634.Abubekir, father-in-law of Mohammed, the Arabian prophet, died. He was elected caliph, and supported with energy the fabric already erected by the founder of the new religion. He subdued the disaffected tribes at home, and turned his arms successfully against foreign invaders.
1313.Ralph de Baldock, bishop of London, died. He wrote a history of British affairs, now lost, and was a virtuous and charitable prelate, and a man of learning and judgment.
1322.Bruce, after ravaging the western marches in England during 24 days, returned home with his wagons filled with plunder.
1411. Battle between the Gaelic and Lowland Scottish factions, led by the earl of Mar, and Donald of the Isles. This battle was of the highest importance, since it decided the superiority of the more civilized regions of Scotland over those inhabited by the Celtic tribes, who remained almost as savage as their forefathers, the Dulriads.
1520.Henry Stephens, a celebrated French printer, the founder of the family of that name, died at Lyons.
1527.Francisco Alvarez, a Spanish traveler, returned from an expedition to Africa. He accompanied an embassy from the king of Portugal to David, king of Abyssinia, in 1515. The expedition met with many obstacles, and did not arrive till 1520. He published an account of his travels at Lisbon, 1540, a work of great fidelity and merit.
1567. QueenMary, a prisoner in Lochleven castle, subscribed the instrument by which she resigned the Scottish crown in favor of her son, James VI, afterwards king of England.
1590.Stephen Tabourot(sieur des accords), a French writer, died.
1595.Andrew de Brancas de Villars, a French general, murdered. He espoused the interests of the league against Henry IV, but afterwards abandoned it, was taken prisoner and despatched.
1595.Charles de Loraine d'Aumale, a French nobleman, broken on the wheel at Paris,in effigy. After the assassination of the duke of Guise, he became the head of the league against the Calvinists, and secretly aimed at the throne. He even took possession of Paris, sent the members of the parliament to the Bastile, and compelled the king to fly. But meeting with reverses, he joined the Spaniards, wasoutlawed, and the parliament being unable to take him, executed their sentence upon his effigy. He resided principally in Flanders, till his death, which took place at Brussels, 1631, at the age of 77.
1609. The expedition under Somers, (seeJune 2,) overtaken by a tremendous tempest. The admiral ship was severed from the rest "by thetailof a mighty hurricane," but at length after havingdrank to one another, "as taking their last leaves, intending to commit themselves to the mercy of the sea, most luckily the ship was driven andjammed between two rocks."
1712. Battle of Denain; the French under Villars defeated the allies under Albemarle, who was taken, together with four German princes, and many other prisoners.
1722. The wearing of broadswords prohibited in Edinburgh.
1744.Alphonso de Vignoles, a French protestant, died. He retired to Prussia on the revocation of the edict of Nantes, where he was patronized by the king, and wrote several learned works.
1755.Elisha Williams, president of Yale college, died; esteemed for his learning and great moral worth.
1756.George Vertue, an English engraver and antiquary, died.
1758.John Dyer, an English poet, died. In 1727 he published the poem ofGrongar Hill, and soon after he went to Italy to delineate the antiquities of that country, under the title of theRuins of Rome, a poem which places him high on the scale of merit as a writer.
1759. Battle of Niagara. The English under sir William Johnson defeated the French and Indians with great slaughter, and took fort Niagara. The loss of this fortress effectually cut off all communication between Canada and Louisiana.
1768.Nathaniel Lardner, an eminent English divine, died. His literary labors, which have been published in 11 vols., were translated into various languages abroad, and procured him great distinction at home.
1779. An expedition fitted out by Massachusetts to take a British post at Penobscot, totally defeated by the unexpected arrival of the British fleet. The troops were dispersed in all directions, and found their way home with difficulty; 19 vessels were taken or destroyed, and 24 transports burnt.
1797. Unsuccessful attack of the British upon Santa Cruz, Teneriffe. Lord Nelson lost his right arm.
1804.Adolphus Charles Adam, afterwards a distinguished musical performer, born at Paris.
1813. An attempt made by several United States officers to blow up the British ship Plantagenet, in Lynnhaven bay, with a torpedo. It exploded without effecting their purpose, though so near the vessel as to injure it.
1817. About mid-day, after a loud detonation, the lake Canterno, or Porciano, in Italy, totally disappeared. A large opening was discovered in the bottom, through which the waters were supposed to have escaped into the sinuosities of the neighboring mountains.
1822.Ernest Theodore William Hoffman, a Prussian novelist, died. He possessed much imagination and talent, but was an irregular and unhappy man.
1830. The thermometer at noon in Boston stood at 95°, at sundown at 50°, and fires were made.
1833. Lisbon surrendered to the army of don Pedro, under the duke of Terceira.
1848. An intended insurrection at Cuba; the government becoming apprised of it, general Lopez, the head conspirator, escaped to the United States.
1849.John L. Lawrencedied, aged about 67. He was one of the secretaries who assisted at the treaty of Ghent; well known in the councils and commerce of the state, and at the time of his death comptroller of the city of New York.
1853.Hezekiah C. Seymour, engineer in chief of the state of New York, died at Piermont, aged 42. His name is prominently associated with the New York and Erie rail road, and with the Ontario, Huron, and lake Simcoe rail road in Canada.
1854.Henry King, a British general, died, aged 77. He had been a soldier for sixty years, serving in the West Indies, Egypt, Walcheren, and the Peninsula. In Egypt he lost a leg, but that did not prevent him from subsequently taking part in the war.
1854. The American fishing vessel Ellen Morrill, was captured by the British cruisers, and carried into the port of Bathurst, causing much excitement among the fishermen.
1855. Violent and repeated shocks of an earthquake destroyed the Swiss villages of St. Nicholas and Viege, during this and the preceding day.
306.Constantius Chlorus, emperor of Rome, died at York palace, and was succeeded the same day by his son Constantine the Great.
811.Nicephorus I, emperor of Rome, died. He was chancellor of the eastern empire, and seized the throne 807, banishingthe empress Irene to Mitylene. He overcame all opposition from his own subjects, but was vanquished by the Bulgarians, and fell in battle.
1139. Battle of Aurique, in Portugal; Alphonse I vanquished five Moorish kings and their barbaric heads were emblazoned in the arms of the monarchy.
