940.Athelstan, king of England, died. He was bountiful, wise and affable; ascended the throne at the age of 30; became distinguished by the titles ofconquerorandfaithful, and left behind him a name of great renown, respected at home and abroad.
1346. Battle of Nevil's Cross; the Scots under king David Bruce signally defeated by the English under Philippa and lord Percy. Bruce was taken prisoner and 15,000 of his men slain.
1492.Columbusnamed the more civilized island Fernandino, now Largo. The men wore cotton mantles, and the women a band of that manufacture round the waist.
1509.Philip de Comines, an excellent French historian, died, leaving behind himMemoirs of his Own Times.
1552.Andrew Osianderdied; a Bavarian, one of Luther's first disciples; a professor at Konigsburg, and a voluminous writer.
1616.John Pits, an English biographer, died. He collected the lives of the kings, bishops, apostolical men and writers of England in four large volumes.
1662. The seaport Dunkirk, in France, sold to the English for five million livres. The annual charge of the place (£120,000) far exceeded its intrinsic importance.
1678.Edmundbury Godfrey, before whom Oates gave evidence of the popish plot against the king of England, was found in a field with his sword through his body; verdict of the jury was, that he had been strangled.
1683. An assembly of the representatives of the freeholders of the province of New York, first met in assembly under governor Dongan.
1740. The CzarinaAnne, empress of Russia, died.
1748. Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, between England, France and Spain. The British took, during the war, 1,249 Spanish and 2,185 French prizes; total 3,434. The Spaniards captured 1,360, and the French 1,878 British vessels; total 3,238.
1758.Roland Michael Barria de Galissoniere, a French admiral, died. After serving with distinction in the navy, he was made governor of Canada.
1758.John Ward, an English dissenting minister, died; remembered for the assistance he rendered to many of the learned works of his day.
1775. Two men and eleven horses killed by the lightning which proceeded from a volcanic steam cloud of the Katlagia burning mountain, in the island of Iceland.
1777.Burgoyne, after losing 3,461 men at Stillwater and other places, surrendered the remainder of his army (5,752), to the Americans under Gen. Gates, conditioned not to serve again in North America during the present contest. Thus was extinguished an army of 9,213 men, including volunteers. The army of Gates amounted to 10,557 effective men.
1781. Several new batteries were opened by the Americans in the second parallel, against Yorktown. In the judgment of Cornwallis and his engineers, the place was no longer tenable; and in a letter to Washington he requested a cessation of hostilities to prepare for a capitulation.
1781.Edward Hawke, a brave and intrepid English admiral, died.
1793. Battle of Cholet, the Vendeans defeated by the French. The actions ofHagenauandBrumpttook place on the same day, in both of which the allies defeated the French.
1797. Treaty of Campio Formio between Bonaparte and the emperor of Austria.
1803. Agra in Hindostan taken by the British.
1805. Ulm surrendered by the Austrian general Mack to Bonaparte, and was delivered up on the 20th. The archduke with a corps of 17,000 Austrians effected his escape the night before by a masterly piece of generalship, leaving 40,000 behind who became prisoners to the French.
1806. Battle of Halle; prince Eugene of Wirtemburg defeated by the French underBernadotte; 34 cannon and 5,000 prisoners were taken.
1806.Jacques Dessalines, the black emperor of Hayti, assassinated.
1829. The Delaware and Chesapeake canal opened.
1834. Both houses of the British parliament destroyed by fire. They were not very remarkable for elegance or convenience; but with them was destroyed the celebrated tapestry that hung upon the walls of the house of lords, representing the defeat of the famous Spanish armada, a relic of great value in the eyes of the antiquary.
1837.John Hummel, an eminent musical composer, founder of the modern school of pianoforte music, died at Weimar, in Germany.
1848. Vienna in a state of siege; the imperial troops drawn close around the city, and deputations passed from the diet at Vienna to the emperor at Olmutz. Kossuth withdrew the Hungarian army within their own frontier.
1853. A party of 45 men under colonel Walker, sailed from San Francisco for the purpose of establishing a republic in lower California.
1854. The allies opened their first fire from the fleet and batteries upon Sebastopol. The loss of the Russians was 500 killed; of the allies 90, and 300 wounded.
447B. C.Battle of Coronea; the Bœotians gained a great and most important victory over the Athenians. Clinias, the father of Alcibiades, and Tolmides, fell.
33.Agrippina, the virtuous wife of Germanicus Cæsar, died in exile of starvation. She was banished after the death of her husband.
1216.John(Lackland), king of England, died, aged 47. No prince in English history has been transmitted to posterity in darker colors; ingratitude, cruelty, and perfidy, were habitual in his character.
1547.James Sadolet, a polite and learned Italian writer and cardinal, died.
1564. CaptainJohn Hawkinssailed from Plymouth, England, with four sail for the African coast; which was the first slave trade adventure, and the opening of that infernal commerce. The negroes were taken to Hispaniola, and sold to the Spaniards.
1605.John Riolandied; a Paris physician and writer on anatomy and medicine.
