroyed by a mob of women, who were afterwards escorted through the town with banners, headed by a band of music.
1856.Zadock Thompsondied, aged 59; author of several historical works relating to Vermont, and a naturalist.
1486.Henry VIImarried the princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. Thus uniting the houses of York and Lancaster, blending the Roses.
1534. Lima, the present capital of Peru, founded byPizarro; thirty years before a single town was founded within the limits of the United States, St. Augustine, Florida, being founded 1565.
1546. The council of Trent assembled and agreed upon a confession of faith.
1561. The first English tragedy performed, at Whitehall, before the queen. It was entitledGorboduc, from the name of a supposed ancient British king, and was written by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton. It consists of five acts, each preceded by a dumb show, prefiguring what is to occur; the first four acts close by choruses in rhyme, and the fifth by a didactic speech of nearly two hundred lines. Sir Philip Sydney pronounced it "full of stately speeches and well-sounding phrases, climbing to the height of Seneca his stile, and full of notable morality, which it doth most delightfully teach."
1701.Frederick IIIof Brandenburgh crowned first king of Prussia, by the title of Frederick I.
1703.Thomas Hydedied. He was an Oriental interpreter during the reigns of Charles II, James II, and William III.
1713.Arcangelo Corelli, an Italian composer, died. He became so great a master in the science of music, that his countrymen bestowed on him the cognomen ofIl Divino.
1718.Samuel Garth, an English poet and physician, died. He settled in London where by his professional skill he soon acquired a very extensive practice; and by his wit and conversational powers distinguished himself among the literati of the day.
1739.Samuel Bernard, one of the richest and most celebrated financiers of Europe, died at Paris. His funeral procession equaled that of a prince in point of magnificence and in the train of distinguished attendants.
1775.John Baskerville, an eminent English printer, died. He was a man fertile in invention, and effected improvements in the art which could scarcely have been expected from the exertions of a single individual.
1777. Battle of Kingsbridge, N. Y., between the Americans under Gen. Heath and the Hessians.
1782.Dumiter Radulydied at Haromszeck, at the remarkable age of 140.
1793.George Gordon, an English nobleman, after five years' imprisonment, appeared to give bail; but the attorney-general refused to accept of it. He was therefore remanded.
1795. The French under Salm took Utrecht in Holland, and Gen. Van Damme took Arnhem; the prince of Orange and his family escaping to England.
1797.Francis Lightfoot Lee, an American statesman, died at his residence in Virginia, aged 63.
1804. Goree taken by the French from the English.
1806.Eugene Napoleon Beauharnaismarried to Augusta Amelia, daughter of the king of Bavaria.
1810.Lyon Levy, a jeweler, threw himself from the monument in London.
1811. Gen.Junotwounded in the face by a musket ball, while reconnoitering the British lines.
1813. Battle at Frenchtown in Michigan, between the United States troops and the British and Indians, when the latter were defeated. American loss, 12 killed, 55 wounded.
1815. The British decamped from before Fort St. Philip, on the Mississippi, which they had bombarded from the 9th. About 12 o'clock at night they took to their boats, leaving 80 of their wounded, 14 pieces heavy artillery, and a great quantity of shot.
1815.Stanislaus, chevalier de Bouffleurs, died at Paris, aged 78. He was the son of the marchioness de Bouffleurs, mistress of Stanislaus, king of Poland. He distinguished himself in the army, which however he left to give his attention to literature. He was considered one of the most ingenious men of his time, and was noted for the elegance of his manners and conversation. The epitaph on his tomb, written by himself, is characteristic of him:Mes amis, croyez vous que je dors?
1816. Thanksgiving throughout England on the restoration of peace.
1819.John Willson, died in London, aged 52. He sometime held the chief command at Ceylon, and subsequently administered the government of Upper Canada.
1826.Ommeganck, one of the most celebrated Dutch landscape painters, died atAntwerp. His pieces are distinguished for good taste, and for freshness and warmth of coloring.
1829.John George Henry Hassel, a distinguished German geographer and statistical writer, died at Weimar.
1834.Nathaniel Amesdied at Providence. He was the son of Fisher Ames, and a seaman by profession. He is the author ofMariners' Sketches,Nautical Reminiscences, andOld Sailor's Yarns.
1848.John Deidrich Petersondied at Markham, Canada. He was the pioneer pastor of that town.
1854.Judah Tourodied at New Orleans, aged 78; bequeathing nearly two millions of dollars to the public institutions of that city.
1854.William Walkerproclaimed the republic of Sonora.
1472. Birthday ofCopernicus, at Thorn in Prussia.
1514.Vasco Nunez de Balboareturned to his colony at Darien, after having made the discovery of the Pacific ocean. His expedition occupied four months and a half; his triumph was complete. The whole population poured down to the shore to meet him, to hail him as the author of their fortunes, as less a man than a gift of heaven, to guide them into the possession of glories and riches incalculable. The expedition had been undertaken in consequence of the extravagant representations by the Indians, of a people who lived on the borders of that ocean, six suns distant, who owned large ships, and whose eating and drinking vessels were of pure gold. They referred to the Peruvians.