1214. Battle of Bouvines, in France, in which the forces of Otho were overthrown by Philip Augustus, and peace restored.
1261. The Greek emperor,Michael Palæologus, expelled the Latins from Constantinople, who had taken possession of it nearly 60 years previous.
1441.Roger Bolingbroke, chaplain to the duke of Gloucester, having been convicted of necromancy, was exposed, with his instruments, to the public finger, at St. Paul's, in London.
1471.Thomas a Kempis(Thomas Hammerken of Kempen), a famous German theologian, died, aged 92. He displayed great piety and devotion, and instead of confining himself to transcribing books of devotion, like the rest of his brethren, composed works of divinity himself, one of which,De Imitatione Christi, has been translated into nearly all languages in the world.
1505.Philip Beroldus, a French professor ofbelles-letters, died. He was extremely dissipated in youth, but reformed after marriage, and produced several works, in prose and verse. He was a man of great learning for that age, and is noted for his valuable edition of the classics.
1535.Charles V, emperor of Germany, having assembled a powerful fleet, landed at Tunis, and carried by assault the fortress of Goletta. This gave him possession of Barbarossa's fleet of 87 galleys and 300 cannon. Having reinstated Muley Hassan and liberated more than 20,000 slaves, he returned to Europe.
1554. QueenMaryof England married to Philip of Spain at Winchester.
1564.Ferdinand I, emperor of Germany, died. He became king of Hungary and Bohemia 1527, and was elected king of the Romans 1531. On the abdication of his brother, Charles V, he succeeded to the empire, and governed with great moderation and prudence.
1593.Henry IV, of France, formally renounced the protestant faith at St. Denys, rather than perish by the hand of an assassin.
1603. KingJamesand his queen crowned at Westminster by archbishop Whitgift.
1653. The assembly of the Scottish church being met at Edinburgh were dismissed by Cotterel for not having the authority of the parliament of England, and commanded that not three of them should be seen together.
1659. The pope,Alexander VII, acknowledged by a papal brief, the king of France sovereign of the conquests and colonies which his subjects had made in the American isles. Hitherto the court of Rome had preserved inviolate theuniversal grantof that infamous man, pope Alexander VI, in 1493, to his catholic majesty, the king of Spain. (SeeMay 3.)
1666. Engagement at the mouth of the Thames, between the English fleet under Rupert and Albemarle, and the Dutch under Van Tromp and De Ruyter. Each fleet consisted of about 80 sail. Three Dutch admirals were killed.
1722. New England declared war against the Indians. The small pox at that time was waging a war with both.
1724. A violent persecution of the protestants began in France.
1757. The duke of Cumberland defeated by d'Estrees at Hastenbeck.
1759. GeneralJohnsontook fort Niagara in America.
1790.William Livingston, governor of New Jersey, died. He was a member of the New York bar, and a warm advocate of the rights of the colonies. He removed to New Jersey, and on the deposition of the royal governor, Franklin, he was elected to fill his place, which he held till the time of his death.
1790.John Bernard Basedowdied; at one time professor of moral philosophy andbelles-lettres, at Soroe in Denmark, from which he was expelled for some irreverent remarks on religion. He was the son of a barber at Hamburg, and acquired a reputation for learning and ability.
1794.Frederick von der Trenck, a Prussian baron, guillotined at Paris. For some imprudent conduct he excited the indignation of the authorities, and was imprisoned a long time at Magdeburg. He finally escaped to France, where he became obnoxious to the guardians of the state, and suffered death at the age of 70. The account of his imprisonment and adventures, written by himself, and highly spiced with romance, is translated into English.
1795.William Romaine, an eminent English divine, died; author of many valuable theological works.
1799. Battle of Aboukir, in Egypt, between the French under Bonaparte, and the Turks, Arabs and Mamelukes, under Mustapha. The Egyptians were defeated, with the loss of their general and 200 taken prisoners, with all their equipage and 20 cannon; 2,000 dead on the field, and about 10,000 driven into the sea and drowned.
1804.Georgesand 11 of his companions guillotined at Paris for a conspiracy against Bonaparte.
1804. The American squadron, consisting of the Constitution frigate, 3 brigs, 3 schooners, 2 bomb and 6 gun boats, arrived in sight of Tripoli.
1812. Battle of Ostrovna; the Russians under Ostermann Tolstoy defeated by the French. The battle continued two days; the loss was about 4,000 on each side.
1814. Battle of Bridgewater, (alias Lundy's Lane,) near Niagara falls, between the British under Riall, and the Americans under Brown. It was a sanguinary action, and for the numbers engaged, perhaps unequaled in modern warfare; in which both the senior generals were wounded. British loss 878 killed and wounded and missing; American loss 860 do. The battle commenced at 5P. M., and ended at 12 in the defeat of the British, 2,700 veteran regulars, exclusive of a large body of Indians.
1814.Charles Dibdin, a celebrated English song writer and dramatist, died. His songs amount to upwards of 1,200; he has scarcely an equal in the number and merit of this species of composition.
1824.William Sharp, an eminent English engraver, died. He rose to distinction in his art by his own unassisted exertions, but was in other respects a very simple character. His works are numerous and held in high estimation.
1830.Charles Xof France ordained that the liberty of the periodical press was suspended, and five days after was himself suspended from the throne.
1833.James Martin, a soldier of the revolution, died at Knoxville, Tenn., aged 106.
1834.Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an eminent English poet, metaphysician and theologian, died. As a poet and author he was popular, but his conversational powers captivated the most learned men of his time, who visited him to enjoy his conversation. Two volumes of hisTable Talkwere published after his death.
1840. A couple of officers belonging to the United States exploring expedition having gone on shore at Malolo, one of the Fejee islands, were murdered by the natives. Lieut. Wilkes immediately attacked and burnt the town and fort, killed upwards of 70 of the natives, destroyed the plantations and laid the island waste.
1840.Andrew Laughlindied at Devrock, Ireland, aged 110. He saw five sovereigns successively ascend the British throne. The faculties of his mind were unimpaired until the last few months of his life.
1852. BaronGourgaud, a distinguished French general, died at Paris, aged 69. He entered the French service in 1801, was engaged in most of the great battles of Napoleon, including Waterloo; attended the emperor to St. Helena, and was afterwards near being involved in a duel with Walter Scott, through his fervid zeal for his master.