1631. Corn made a legal tender in Massachusetts, unless money or beaver were expressly stipulated.
1633. A royal declaration ordered to be read in churches, reviving in England, wakes, lawful sports and recreations, after divine service on sabbaths.
1744. The duchess dowager of Marlborough died in her 85th year, leaving many legacies. She was the famous Sarah Jennings in queen Anne's days.
1757.Rene Anthony Ferchault de Reaumur, a French philosopher, died. He gave a new construction to the thermometer which bears his name, and wrote much on the various branches of natural philosophy.
1770.John Mannersdied; an English nobleman, who distinguished himself at the head of the British forces in the German war, under Ferdinand of Brunswick.
1775. The Americans took Chamblee, in Canada, and for the first time captured the British colors; they also took 4 tons of powder.
1775. Falmouth, a town in the northeast part of Massachusetts, burnt. The inhabitants had obstructed some British movements, whereupon an armed vessel was sent to reduce the town to ashes. Of the dwelling houses, 139 were burnt, and 278 stores.
1783.Francis Xavier d'Oliveyra, a Portuguese statesman, died in England.
1783. The American army disbanded by proclamation.
1799. Treaty for the evacuation of Holland by the British and Russians.
1799. Three British frigates captured the Spanish galleon Santa Brigida, 36 guns and 320 men, with 1,500,000 Spanish dollars on board, and a cargo of merchandise, ivory, &c., of equal value.
1801. The Batavian republic again divided into the old provinces; the legislature was diminished to 35 deputies; the executive power extended to a council of twelve men.
1806. The French under Davoust took possession of Leipsic, in Saxony. They found there 15,000 quintals of flour, and British goods to an immense amount; sixty millions were offered as a ransom for the latter.
1809. Battle of Salamanca; the Spaniards defeated the French under Ney, and forced them to fall back with the loss of 1,500 men.
1811. The ladies of Cadiz formed a society to supply the wants of the Spanish soldiers.
1812. Action between the United States sloop of war Wasp, 18 guns, captain Jones, and British sloop of war Frolic, 22 guns; the latter captured in 45 minutes, with the loss of 30 killed, 50 wounded; Wasp had 5 killed, 5 wounded. Same day British ship Poictiers, 74 guns, came up with and captured both of them, the Wasp beingtoo much damaged in her rigging to escape.
1812. Battle of Poltosk; the Russians under Witgenstein and Steingel attacked the French and Germans under St. Cyr, and compelled them to retire within their entrenchments.
1812. Battle of Garalavitz; the Russians under Benningsen defeated the French, 50,000, under Murat, killed 2,500, took 1,000 prisoners, 38 cannon, 40 ammunition wagons, and a large amount of spoil, besides the great standard of honor belonging to the regiment of cuirassiers.
1812. The French abandoned the city of Moscow; Napoleon, on learning the defeat of Murat, determined to march to his support with the whole French army.
1813. Second day's battle of Leipsic; the two great armies had paused one day to prepare for this grand contest. The forces of Napoleon were not less than 180,000; those of the allies had been swelled to near 300,000. The carnage was fearful, and the French were compelled to yield before an overwhelming superiority of numbers. The loss of Bonaparte on this day, including defections and prisoners, was not less than 80,000 men, 200 cannon, and an immense amount of baggage.
1813.Theodore Koerner, the German poet, was killed in the battle of Leipsic. He is particularly celebrated for the spirited poems which he composed in the campaign against Napoleon, in which he fell.
1814. Union of Norway and Sweden.
1815.Bonaparte, the exiled emperor of France, with his suit, landed at St. Helena.
1817.Stephen Henry Mehul, an eminent French musical composer, died.
1827. The last lottery authorized by the British government, drawn in London. In that lottery there were six prizes of $133,200 dollars each.
1833. CaptainJohn Ross, who left England in 1829 in search of a north-west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, returned on this day, after an absence of four years, and when all hopes of his return had been given up.
1840. The ceremony of the exhumation of the body of Napoleon Bonaparte was performed at St. Helena, with great parade, in order to be conveyed to Paris. The body, which had been embalmed by French physicians previous to interment, in 1821, was found in a state of complete preservation. (SeeDec. 15.)
1841. A great flood of the Thames, caused by a succession of northerly gales; the water rose much higher than during the inundations of 1821 and 1828, and much property was destroyed.
1843.Ebenezer Elmer, an officer of the revolution, and the last survivor of the Jersey line, died at Bridgeton, aged 91.
1844. Destructive gale at Buffalo, carrying away part of the pier which protected the harbor, sinking vessels, and submerging a part of the city, by which more than fifty lives were lost.
1849.Leonidas Wetmore, an officer in the U. S. infantry, died on board a steam boat in the Mississippi. He was actively engaged in the Florida war, and participated in most of the hard fought battles of the Mexican campaign.
1850.Daniel Clark Sanders, formerly president of the university of Vermont, died, aged 82. He published a history of the Indians, and kept a meteorological register to the day of his death.