1535. Date of the probate of the will of the famed early English printer, Wynkyn de Worde.
1547.Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, a soldier, scholar and poet, beheaded on Tower hill for treason. In his youth he made the tour of Europe, and at Florence signalized his courage and romantic spirit, by publishing, in the style of a knight-errant, a challenge to all comers, Christians, Jews, Saracens, Turks and Cannibals, in defence of the surpassing beauty of his mistress, the fair Geraldine; and was victorious at the tournament instituted by the grand duke on the occasion. He served in the army sent against Scotland in 1542, and in 1544 accompanied the troops with which the king invaded France. For his services he was promoted, but being defeated in an attempt to seize a convoy, he was superseded. This unmerited disgrace was the beginning of his ruin. He is said to have aspired to the hand of the Princess Mary, and on some frivolous charges was tried by a common jury, by whom he was obsequiously found guilty of treason. Thus perished a man "no less valiant than learned, and of excellent hopes," aged 27.
1565.James Laynez, one of the founders of the Society of Jesus, died. He was born in Castile, 1512. His intimacy with Loyola was formed in Paris, where they matured the plan of the society. Loyola was chosen the first general, and in 1558 was succeeded by Laynez.
1576.Hans Sachs, the famous German master-singer, died. He was born at Nuremberg 1494; his occupation that of a shoemaker. At the age of 14 he began to write poetry, and made verses and shoes, plays and pumps, with equal assiduity, to the age of 77, when he took an inventory of his literary stock in trade. It consisted of 4200 songs, 508 comedies, and other pieces, in all 6048, making 32 folio volumes written by his own hand. From these a selection was published in 5 volumes folio. His poems are distinguished fornaïveté, feeling, and striking description.
1643. Battle of Liscard, in Cornwall, England.
1657.Miles Syndercombeand others convicted of plotting the death of Oliver Cromwell.
1706.Charles Sackville, earl of Dorset and Middlesex, died. He was an accomplished scholar and a good speaker, but declined all public employment, being wholly engrossed in gallantry and pleasure. He was the patron of poets and men of wit: his own productions are those of a man of wit, vigorous, gay and airy. He served in the Dutch war of 1665 as a volunteer, and on the night before an engagement, composed the celebrated song, beginning, "To all you ladies now at hand."
1728.William Congreve, the English dramatist, died. He was educated for the bar, but like many others similarly situated, gave up the law for the pursuit of polite literature, in which he was eminently successful. His first work,The Incognita, was written at a very early age, and he produced his first comedy at the age of 21.
1730.Peter IIof Russia died of the small pox. He was the grandson of Peter the Great, and ascended the throne by the will of Catharine, when but 13 years old.
1757.Thomas Ruddiman, a celebrated Scottish printer and grammarian, and who excelled in many learned treatises, died.
1776. Great eruption of mount Vesuvius.
1777.Hugh Mercer, an officer of the revolution, died. He was a Scotchman by birth, and was in the memorable battle of Culloden. Soon after, he emigrated toAmerica, and was engaged with Washington in the Indian wars of 1755. He joined the patriots of the revolution, and distinguished himself at Trenton and Princeton; was wounded in the latter engagement, of which he died. His funeral was attended by 30,000 people.
1778.Francis Furgler, the New Jersey recluse, died. During 25 years, without fire, he lived in a cell in the form of an oven, about four miles from Burlington.
1782. The emperorJosephpardoned all those who kept out of his dominions on account of religion, provided they returned within a year; he also abolished several religious orders, and absolved the monks and nuns from their vows, and at the same time disclaimed all subordination to the pope in secular affairs.
1795. Insurrection in the island of Granada.
1795. The French under Devinther took Amersfoort in Holland, and the advance of the French army entered Amsterdam.
1796. The brass coffin, containing the bones of Columbus and the chains with which he had been loaded at Cuba, were removed from St. Domingo to Havana, by the direction of his descendants. They are now preserved in a silver urn on the left of the altar of the cathedral.
1806.James Jackson, an officer of the revolution, died. He came from England only two years before the war, and although but 19 years of age in 1776, he displayed great intrepidity at the attack upon Savannah. He continued in the service throughout the war, and in 1782 was presented by the legislature with a house and lot in Savannah. He held various civil offices in the state, and at the time of his death was a senator in congress.
1809. The French entered Corunna.
1812. Ciudad Rodrigo, a town and fortress in Spain, eight miles from the Portuguese line, garrisoned by 1700 Frenchmen, taken by storm by the British under Wellington, after a siege of 11 days.
1817. Riot and rebellion of the students of Princeton college.
1819.Charles IV, king of Spain, died. He was born at Naples 1740, and came to the throne of Spain 1788. Too imbecile to govern, he was always ruled by his wife and ministers. He was dethroned by Napoleon 1808, and died a pensioner at Naples of a relapse of the gout.
1836.John Butler, "the celebrated huntsman," died, in Wake county, N. C. He was supposed to be at least 110 years of age, and left a wife surviving equally as old.
1840. The United States exploring expedition under Lieut. Wilkes reported the discovery of a new antarctic continent on this day. A subsequent British expedition sailed over its site without being able to discern any vestige of it. It is supposed to have been a series of icebergs.
1843.Thos. W. White, editor of theSouthern Literary Messenger, died at Richmond.
1847.Peter R. Livingston, a prominent man in the counsels and politics of the state of New York, died at Rhinebeck.
1848.Isaac D'Israeli, author of theCuriosities of Literature, died aged 82.
1853.C. B. Adams, an eminent American naturalist, and professor in Amherst college, died.
1854.George McFeely, died at Carlisle, Pa., aged 73. He distinguished himself on the Niagara frontier in 1813.