1852.William Scroop, an eminent English naturalist, died at London, aged 81.
1852.James Spencer Cannon, a talented minister of the Dutch reformed church, died at New Brunswick, N. J., aged 60. He was 26 years professor of metaphysics in Rutgers college, and of pastoral theology and ecclesiastical history in the Theological seminary at that place, and was distinguished for strong and original powers of mind, urbanity of manners, and fervent piety.
46B. C.Julius Cæsar, arrived at Rome from Utica, celebrated the fourfold triumph in a quadriga of white horses, for the victories over the Gauls, over Ptolemy in Egypt, over Pharnaces in Pontus, and over Juba in Africa; entertained the people with naumachian and pentachlic or circensian games during 40 days; rewarded and feasted them at 22,000 tables; was declared consul the fourth time, and dictator for ten years; and to place him on the summit of human glory, his statue was erected in the capitol opposite to that of Jupiter, with the globe at his feet. He commenced in this year his reformation of the calendar, called, from the long intercalation, the year of confusion.
40.Petronius, in his account of Trimalchio, has preserved aRoman newspaper, (diurna acta) for this day. "On the 26th July 30 boys and 40 girls were born at Trimalchio's estate at Cuma. At the same time a slave was put to death for uttering disrespectful words of his master. The same day a fire broke out in Pompey's gardens, which began in the night, in the steward's apartments."
1346. The English under Edward III, captured the opulent city of Caen, in France, and pillaged the country around.
1469. Battle of Banbury (or Hedgecote), in which the royalists under Pembroke were defeated by the Yorkshire rebels. Pembroke was taken and put to death, and earl Rivers beheaded.
1470. Post office first established in Paris.
1471.Paul II(Peter Barbo), pope of Rome, died. He was a Venetian noble, and on coming to the throne gratified the cardinals with the purple habit, the red silk cap, and the mitre, which had hithertobeen worn only by the sovereign pontiff.
1546. EmperorCharles Vand popePaul IIIsecretly leagued against the protestants.
1560.James Bonfadius, a polite writer of Italy, executed. He incurred the enmity of some powerful families at Geneva by the freedom of his remarks in his writings, who wrought his ruin.
1581.Philipexcluded by edict from all sovereignty over the united provinces of the Netherlands.
1592.Armand Gonrault de Biron, marechal of France, killed. From the humble rank of a page he rose through all the gradations of the army, to the highest dignity under the sovereign. He distinguished himself in the service, and was killed by a cannon ball at the siege of Epernai.
1630.Charles Emanuel(the Great), duke of Savoy, died; an ambitious prince and brave warrior.
1653. "This day," says Dugdalo, "the fair bell calledJesus's bell, at Litchfield, was knocked in pieces by a presbyterianpewterer, who was the chief officer for demolishing the Cathedral."
1659. The island of Montreal invaded by 1200 Indians, who burned all the plantations, and made a terrible massacre of men, women and children, upon whom they committed every barbarity. "Ils ouvrirent le sein des femmes enceintes," says Charlevoix, "pour en arracher le fruit qu'elles portoient, ils mirent des enfans tout vivants à la broche, et contraignirent les mères de les tourner pour les faire rôtir." They killed 1000 and took 26, who were afterwards burnt.
1680.John Wilmot, earl of Rochester, died; a dissolute English nobleman of the reign of Charles II, and the favorite companion of the king. He was a poet, and one of the greatest wits of the day.
1687. A party of French built fort Niagara.
1691.Richard Ingolsby, captain of an independent company, was sworn into the office of president of the council of New York, or as lieutenant-governor, on the decease of Sloughter, instead of the administration coming to Dudley, as of right it should.
1738.William Thomas, an English divine, died; distinguished as a man of letters and an antiquary.
1758. Louisbourg, which had been restored to the French by treaty, was again taken by the British under admiral Boscawen and lieutenant-general Amherst, and its fortifications have since been demolished.
1759. Ticonderoga abandoned by the French, and occupied by the British under general Amherst.
1766.Wallis, the navigator, sailed on his great voyage.
1772.John Græmedied; a Scottish poet and miscellaneous writer of considerable merit.
1775. Maryland convention met at Annapolis, and resolved to support the measures of Congress. They also ordered $266,666 in bills of credit to be struck, and that 40 companies of minute men should be raised.
1775. Congress first established a post office: the route extended from Falmouth, New England, to Savannah, Georgia, and Franklin was appointed post master.
1788. The printing office of Thomas Greenleaf, in New York, was much damaged and his types taken away by a mob. When the two great political parties were forming, subsequent to the organization of the government, that which opposed the administration attacked the measures of Washington with a great degree of virulence in Greenleaf's paper. He was opposed to the federal constitution.
1788. New York adopted the constitution of the United States, recommending amendments. Ten states had already given their assent to it, nine being required before it could be adopted by congress.
1789. Lafayette added to his cockade the white of the royal arms, declaring at the same time that the tri-color should go round the world.
1793.Stanislaus Clermont Tonnere, a French nobleman, massacred at Paris for his opposition to the Jacobin club.
1798. A remarkable mirage was seen at Hastings, England. The French coast distant 50 miles was at 5P. M.brought close to the feet of the observers.
1803. An iron railway from Wandsworth to Croydon, in England, was opened to the public for the conveyance of goods.
1803. British ship Thunderer, captain Bedford, captured the French privateer Venus, of Bordeaux, pierced for 28 guns, but mounting only 16.
1806. British frigate Greyhound and sloop Harrier captured off Macassar the Dutch frigate Pallas, 36 guns, and two large East Indiamen, laden with spices.
1812. Battle of Kobrine; the Saxons under general Klingel, defeated by the Russians, and himself, together with 70 officers, 2500 men, &c., captured; Russian loss 1000.
1814. The Americans under general Ripley and P. B. Porter burnt Bridgewater mills and bridge, and the British barracks there.
1830.Charles X, of France, issued three ordinances, dissolving the newlyelected chamber of deputies, suppressing the liberty of the press, and altering the law of election. This gave rise to a revolution which terminated in his dethronement, and the elevation of Louis Philippe.