1852. CommodoreMcCauley, commander of the United States naval forces in the Pacific, by proclamation, withdrew his protection from American vessels proceeding to the Lobos islands for guano.
1854.Francis Burt, governor of the territory of Nebraska, died at Bellevue, aged 45. He was a native of South Carolina, and resigned the office of third auditor of the treasury at Washington for the governorship, which he held hardly two weeks after his arrival.
202B. C.Battle of Zama, in which Hannibal was defeated by Scipio.
125B. C.The era of Tyre began, with the month Hyperberetæus. The months are the same as those used in the Grecian era; the year similar to the Julian.
1453. The fall of Bordeaux, after a siege of seven weeks, when Guienne, an English province, was incorporated with the French monarchy.
1492.Columbusdiscovered the island of Isabella.
1608.Geoffrey Fenton, an eminent English writer, died. He served queen Elizabeth in Ireland, where he was promoted.
1619.James Arminius, founder of the Arminians, died. He was professor of divinity at Leyden; his writings are all on controversial and theological subjects.
1630. First general court of the Massachusetts colony held at Boston. Many of the first planters attended and were made free of the colony. The number of freemen this year was 110.
1640.Albertus Miræus, a learned German writer, died.
1645. Newcastle in England, a fortress of considerable strength, taken by the Scots under Leven. The place had beenbesieged ten weeks when the Scottish general directed a furious cannonade against the walls; at nightfall the besiegers advanced to the onset, and after two hours' hard fighting at the breaches, forced their entry.
1655. The kirk of Scotland refused to observe thefast dayordered by the protector, on the ground that the church should receive no directions from civil magistrates when to keep fasts.
1660. ColonelsAxtelandHackerexecuted for the murder of Charles I of England. Axtel commanded the guard that attended the king to the scaffold.
1675. Attack on Hadley, Mass., by the Indians to the number of seven or eight hundred. Nearly all the towns on that river had been either totally destroyed or greatly injured during this season by the savages. They attacked this place in all quarters, but were so warmly received at all points, that after burning a few barns and outhouses, they hastened away as fast as they had come on. The town happened to be garrisoned, and the companies stationed at the neighboring towns hastened to their relief. This was the last attempt upon these settlements this season, the Indians retiring to their general rendezvous at Narragansett. Great numbers of them had been killed, and a greater number had perished by other means.
1682.Thomas Brown, an eminent English physician and writer, died.
1690.Isaac Benserade, a French poet, died.
1745.Jonathan Swift, the eccentric dean of St. Patrick's, died, aged 78, in a state of idiocy, leaving £10,000 to found a hospital for lunatics and idiots.
1749.William Ged, an ingenious Scottish artist, died; memorable for a new invention in the art of printing, called stereotyping.
1762. Dark day at Detroit; "one of the darkest days that ever was known."
1763. A patrol of horse commanded by sir John Fielding, established on the roads leading to London, to clear them of robbers and highwaymen.
1769. A terrible eruption of Vesuvius.
1780. Engagement at Palatine Bridge, N. Y.; colonel Brown killed.
1781.Cornwallissurrendered to the French and American army at Yorktown. Above 7000 prisoners, the military chest, a frigate, with a number of transports and the public stores, and 1500 seamen, fell into the hands of the captors. The allied army consisted of 7000 French, 5500 continental troops, and 3500 militia.
1789.François, a baker in Paris, murdered in the street by a mob, because the return of the king had not lessened the price of bread. The great barbarity shown by the actors in this affair called down on them the severity of the national guards under Lafayette.
1794. Battle of Puffleck; the duke of York defeated by the French under Pichegru. The emigrant legion under Rohan were cut to pieces.
1806.Henry Kirke White, an admired English poet, died, aged 21.
1807.William Gordondied; an English author of a history of the American revolution, &c.
1810. The French burned all British merchandise in the country.
1812. Second battle of Poltosk; the French defeated and compelled to retreat with great loss.
1812.Bonaparte, at the head of the French army, left Moscow. The palace of the Kremlin blown up.
1813. Last day's battle of Leipsic, in which above half a million of men and at least 2000 cannon were engaged in the work of death. The French emperor finding it in vain to stem the torrent of so vast a superiority of force as now bore down upon him, began a retreat, which was disastrous in the extreme. The only bridge by which the army could cross was blown up, leaving 25,000 men to surrender at discretion. On arriving at Erfurt, Bonaparte found his army reduced to 80,000; having lost by death and defection since the campaign opened, 200,000.
1814. Battle of Lyon's creek; the Americans, 900 men, under general Bissell, attacked by a select British corps of 1200 men, who were compelled to retreat.
1825.Girolamo Lucchesini, a Prussian minister of state and author, died. He combined the qualities of an experienced courtier with the practical knowledge of a statesman, was learned without pedantry, and possessed a great memory.
1826.Francis Joseph Talma, an eminent French tragedian and writer, died. He was a man of great natural talent, and esteemed by men of rank and talent; he was a great favorite with Napoleon.
1842. The town of Monterey in California was captured by the United States squadron under commodore Jones, under the belief that war existed. But it was soon restored to Mexico.