1838. The Bolivian troops under Moran having left Lima on the previous day, Nieto and Orbegozo entered the city with about 2000 men and declared the constitution of 1835, Orbegozo being named provisional dictator.
1847.Job Durfee, a jurist of Rhode Island, and author ofWhat cheer; or Roger Williams in exile, &c., died at Tiverton.
1848.Francis R. Shunk, governor of Pennsylvania, died, aged 60.
1848. After several days of hard fighting, the Piedmontese under Charles Albert were totally defeated by the Austrians under Radetsky, and retreated to Milan.
1852. The Irishmen in New York made an unsuccessful attempt to rescue Thomas Kaine, in the custody of the United States marshal, and claimed by the British government, under the treaty, as a fugitive from justice.
1855. The pope declared the laws which had been enacted in Piedmont, to the detriment of religion and the power and liberty of the church, to be void and of no effect; and that all who supported them incurred the greater excommunication; also that the recent laws in Spain concerning the church property to be null and void.
1856. The boiler of the steam boat Empire State, exploded on the passage from Fall river to New York, killing and wounding several passengers.
1139. The country of Portugal erected into a monarchy.
1276.James I(the Warrior), of Arragon, died. He conquered several Moorish kingdoms, and added them to his dominions, and supported himself against the encroachments of the papal power.
1586. SirFrancis Drakearrived in England from a western expedition, accompanied by Lane, the commander of Raleigh's Virginian colony, who now first brought from his settlement, tobacco into England: that which sir John Hawkins brought home in 1565 was considered a medicinal drug merely, and as Stow observes,all men wondered what it meant.
1597.Jacob Huyck, translator of the first authorized version of the catholic Bible, printed in Cracow, died there, aged 57.
1627.Thomas Goff, an English divine, died. He wrote among various other things, four tragedies.
1661. Schenectady purchased from the Indians.
1663. A bill for the better observation of the Sabbath, was stolen from the clerk's table in the English house of commons, ere it had received the assent of the king.
1675.Henry de la Tour d'Auvergne, viscomte de Turenne, the renowned French general, killed by a cannon shot at the village of Saltzbach, in Germany. He was preparing for a great battle with the Austrians under Montecuculli.
1694. The charter of the bank of England for 12 years, determinable upon one year's notice, signed by the dynarchs, William and Mary.
1704.Stanislaus Leczinskielected king of Poland.
1706. The legislative union of England and Scotland completed; one of the most important events of the reign of queen Anne.
1712. A disgraceful quarrel between the French and Dutch plenipotentiaries at Utrecht.
1755. A party of Indians prowling about Hinsdale, N. H., ambushed three men, Caleb Howe, Hilkiah Grout and Benjamin Garfield, as they were returning from the field, only one of whom escaped. The Indians went directly to Bridgman's fort, where their families resided, and who had heard the report of guns. By the sounds of feet without, they concluded their friends had returned, and hastily opened the gate, when to their inexpressible surprise they admitted the savages and were all made captives. An interesting account of this affair is familiar to many.
1759. The English under general Amherst took Ticonderoga without firing a gun, the French having abandoned it on the approach of the former.
1759.Pierre-Louis Mareau de Maupertuisdied at Basle. He was successful in many trigonometrical surveys, and was instrumental in determining the latitude and longitude of several places with much more accuracy.
1773. CaptainC. J. Phipps, lord Mulgrave, reached nearly the 81° north latitude.
1774.Samuel Theophilus Gmelin, a German botanist, died. He was professor of botany at St. Petersburg, and employed on a mission of discovery in the provinces bordering on the Caspian sea; was detained a prisoner by a Tartar chief, in which situation he died.
1775. Congress established a hospital for 20,000 men, and appointed Benjamin Church director and physician-general.
1778. Action off Ushant between the French and British fleets, each of 30 sail; the British claimed the victory. British loss 133: 373. French loss 165: 529.
1794. Overthrow ofRobespierreandthe Mountain party, which put an end to the reign of terror.
1799. Mantua with a garrison of 10,000 men dishonorably surrendered to the Austrians.
1806. The United States exploring expedition under captain Lewis, had their guns seized while asleep, by a party of Minnetarre Indians. One of the Indians was stabbed to the heart, and Lewis shot another in the body, who fell on his knees and elbow, raised himself and fired; the ball grazed Lewis's head. The remainder of the Indians fled, leaving the explorers in possession of their baggage, provisions, and four horses.
1807.Peter Augustus Maria Broussonet, a French naturalist, died. He introduced Merino sheep and Angora goats into France.
1809. First day's battle of Talavera; Wellington made a stand against the French army of double his number of men, under Jourdan, Victor and Mortier.
1828.Radama, king of Madagascar, died. He was an extraordinary character, and his reign constitutes the most important era in the history of the island; the slave trade was suppressed, Christianity and the art of printing, as well as other arts and sciences were introduced.
1830. The second French revolution began in Paris by a resistance of the decrees of Charles X. It burst forth on the following day, and continued three days, when the people were left undisputed masters of the capital. About 3000 victims fell in this glorious struggle.
1833.William Bainbridge, an American commodore, died, aged 60. He was a distinguished commander in the navy for a long series of years.
1840.Charlotte Ouellet, a Canadian heroine, died, aged 100. She was one of a number of young women of St. Anne de la Pocatiere, who put on men's apparel and armed themselves to drive out the British regulars who were amusing themselves by firing the houses and barns of the village, during the siege of Quebec. She and the rest of her company fired upon the English, who fled, making temporary barrows in their flight, to rescue those who fell under the fire of these brave Canadian girls. A few days previous to her death she indulged in merriment at the thought that she was one who had made the best shots.
1843.Frederic Hall, of Washington, one of the most successful American geologists, died at Peru, Illinois.
1844.John Dalton, an eminent English chemist, died, aged 79. He had devoted his whole life to laborious study. A public funeral was given him in Manchester, his native town. He worshipped with the Friends. He could distinguish but two colors, yellow and blue; red and green had the same appearance to his eye.
1849. The grand duke of Tuscany reentered his capital and resumed his authority.
1854. The cholera made its appearance in the Massachusetts state prison at Charlestown, over 70 convicts being attacked; but one died.
1856. The steam boat John Jay, running on Lake George, took fire on her passage from the landing near Ticonderoga to Caldwell, and was consumed, by which several of the passengers and crew perished.
2348B. C.Noah, the Xisuthrus of Berosus, opened the windows of the ark and sent forth a dove and a raven, 40 days after the appearance of the mountains.
388.Magnus Maximus, emperor of Rome, beheaded. He was a Spaniard, proclaimed emperor by his troops in Britain. On arriving at Aquelia, on his way to Rome, he was defeated by Theodosius I, and beheaded.
450.Theodosius(the younger), emperor of Rome, died. He was successful in war against the Persians, who were defeated near their own dominions; but the Huns compelled him to sue for peace on terms not the most advantageous to the Romans. He was succeeded by his sister Pulcheria, and the empire for the first time submitted to a female reign.
1402. Battle of Angora near Constantinople, between the Tartars under Tamerlane and the Turks under Bajazet. It was an obstinate engagement, and continued three days. The Turks were defeated and Bajazet taken prisoner.
1492.Innocent VIII(John Baptist Cibo), pope, died. He was a Genoese nobleman of Greek descent; employed his influence to reconcile the quarrels of the Christian princes with one another, and left behind him the character of a high minded and benevolent man.
1540.Thomas Cromwell, earl of Essex, beheaded. He rose from the purlieus of a blacksmith's shop to those of the palace; from the pursuit of a humble calling to the dignity of lord chamberlain of England. But he fell a victim to the caprice of Henry VIII.
1541. The diet of Ratisbone closed its sittings.
1592.William Hacket, an English fanatic of the reign of Elizabeth, hung and quartered for blasphemy.
1609. SirGeorge Somers, governor ofVirginia, with his crew, who were wrecked on the 24th, landed on Bermudas. They found "a huge and curious sort of fish," and having remained there about nine months, and built two cedar barks they quitted theisle of Devilson the 10th May following. (SeeMay 23.)
1629.John Speeddied; an English chronologist, historian and antiquary.
1635.Richard Corbet, an English bishop, died. He also wrote a volume of ingenious poems, which were published under the title ofPoetica Stromata.
1667.Abraham Cowley, an eminent English poet, died. Addison observed of him, that no author ever abounded so much in wit, according to Locke's definition of it.
1718.Stephen Baluze, a French writer, died, aged 87. He wrote the lives of the popes of Avignon, and was an indefatigable collector of curious manuscripts, &c.
1750.Conyers Middleton, a celebrated English divine and critical author, died. His writings are numerous, and display profound learning and extensive information.
1750.Thomas Gordon, who in company with John Trenchard, for some time managed theIndependent Whig, died at London. His knowledge of the classics was respectable and he translated Tacitus.
1789. ThePittsburg Gazettewas printed, the first newspaper west of the Allegany mountains.
1790. The Forth and Clyde canal opened from the British to the Atlantic ocean, in Scotland.
1793. French generalSemonvillearrested on his route to Constantinople to bribe the divan; 64,000 louis d'ors and a great quantity of jewels were found on him.
1794.Maximilian Isidore Robespierre, the sanguinary demagogue of the French revolution, guillotined, aged 35. He rose from obscurity by his talents, but the demon of destruction seemed to sway his mind and urge him on to the most inhuman deeds that ever disgraced even a political demagogue. Twenty others perished at the same time by the same means.
1802.Joseph Sarti, an Italian music composer, died. He resided at the court of Catharine of Russia, where he was master of the chapel. He composed aTe Deumfor the taking of Oczakow, the bass of which was accompanied by cannon of different calibre.
1804.Pompey, a negro man, died at Dover, Delaware, aged 120.
1806. Buenos Ayres taken by the British.
1809. Second battle of Talavera, between the British and Portuguese under Wellington, and the French under Victor, in which the latter were defeated. Loss of the allies 8,167; French supposed to have lost more.
1813. Fourth battle of the Pyrenees; the French under Soult defeated the British under Wellington.
1813.Andoche Junot, duke of Abrantes, died. He entered the army as a volunteer 1791, afterwards distinguished himself under Bonaparte in the Italian and Egyptian campaigns, and commanded in the campaign in Russia.
1817.Vadamme, a celebrated French general, a voluntary exile, arrived at Philadelphia.
1818.Gaspard Mongedied at Paris. He was preceptor to Lacroix and other distinguished mathematicians, and was the first to reduce the art of fortifications, &c., to geometrical rules. HisGéométrie descriptiveis much used.
1820.Joseph Zajonczeck, viceroy of Poland, died. He entered the army at an early age, espoused the cause of freedom, and fought bravely for his country. He afterwards served in the armies of Bonaparte; and was finally appointed by Russia viceroy of Poland.
1833.William Wilberforce, a celebrated philanthropist, died at London, aged 74. He was a member of parliament and the intimate friend of Pitt. He began his efforts for the abolition of the slave trade as early as 1787.
1835.Edward Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, duke of Treviso, killed by the explosion of an infernal machine, intended to assassinate Louis Philippe. He joined the army 1791, and from that time his life was marked by combats, exploits and promotion during a term of nearly 30 years. "He is among a small number of Napoleon's generals, whose reputation for private worth has remained unquestioned through life." It was to him that Napoleon entrusted the hazardous undertaking of blowing up the Kremlin at Moscow.
1836.Nathan Mayer Rothschild, a celebrated London banker, died. He was a Jew, whose financial operations pervaded the whole continent of Europe. His transactions were carried on in conjunction with his brothers in Paris, Vienna, Frankfort and Naples, all of whom possessed colossal fortunes of their own.
1840.John George Lambton, earl of Durham, died, aged 48. He was made governor-general of Canada in 1838, but returned the same year, and published a valuable work on Canada. He was regarded as the leader of the reform movement which agitated the country and his talents and merits were very differently estimated by different parties.
1849. The late king of Sardinia,Charles Albert, died at Lisbon.
1851.Horace Sebastiani, a French marshal, died at Paris, aged 80. He was born in Corsica, and bore a part in most of the great battles during Bonaparte's career. He was in the ministry under Louis Philippe, and ambassador both at Naples and London.
1852. The steam boat Henry Clay, on her passage from Albany to New York, took fire about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, near Yonkers, and was consumed to the water's edge; 56 persons lost their lives, so sudden and rapid was the destruction of the boat. She had been racing with the Armenia.