1845.Hannah Goughdied in New York, aged 110.
1847. A volcano burst forth with great violence on one of the high peaks of Lookout mountain, in the Alleghanian chain, in Georgia.
1847. The corner stone of a monument to the memory of general Washington laid in the city of New York.
1848. The Mormon temple at Nauvoo was fired by an incendiary, and totally destroyed.
1849.Frederick Strickland, a young Englishman, son of Thomas Strickland, bart., perished in the snow near the Notch house, in New Hampshire.
1852. A decree of the president issued for the convoking of the French senate for the purpose of deliberating on the restoration of the empire.
1853.Ichabod Bartlett, a New Hampshire statesman, died at Portsmouth, aged 67.
480B. C.The battle of Salamis is, by respectable authority, placed upon this day. (SeeSept. 30.)
1422.Charles VIof France, died. He succeeded to the kingdom at the age of 13, and during a reign of 42 years the kingdom, by foreign invasions and internal factions, was ruined, and passed into the hands of the English.
1524.Thomas Linacre, a learned English physician and divine, died. He was the best Greek and Latin scholar of his age, and founded the college of physicians.
1579. The Scottish parliament decreed that every householder, having lands or goods worth £500, should be obliged to have a Bible, which at this time was printed in folio, and a psalm book in his house, "for the better instruction of themselves and their families in the knowledge of God."
1687. The destruction of Lima in Peru by an earthquake.
1713.Archibald Pitcairne, an able Scottish physician, died. He disputed the right of Harvey to the discovery of the circulation of the blood, which he asserted was fully known to Hippocrates.
1714. Several people killed by the falling of scaffolds on which multitudes were standing to see the coronation of George I of England.
1719. Birthday ofGodfrey Achenwall, a Prussian traveler, historian and political economist. He first gave a distinct character to the science of statistics, and gave it that name. He died 1772.
1723. A fire commenced in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, and lasted three days; most of the city was burnt down.
1740.Charles VI, emperor of Germany, died. He was the sixteenth and last prince of the ancient house of Austria, and was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Maria Theresa.
1741. The Prussians became masters of Silesia.
1786. A basket maker contrived by a singular scaffolding of twigs to bring down the weathercock from the old abby church of St. Albans, in England.
1796. The university of Oxford and the marquis of Buckingham each presented 2000 copies of the Bible for distribution among the French clergy.
1799. Rome capitulated to the English.
1807. The ports of Portugal shut against British shipping.
1807. Copenhagen evacuated by the British, who brought off the stores in the arsenal, amounting to 92 cargoes, and the ships of war.
1814.Philip Astley, founder of the royal amphitheatre, London, died, aged 72. He served seven years in Germany, in the English cavalry, and on his return began to exhibit equestrian performances. He erected several amphitheatres in England and Paris, wrote a treatise on horsemanship, and two works of a military character.
1815. Great hurricane at Jamaica, which continued 3 days and wrecked one hundred vessels.
1826.Boissy d'Anglas, died at his residence in France, whose name is so closely interwoven with the French revolution. He was a member of the council of 500, and subsequently the president of that body. His hostility to the Directory produced a sentence of deportation to Guiana, but he contrived to elude the exile.
1827. Battle of Navarino, in which the fleet of the pacha of Egypt was annihilated by the combined squadrons of Great Britain, Russia and France, under admiral Codrington.
1841. A fire broke out in the tower at London, and entirely consumed the building called the small armory; about 200,000 stand of arms, and a great number of trophies of various kinds were destroyed.
1853.Selim Pashadefeated a Russian corps of 15,000 men on the frontiers of Georgia. The Turks at this time had a fleet of 22 ships of the line and 9 war steamers, mounting 1116 guns, and the Egyptian contingent consisting of 10 ships of war and 2 steamers, mounting 614 guns.
1097. The siege of Antioch opened by the crusaders. (SeeJune 3.) Baldwin founded the principality of Edessa in this year.
1217. The fortress of Alcazar-do-Sal taken from the Moors, after a hard foughtbattle, by the Portuguese under Alphonso II, assisted by William, earl of Holland, with a portion of the fleet and forces bound for the crusade.
1439.Ambroseof Portico, in Romania, died; distinguished by his fluency in the Greek tongue, at the councils of Basil, Ferrara, &c.
1441.Margery Jourdemain, the witch of Eye, condemned to be burnt for furnishinglove potionsto Eleanor Cobham, wife of that duke of Gloucester so eminent as a patron of science and letters.
1558.Julius Cæsar Scaligerdied; an Italian physician, eminent as a Latin critic and poet.
1583.Laurent Joubert, a French physician and medical writer, died.
1593. Nymegen, a strong city of Holland, surrendered to Maurice of Nassau, who added a new fort to it.
1621.Anthony Montchrestien de Vateville, a French poet, torn to pieces and burnt by order of the authorities, for sedition and other crimes.
1662.Henry Lawes, an English musician, died. He was originally a choir boy of Salisbury church, first introduced the Italian style of music in England, and composed the notes for Milton'sComus.
1687.Edmund Waller, an eminent English poet and political writer, died.
1692. A commission was granted by William and Mary to Benjamin Fletcher, governor of New York, conferring on him the government of Pennsylvania, and depriving Penn of that office. He was however, restored again in two years after.
1716.James Gronoviusdied; a Dutch writer on thebelles-lettres, and a man of learning.
1766. Cumana, the capital of New Andalusia in South America, entirely destroyed by an earthquake.
1771.Tobias Smollet, a Scottish physician, died; better known as a historian and novelist.
1771.William Clarke, an English divine and antiquary, died.
1774. The provincial congress of Massachusetts determined to raise and enlist men for the defence of the province for the first time, under the name of minute men.
1777.Samuel Footedied; a celebrated English dramatist and actor, called the English Aristophanes.
1783. Congress insulted at Philadelphia by a band of mutineers, whom the authorities were unable to quell, adjourned to Princeton; a circumstance which doubtless led to the agitation of the question of a permanent seat of government.
1794. Coblentz surrendered to the French revolutionists. The fortifications of this city, celebrated for having been the court of the emigrant princes, had been vastly augmented during the course of the war, but the Austrian commander evacuated it on the first appearance of the French.
1794.Anthony Petit, an eminent French physician, died. He was a copious and learned writer.
1800.Simeon Thayer, an officer of the revolution, died. He was in the army led by Arnold through the wilderness to Quebec, was wounded by a cannon ball at Monmouth, and was the brave volunteer defender of Mud fort on the Delaware.
1803.Frederick Cavendish, an English field marshal died.
1805. Battle of Trafalgar; the British fleet, 27 sail and 4 frigates, defeated, after an action of 4 hours, the combined French and Spanish fleets of 33 sail. Admiral Horatio Nelson was killed, and the French admiral Villeneuve was captured. British loss 423 killed, 1164 wounded. The French and Spanish fleet was completely overthrown; but 14 escaped from the battle, and nearly the whole of those were afterwards wrecked or captured.
1841.John Forsyth, an eminent American statesman, died. As a member of the Union convention of Georgia in 1832, he was principally instrumental in preventing that state from pledging itself to nullification. He was a man of talent and eloquence and long distinguished in public life by the many important offices which he held.
1849.Charles E. Horn, a well known musical composer of Boston, died.
1852.Saul Alley, long known as a leading merchant and capitalist of New York, died aged 74.
50B. C.The civil wars of the Romans began in which Cæsar and Pompey were arrayed against each other.
615.Columbanus, an Irish missionary and reformer of monastic life, died in Italy. In his character he was intrepid, violent and fearless.
741.Charles Martel, duke of Austrasia, died. He was the actual sovereign of France during 25 years, under the titles of mayor of the palace, and duke of the Franks. He repeatedly vanquished the Suevians, Frisons, Allemans and Saxons, and at the famous battle near Poictiers defeated the Saracens with such great slaughter, that it is said 375,000 of them were destroyed.
1322.Hugh, the illuminator, died at Cairo in Egypt, on his way from Dublin to the holy land.
1495.John II(the Great) of Portugal, died. He carried war into Africa against the Moors, and extended the settlements of the Portuguese in Africa and India.
1658. Interment of Oliver Cromwell, with great pomp. "It was the joyfulest funeral I ever saw," says Evelyn; "for there were none that cried but dogs, which the soldiers hooted away with a barbarous noise, drinking and taking tobacco in the streets as they went."
1685. Edict of Nantes revoked by the imbecile Louis XIV, who imagined the protestants in his kingdom were nearly extirpated. The protestants were now deprived of their religious and civil rights, which they had enjoyed nearly a century. They were driven in great numbers into different countries of Europe by the persecutions which followed, where they established the silk and other manufactures, to the great prejudice of their own country.
1707.Cloudesley Shovel, a celebrated English admiral, wrecked off the Scilly isles, as he was returning with his fleet from the coast of Spain; 900 seamen also perished with him.
1708.Herman Witsiusdied; a learned Dutch divine, and theological writer.
1710. Birthday ofMarie Anne le Page du Boccage, a French lady greatly celebrated for her writings.
1724.William Wollastondied; a celebrated English divine, author of theReligion of Nature.
1726. The island of Jamaica visited by a fearful hurricane which destroyed much property on the plantations and a fleet of ships.
1746. The assembly of New York brought in a bill to raise £2,250 by lottery towards erecting a college.
1757. Alum first discovered in Ireland.
1764. Battle of Buxar, in Bengal; the British defeated Mir Cassim, who lost 4,000 killed, 133 cannon, and all his tents, &c., taken.
1775.Peyton Randolph, first president of the American congress, died. He was a native of Virginia, and one of the most distinguished lawyers and patriots of that state.
1777. Battle of Red Bank; the Hessians under count Donop in their attack upon the American fort, were defeated with the loss of about 500 killed. Donop was mortally wounded. Fort Mifflin was attacked at the same time by water, without success, and two British men-of-war were lost.