1108.Philip I, king of France, died. He came to the throne at the age of 8 years; was ambitious and unscrupulous in his acts; engaged in war with England and Flanders, and was defeated by both.
1218.Louis Van Loondied; the husband of Ada, the expatriated queen of Holland.
1540. A statute was made confirming the seizures of the abbeys by Henry VIII.
1567. PrinceJames, less than 14 months old, was crowned king of Scotland at Stirling.
1578.Sebastian, king of Portugal, killed. He was unfortunate in his wars, and lost his life at Tangiers, in battle with the Moors. Camoens dedicated hisLusiadto this king, but he had the stupidity to treat the intended honor with contempt.
1603.Bartholomew Gilbert, in search of the lost English colony, having landed in a bay about the 40th degree of latitude, in a boat with four men, was attacked by the natives and every one killed. The rest of the crew immediately weighed anchor and returned to England.
1653. AdmiralVan Trompkilled and his fleet destroyed by the English fleet under Monk and Blake.
1644.Urban VIII(Maffeo Barberini), pope, died. He was an excellent poet, and was called theAttic Bee.
1653.Gabriel Naudæus, a learned French author, died. He was patronized by Richelieu and Mazarin, and Christina of Sweden.
1654.Thomas Gataker, an English divine, died, aged 80. He was one of the most noted men of the age; who united to extensive erudition, great moderation and benevolence.
1678.Andrew Marvell, an English poet, politician and critic, died (Penny Cyclopediasays August 16th). He supported the civil and religious liberties of his country, against the encroachments of the court, by his writings and parliamentary interest; and though poor, declined the bribes of the king.
1693. Battle of Neerwinden (or Landon), in Belgium; the allies under William III, defeated by the French, with the loss of 60 cannon, 9 mortars and about 7,000 men. The king had his clothes penetrated by three bullets.
1714.Martin Poli, an Italian chemist, died at Paris. It is said that he communicated to the king some powerful agent of destruction for military use; but the king, at the same time that he commended and rewarded his ingenuity with a pension and an office, insisted that the secret should die with him.
1747. Dr.Blackwell, a Scotch physician and for some time a corrector of the press to Mr. Wilkins in London, beheaded at Stockholm. Being informed that his head was not properly laid on the block he replied as it was his first experiment no wonder he needed some instruction.
1759. Crown point abandoned by the French on the approach of the British and provincials under general Amherst.
1760. At Lidden near Canterbury in grubbing down an enormous ash tree two human skeletons were found in the centre.
1773. The city of Guatemala laid in ruins by an earthquake and the eruption of a volcano.
1794. Seventy-one members of the municipality of Paris guillotined.
1794.Stanislaus Augustus, king of Poland, compelled by the Prussian, Austrian and Russian coalition to annul the Polish constitution, and deliver the army over to the Russian general Branicki.
1801.William Augustus Ernestidied; a distinguished German scholar and professor of eloquence at Leipsic.
1832.John Anthony Chaptal, a celebrated French chemist, died. He produced numerous valuable works on chemistry and other practical branches of the arts and sciences, was made minister of the interior by Bonaparte, and successively filled many other important situations.
1839.Gaspard Clair François Marie Riche de Prony, peer of France, died, aged 84. He was formerly professor of mechanics in the polytechnic school, an eminent engineer, and author of many scientific works.
1848. The long expected outbreak in Ireland; viscount Hardinge arrived to take command of the troops from England, the whole available force of which was sent over, supposed to be 50,000 in number.
1848.M. Ellett, engineer of the Niagara suspension bridge, drove a two horse carriage over that part of the bridge which was laid down and partly finished.
1853.Jonathan Richmond, one of the pioneers of western New York, died at Aurora, aged 79. For forty years he was actively engaged in aiding the rising fortunes of his sections of the state.
1856. A fire in Boston destroyed a block in North street, where 80 families were burnt out, and 9 lives lost.
578.Benedict I(Bonosus), pope, died. During his pontificate the people suffered the double calamity of famine and invasion, throughout which he interested himself to alleviate their condition.
911.Abu Abdillahassassinated; the principal actor in the revolution which established the dynasty of the Fatimites in Africa and Egypt.
1095.Ladislaus I, king of Hungary, died. He was an able statesman and general, and victorious in his wars with the surrounding nations. The Huns were driven from the country by him.
1388. Battle of Otterbourne, on Thursday, "about the Lammas tide," between sunrise and sunset. The youthful combatants were nearly of the same age. Douglas was slain, and the English Hotspur and his brother taken prisoners. The ancient song calledThe Hunting a' the Cheviat, refers to a private conflict 48 years after this, between the son of Hotspur and William Douglas; butRichard Sheale, with the license of a ballad-poet has mingled the two events together.
1540.Thomas Abel, a chaplain at the court of Henry VIII, executed. He incurred the resentment of the king by his attachment to the cause of the queen, Catharine. He was hanged, and then drawn and quartered.
1588.William Stuartkilled in Edinburgh by earl Bothwell.
1609. Battle between Champlain and Indians in Essex county, New York.
1625. The week's plague bill in London returns 2,471.
1631. A French coin dated 1596, found in digging a well at Dorchester, Mass.
1673. New York taken by the Dutch. A small expedition, fitted out to destroy the commerce of the English in America, having effectually performed this service on the Virginia coast, made their appearance before New York, which submitted without exchanging a shot. New Jersey was also humbled.
1711. The British and colonial fleet, consisting of 12 men of war, 40 transports, and 6 store ships, with 40 horses, a fine train of artillery, and all manner of warlike stores, sailed from Boston for the conquest of Canada.
1718.William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, died, aged 74. At the age of 24 he became a preacher among the quakers; but by the grant of Pennsylvania he was placed in the position of a legislator, and well did he sustain it.
1743.Thomas Emlyn, an English dissenting divine, died. He enjoyed an imprisonment of two years' duration, as a reward for the publication of some religious opinions, which no man had a right to entertain in those days.
1746. Eight of those concerned in the pretender's rebellion hung, beheaded and disemboweled near London.
1750.John Sebastian Bach, a German musician, died; celebrated for his skill as an organist, and also as a composer.
1762. Moro fort, at the entrance of the harbor of Havana, stormed by the English under admiral Pococke; 400 Spaniards were either cut in pieces, or perished in attempting to escape by water to the city; the rest threw down their arms and received quarter. (SeeAug. 12.)
1768. CaptainCooksailed from England in the Endeavor, on his first voyage of discovery.
1771.Thomas Gray, an eminent English poet, died. He was one of the most learned men of Europe, equally conversant with every department of science.
1775. CaptainCookreturned from his second and most important navigation, having lost but one man by sickness, out of a crew of 118 men, during an absence of more than three years.
1777. GeneralBurgoynereached fort Edward, on the Hudson river, having with incredible labor and fatigue conducted his army through the wilderness. General Schuyler, whose forces did not exceed 4,400 men, retreated over the river to Saratoga.
1780. Rocky mount, a British post on the Catawba, stormed and taken by Gen. Sumpter, after three repulses.
1784. Earthquake at Port Royal and Kingston, Jamaica. Of 150 vessels in the harbors but 6 or 8 were saved, and the sugar works were blown down. A scarcity of provisions attended the calamity.
1789. Battle of Putna; the Turkish army of 30,000 defeated with the loss of 1,500 men and all their artillery, camp equipage, &c., by the Austrian and Russian army, whose loss did not exceed 200.
1800. The grand jury of York, England, recommended the enclosing of 7,800,000 acres of waste lands as the best preventive of future famines.
1809. The British under lordChathaminvaded Holland with 40,000 troops.
1813. Fifth day's battle of the Pyrenees. The French under Soult defeated by the allies under Wellington, after an obstinate engagement. Loss supposed to have been about 8,000 on each side.
1844.Zechariah Poulson, for many years editor ofPoulson's Daily Advertiser, died. He was the last link connecting the fraternity of publishers with those of the days of Franklin.
1845.Lynthia Browning, the Kentucky giantess, died at Flemingsburg, Ky. She was seven feet high.
1855.George Johnston, an eminent British surgeon, died, aged 58. While engaged in the practice of his profession, he devoted his leisure to natural history, in which he attained great eminence.
1855.John Woods, an eminent Ohio lawyer, died at Hamilton, aged 61. As state auditor he did much to preserve the public credit at a time of general depression.
1423. Battle of Crevant, in France, in which the armies of the infant king of England were victorious.
1481.Franciscus Philadelphus, a learned Italian, died. He was at the head of the learned men of the day, professor of eloquence at Venice, and the personal friend of Lorenzo de Medici.
1498.Columbusdiscovered the island of Trinidad, resembling three mountains.
1556.Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, died. He was a brave officer in the Spanish army, and while under the hands of a surgeon his mind was directed to the subject of religion by reading. After having made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and studied theology he went to Paris, and laid the foundation of an order, which in time became sufficiently powerful and corrupt.
1592. SirWalter Raleighdisgraced, and sent with his lady to the tower.
1602.Charles Gonrault de Biron, a French admiral, beheaded in the bastile. He distinguished himself by flood and field, and was a great favorite at the court of Henry IV. His fondness of pleasure led to error and ruin.
1627. A terrible earthquake in Apulia, by which many thousands lost their lives.
1712. Marchiennes surrendered to the French.
1718.John HughesandSarah Drew, two rustic lovers, struck dead by lightning, under the shelter of a hay cock, in England. Pope, Thomson and Gay, have scattered flowers upon their graves.
1718. Fifteen Spanish ships destroyed near Syracuse, by admiral sir George Byng.
1719. ColonelHunter, departing the province of New York, the chief command devolved on Peter Schuyler, as the oldest member of the board of council.
1750.John V, of Portugal, died. He devoted himself to the encouragement of commerce, literature and industry among his subjects.
1760. Battle of Warburgh; the allies under the hereditary prince Ferdinand, defeated the French, who lost 1,500 killed, and about the same number taken prisoners.
1777. The marquisLafayettereceived, by a vote of congress, the appointment of major-general in the American army, being then but 20 years of age.
1786. A booth, at Montpelier, France, where a play was performing, fell and killed 500 persons.
1790.John Edwin, an English comedian, died. It was to his extraordinary talents that O'Keefe's dramas were greatly indebted for their success.
1807. The fortress of Mongal, in Spain, carried by storm and destroyed by the British under Cochrane.
1808.Joseph Bencirenni, an Italian writer, died. He distinguished himself in thebelles-lettresand public affairs.
1813. Plattsburgh taken by the British without opposition, all the public and much private property was destroyed.
1813. Com.Chaunceytook York, U. C., destroyed the public property and brought away the stores and provisions.
1831. London bridge completed, having occupied nearly 8 years in its construction. It is built of granite, 928 feet in length. The old bridge had stood, with propping and patching, six centuries.
1840.Muller, the distinguished antiquary and historian, died at Castri Levadia.
1848.Edmund Simpsondied; thirty-eight years manager of the Park theatre, New York, during which time he paid John Jacob Astor half a million dollars rent.
1850. The great diamond called Koh-i-noor, or mountain of light, was brought to England. It is valued at $2,000,000.
1854. The defenders of the barricades, at Madrid, 3,000 in number, defiled before the queen's palace, her majesty appearing on the balcony, with the king on one side, and Espartero, who had entered the city the day before, on the other.
1855. The official announcement was made of the removal of governor Reeder, of Kansas, and the appointment of John L. Dawson as his successor.
30B. C.Defection of the entire fleet of Marc Antony, at Alexandria, which suddenly passed over to Octavius, afterwards Augustus Cæsar.
117.Marcus Ulpius Trajan, emperor of Rome, died. He admired and copied the virtues of Nerva, his predecessor, and reigned nearly twenty years in the hearts of his people, when Hadrian received his mantle.
432.Celestine I, pope, died. The doctrines of Nestorius were condemned by him.
643.Oswald, king of Northumberland, slain at Maserfield. Bede says he erected in the shape of a wooden cross the first altar to Christ among the Bernicians.
725. The old English tax calledPeter's pence, was first laudably imposed by Ina, king of the west Saxons, for the support of an English college at Rome, but afterwards appropriated by the church for very different purposes.
1137.Louis VI, king of France, died. He was a wise and popular monarch, but during his reign, which continued nearly thirty years, the country was disturbed by external quarrels and internal factions.