1784. Treaty at fort Stanwix (now Rome) between the Six Nations and the United States.
1788.George III, king of England, became insane.
1791.John David Michaelis, a German theological writer, died. His works are 49 in number.
1793. British took possession of Grand Ance and Nicola Mole, in St. Domingo.
1802.Samuel Arnold, an eminent English musical composer, died in London.
1812.Vinzingerode, the Russian general, with his aid Narishkin, rode up to Warsaw with a white flag to offer terms, was made prisoner, and despatched towards Hesse; but was retaken by a party of Cossacks.
1812. The city of Moscow wholly evacuated by the French, after a possession of 1 month and 8 days. Russian troops entered it immediately afterwards, in time to preserve the Kremlin, which had been undermined to be blown up; and within a few hours, so completely had the Russian peasants baffled Napoleon, that the town swarmed with people and the markets were stocked with provision.
1818.Joachim Heinrich Campe, a German theologian, died. His philosophical works, as well as those which he composed for the instruction of youth, display a noble and philanthropic spirit; some of them have been translated into most of the European languages.
1824.Charles Van Ess, a German ecclesiastic, died. He wrote some historical works, and a translation of the New Testament was published under his name.
1840.Henry Richard Vassall, lord Holland, an English statesman, died. He was a man of literary accomplishments, and particularly distinguished for his knowledge of Spanish literature. He is characterized as a wit without a particle of ill-nature, and a man of learning without a taint of pedantry.
1841.Robert Bissett Scott, an English writer on military jurisprudence and a military advocate, died at London, aged 67.
1846.Batis Stone, another of those long lived patriots of the revolution of the American colonies, died at Philadelphia, aged over 103 years. Though in nearly every battle he escaped unwounded.
1846. The steamship Great Britain ran aground on the coast of Ireland, and became too deeply imbedded to be lifted by subsequent tides. The passengers and most of the cargo saved.
1848.Alexander G. McNutt, an eminent Mississippi lawyer, died, aged 47.
1850. The city council of Chicago passed resolutions nullifying the fugitive slave law, and releasing the police from the obedience of it. They subsequently reconsidered this action.
1855.William Molesworth, a Welsh baronet, died, aged 45. He began to make a figure before the public at a very earlyage, and distinguished himself in parliament and elsewhere.
439. Carthage, foremost in effeminacy, and second in importance among the western cities, was taken from the Romans and spoliated by Genseric, the Vandal, 585 years after the destruction of her republic by the younger Scipio.
472.Flavius Anicius Olybrius, emperor of the west, died, after a very brief reign.
524.Anicius Manlius Torquatus Severinus Bœthius, a celebrated Roman philosopher, executed. He fell under the displeasure of Theodoric.
1340.Nicolas, of Lyra, a Norman Jew, died. He was converted to Christianity, taught divinity at Paris with great reputation, and wrote commentaries on the Bible and controversies with the Jews.
1389. The first charter to the town of Linlithgow, in Scotland, was given by Robert II. Here yet stands the old palace in which the unfortunate Mary, queen of Scotland, sometime resided.
1526. Date of the bishop of London's charge to his clergy, to destroy the English copy of the New Testament, as ruinous to the souls of their people.
1616.Achille de Harley, president of the parliament of Paris, died. He acquired great respect by the learning, firmness and dignity with which he sustained his office.
1641. Rebellion in Ireland; the catholics under Phelim O'Neil, rose against the protestants, and cruelly massacred men, women and children to the number of 40,000, and by some accounts more than 100,000.
1642. Battle of Edgehill, between the royalists, under Charles I and prince Rupert, and the parliament forces, under the earl of Essex. About 5,000 men fell on the occasion, among whom was general Bertie; the victory was undecided.
1667. The foundation stone of the first pillar in the Royal Exchange, London, laid by the king.
1679. TheMeal Tubplot discovered in England.
1706.John Foy Vaillant, a celebrated French physician, medalist and traveler, died.
1707. The first parliament of Great Britain met after the union with Scotland.
1708. The town of Lisle surrendered, and the garrison retired into the castle, except the horse, which were allowed to march away. The allies acknowledged a loss of 12,000 men in taking the town only.
1713.Archibald Pitcairne, an eminent physician and scholar, died at Edinburgh.
1730.Anne Oldfield, a very celebrated English actress, died; and after lying in state in Jerusalem chamber, was buried at Westminster with great pomp.
1764.John Leclair, an eminent French music composer, assassinated at Paris.
1785.William Cochrane, a Scottish painter, died. His pieces acquired great celebrity.
1789. Two robbers seized by the citizens of Paris, and hung on the spot, under pretence that the authorities were too slow and dilatory.
1801.John Gottlieb Naumann, an eminent German music composer, died. He was found in obscurity at the age of 13, and taken to Italy, where he commenced his career. His operas are very numerous.
1814. British ship Bulwark captured American privateer, Harlequin, 10 guns, 115 men.
1825.Pliny Fisk, a zealous American missionary, died at Beyrout, in Syria. Although extremely indigent, he procured a regular education, subsisting two years upon bread and milk, and carrying his corn to mill upon his shoulders. Yet so great was his application, that he enabled himself to preach in Italian, French, modern Greek and Arabic.
1826. Date ofJames Smithson'swill, which ultimately placed in the hands of the United States of America, a large sum for the diffusion of knowledge among men.
1841.George Frederick Beltz, author of several works on antiquities and heraldry, died at Basle.
1844. The steam boat, Lucy Walker, stopping at New Albany, on her route from Louisville to New Orleans, exploded her three boilers at once, killing between 50 and 60 persons, and wounding others.
1848. GeneralWindischgratz, summoned the city of Vienna to surrender.
996.Hugh Capet, king of France, died. He acquired the throne by his merits and courage, and became the head of the third race of the French monarchy.
1553.John Wayland, queen Mary's "allowed printer," received his charter; yet Thomas Green, a journeyman of his, was imprisoned and whipped, for printing a book entitledAntichrist.
1601.Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer, died. He chose the study of astronomy when it was a science of small repute; and though he immortalized his name, yetit is to be regretted that he should have been led into so visionary a scheme as hissystemexhibits, from a mere spirit of opposition to Copernicus.
1612. SirPecksael Brocas, for his adulteries, was compelled to stand at St. Paul's cross, in London, arrayed in a white sheet with a stick in his hand.
1644. The English parliament issued an ordinance, that no quarter should be given to any Irish papist, who should be found in hostility to the parliament.
1648. German thirty years' war concluded by the treaty of Westphalia. It commenced 1618, having grown out of the reformation. It spread from one end of Germany to the other, and left the country a scene of desolation and disorder, wasted by fire, sword and plague, which was followed by a great scarcity, owing to a deficiency of laborers. The art of war was the only one that had gained any thing, and that principally by the genius of Gustavus Adolphus, who made an era in military tactics, and was the first who had a train of artillery in his army.
1655.Peter Gassendi, a celebrated French philosopher, died. He was at once a theologian, metaphysician, philosopher, astronomer, naturalist and mathematician; eminent in some, and above mediocrity in all those sciences.
1678. Desperate action between the English ship, Concord, captain Grantham, and the Algerine admiral ship, Rose, commanded by Canary, a Spanish renegado, who was beat off.
1682.William Pennfirst arrived in America, and landed at New Castle, Delaware, with 100 passengers. Next day possession of the country was given him.
1819. Erie canal opened from Utica to Rome.
1812. Battle of Ouschatch; the Russians under Steingel and Sassanoff defeated the Bavarians, who lost 300 killed and 200 taken.
1821. A new organization of the Spanish church introduced, abolishing all the monasteries but ten or twelve, declaring all legacies and gifts to monasteries, churches and hospitals, unlawful, and curtailing the whole ecclesiastical establishment, so as to effect a saving of 44½ million dollars to the nation. The old order of things was restored to its former footing two years afterwards, on the restoration of the king to absolute power.
1821.Elias Boudinot, first president of the American Bible society, died. He was president of Congress in 1782, a man of great excellence of character, and left his large estate principally to charitable purposes.
1838.Joseph Lancaster, promulgator of the Lancasterian system of mutual instruction, died in New York, aged 68.
1842. Great storm of wind and rain in the island of Madeira; 200 houses were swept away at Funchal, the capital.
1842. A destructive fire occurred at Canton, China, by which more than 1,400 houses were burnt.
1845.William Rude, of Cumberland, R. I., died, aged 98. He was at the battle of Bunker hill, and nearly every other during the revolutionary struggle, but escaped unhurt.
1845. England and France, having engaged by a public armed intervention to put a stop to the war between Buenos Ayres and Montevideo, declared a strict blockade of the port of Buenos Ayres.
1846.Henry, an African, died in Woodford county, Ky., aged 112. At the age of 84 he married his fourth wife, and raised a family of 7 children.
1852.Daniel Webster, the greatest of American orators, died at Marshfield, aged 70. As a statesman, in the most complete meaning of the term, few Americans have ever equaled and none surpassed him.
1854.Pierre Soule, the United States minister to Spain, on landing at Calais from England, en route for Spain, was stopped by the French police, and returned to London.
1855.Robert H. Morris, a distinguished New York politician, died at Astoria, aged 51.
1855.James Oliver Van de Velde, second bishop of Natchez, died, aged 63. He was a Belgian, who early united with the Jesuits, and was sent to America. He was sometime president of the catholic college at St. Louis, and afterward bishop of Chicago. He was held in very high estimation by all denominations.
322B. C.Demosthenes, the Athenian orator, died at the isle of Calauria, as is supposed by poison, to save himself from falling into the hands of his enemies alive.
1154.Stephen, king of England, died. He usurped the throne, which belonged to Matilda, wife of Henry IV, of Germany, whose son Henry II, succeeded him.
1400.Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry, died.
1415. Battle of Agincourt, in France; the English army had been reduced by disease and sword from 30,000 to 15,000, when on ascending the heights of Blangi they saw the French army of 50,000 men drawn up to oppose their progress. There was no alternative but to give battle, which resulted in the defeat of the French, wholost 10,000 killed, and 14,000 taken prisoners; while the loss of the English was but 40 men.