1202. KingJohnof England obtained a victory over his nephew Arthur, whom with his sister Eleanor he took prisoner.
1221. The convent belonging to Westminster abbey destroyed; which issued in several individuals being severely punished.
1464.Cosmo de Medicis, a Florentine merchant, died. He bestowed vast expense and attention in the promotion of learning, and presided over the commonwealth 34 years, with so much wisdom and popularity, as to acquire the title ofFather of the People. (SeeOct. 4, 1434.)
1498.Columbus, on his third voyage, first set his foot upon the continent of America at Terra-Firma, mistaking it for an island. This was more than a year after the English expedition under the Cabots had reached its shores.
1560. The Scottish parliament assembled which overturned the Roman church in Caledonia, and established a new ecclesiastical system on a Calvinistic and presbyterian model.
1589.Henry III, of France, assassinated. He was a weak and vicious prince, during whose reign the country was desolated with factions and civil and religious wars. He was the last of the house of Valois.
1605.Edmund Anderson, an eminent English lawyer, died. He was one of the ablest and most learned of queen Elizabeth's judges; his law works are of great authority.
1625. The first parliament of Charles I, of England, on account of the plague, met at Oxford.
1714.Anne, queen of England, died, in the 50th year of her age.
1716.James Boileau, a celebrated French theologian, died; a doctor of the Sorbonne, and a man of great wit and learning.
1720.John Leake, a brave English admiral, died. He signalized himself in many important victories in different parts of the world.
1732.William Cosbyarrived at New York as governor of that province and New Jersey.
1743.Richard Savage, an eminent English poet, died in prison, aged 46. His great natural abilities were over-balanced by vices and follies which rendered him an unhappy man.
1759. Battle of Minden; the British and German forces under Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated the French, who met with great losses.
1766. France stipulated not to aid the Pretender if England would suffer a Romish bishop to be sent to Canada; it was acceded to.
1768. The merchants and traders of Boston entered into a non-importation agreement against Great Britain.
1769.Jean Chappe d'Auteroche, a French astronomer, died at California, whither he had gone to make an observation. He was distinguished for learning and abilities.
1770. Battle of Cahal; the Turkisharmy of 150,000 defeated by 18,000 Russians under marshal Romanzow.
1772. A revolution was effected in Sweden by the army, and dissimulation of the crown.
1774. Dr.Priestlydiscovereddephlogisticated air, which has been called the birth day of pneumatic chemistry.
1780. The village of Canajoharie laid waste by the Indians.
1790.John Knox, the book seller, and the improver of the herring fisheries in Scotland, died.
1793. Action without the harbor of New York between the French frigate L'Ambuscade, and British frigate Boston. The battle was severe, and both vessels were greatly damaged; but the Boston would have been captured if she had not been enabled to retreat. The Ambuscade had 6 killed, 20 wounded. The British lost their captain and nearly all their officers killed. The crews of the two frigates were about the same, 350 each.
1798. Battle of the Nile; the French fleet of 13 sail and 4 frigates defeated by the British, 13 ships of 74s, and a 50 gun ship under Nelson. Nine of the French ships were taken and 2 burnt, and 2 of the frigates destroyed. Admiral Brueys was mortally wounded and blown up in the Orient, 120 guns and 1070 men. Of the French 3,105 were put on shore by cartel, and 5,225 perished.
1801.Jonathan Edwards, president of Union college, died; a man of uncommon powers of mind.
1803.William Woodfall, an English printer, died. He possessed a remarkably retentive memory, and was the first who gave a full and immediate detail of the proceedings of parliament.
1807.John Walker, the English lexicographer, died.
1819.James Forbesdied; a civil servant in the East India company, and creditably known as the author ofOriental Memoirs, which were selected from a mass of manuscripts written during 17 years' residence in India, stated to occupy 52,000 folio pages, in 150 vols. The plates, from drawings of plants and animals made by the author, have rarely been surpassed in spirit and beauty.
1821.William Floyd, one of the signers, died.
1821.Elizabeth Inchbald, an English dramatic writer and actress, died. She possessed great beauty and talent, and an unsullied reputation; many of her pieces are stillstock plays.
1829. Capture of Jambouli and destruction of the Turkish camp by a brigade of Hulans and Cossacks, after having defeated on the road a body of 15,000 Turks.
1834.Robert Morrison, an eminent English orientalist, at Canton, died. He was considered the best Chinese scholar in Europe. He translated the whole of theNew Testamentinto Chinese, which was printed in 1813; but the great monument of his literary fame is hisDictionary of the Chinese Language, 6 vols. quarto.
1834. The slaves in the British colonies emancipated, and a temporary apprenticeship commenced.
1834. The bill admitting dissenters to the honors of the English universities, which had passed the house of commons, rejected in the house of lords by a majority of 102—a grand halt to the march of mind in England.
1838.John Rogersdied; a distinguished naval officer, and senior commander in the American navy. He had been fifteen months a resident of the naval asylum, and the greater part of the time in close confinement as a confirmed lunatic.
1838. The entire emancipation of the negro apprentices in the islands of Jamaica, Barbadoes, Chevis, Montserrat, St. Christophers, St. Vincent and Tortola, took place, in compliance with the acts of the colonial legislatures.
1848. The city of Vera Cruz delivered up to the Mexicans by the United States; general Smith embarked for home.
1849.Henry A. Breckingham, known as the author of several historical sketches and other interesting reminiscences of the early days of the American colonies, died at Brooklyn, of cholera.
1849. QueenVictoriaembarked at Cowes on her visit to Ireland.
1851.Harriet Lee, an English authoress, died, aged 95. Jointly with her sister Sophia, they were the authors of various works, chiefly novels or dramas. Harriet was almost the exclusive author of theCanterbury Tales, 5 vols., perhaps the best known of their labors.
1853. The Austrian government, in a circular addressed to the European courts, protested against the proceedings of Capt. Ingraham, in the port of Smyrna, in rescuing Martin Koszta, claiming to be a citizen of the United States.
1854.Kenneth Murchisonformerly governor of Penang and Singapore, died in London, aged 60.
1854. The yellow fever became epidemic at New Orleans. It disappeared in November, when the number of deaths was 2441. There were 600 deaths in Savannah from the same disease.