1499. The bridge of Notre Dame, at Paris, fell.
1555.Charles Vresigned the sovereignty of the Low Countries, in the presence of the states at Brussels, in favor of his bigoted son Philip.
1691.George Legge, an able English naval officer, died in the Tower, whither he had been sent on suspicion of favoring the revolution.
1692.Peter Schuylerwas admitted by Gov. Fletcher to the council board, his peculiar qualifications being required by the administration.
1701. Philadelphia first chartered by William Penn; Edward Shippen was appointed mayor.
1714.Sebastian le Clercdied; a French engraver, who rose from obscurity to eminence.
1731. Several valuable manuscripts destroyed in the Cottonian library at Westminster, by a fire.
1735.Charles Mordaunt, a renowned English naval officer, died. To bravery and heroism he added a penetrating genius and a mind highly polished.
1751. An extraordinary eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
1757.Augustine Calmet, a learned French ecclesiastic, died. He was well acquainted with the oriental languages and published several learned works, which are still in use.
1760.George II, of England, died suddenly at Kensington from the extraordinary circumstance of a rupture of the right ventricle of the heart, in the 77th year of his age and the 34th of his reign.
1764.William Hogarthdied; one of the most original of painters. He was originally destined for a copperplate engraver, to which art he served an apprenticeship.
1779. The British evacuated Newport, R. I.; to the honor of Gen. Pigot, no wanton injury was committed.
1780.John Hancockchosen first governor of Massachusetts, under their new constitution.
1780. Gen.Marionattacked near the high hills of Santee, 200 British and tories, under Col. Tyne; killed or took nearly half of them, and most of their horses, &c.
1781. Americans under Col. Willett, of New York, defeated 600 British under major Ross.
1788.William Julius Mickle, an English poet, died. He commenced life as a brewer, but failing in business took up literature in which he succeeded.
1793. Battle of Wazenau; the Austrians under Wurmzer defeated the French, who lost 3,000 men, all their baggage and 10 cannon.
1794. Venlo, an important fortress on the Meuse, surrendered to the French republicans; the commandant, Gen. Puffer, first requiring the French Gen. Lourent to assure him upon the honor of the French nation, that the garrison had no hopes left of being relieved by the allied powers.
1798.Nelsonarrived at Malta with 14 ships of war and summoned Valetta to surrender, offering to transport the French home. The offer being refused the place was invested, and the siege left in charge of Capt. Ball, Nelson being forced to depart to refit his ships, which were damaged at the recent battle of Aboukir.
1806.Henry Knoxdied; major-general in the army of the United States during the war of the revolution, and secretary of war under Washington.
1806. The French under Davoust entered Berlin, the capital of Prussia, where they found 500 cannon, several hundred thousand pounds of powder and some thousands of muskets.
1806. Spandau, a fortress nine miles from Berlin, surrendered to the French under Victor; they found there oats and provisions for the French army for two months, and ammunition sufficient to double the stores of the artillery.
1806. A battalion of Saxons under baron Hund surrendered to the French at Little Somerda, in Thuringia.
1812. Action between American frigate United States, 54 guns, Com. Decatur, and British frigate Macedonian, 49 guns. The latter was captured after an action of an hour and a half, with the loss of 104 killed and wounded. American loss 12.
1813. Action between the United States frigate Congress, Capt. Smith, and British ship Rose, in which the latter was captured and destroyed.
1813. British and Indians repulsed in an attack upon the United States troops under Gen. Izard.
1826. First daily paper at Rochester, N. Y., issued.
1836. The Luxor obelisk erected in Paris in the Place of Louis XV, in the presence of the royal family and about 250,000 spectators.
1842.Sampson Salter Blowersdied at Halifax, aged 100. He was born in Boston, and studied law under Gov. Hutchinson; but adhering to the British party was proscribed. He was nearly 40 years a supreme court judge.
1844. The Providence theatre burnt, destroying the valuable scientific apparatus used by Dr. Lardner in his lectures.
1847. Tobasco was bombarded by aportion of the Gulf squadron under Com. Perry, and all the vessels in the port were captured or destroyed. Com. Perry lost 1 killed, 3 wounded and 2 drowned.
1848.Dixon H. Lewis, an important member of congress from Alabama during a quarter of a century, died at New York, aged 46.
1849.Tobias E. Stansbury, a revolutionary officer, died near Baltimore, aged 93. A great portion of his long life was spent in the service of his country.
1849.Benjamin Abbot, for half a century an eminent New England teacher, died at Exeter, N. H., aged 87. As principal of Phillips Exeter academy, he directed the studies of pupils who became eminent men in the land.
1852. The grand duke of Tuscany refused to give audience to an English protestant deputation in favor of Rosa and Francisco Madiai, under confinement for distributing Bibles.
1854.Lewis Edward Nolan, a distinguished British cavalry officer, was killed at Balaclava. He was well versed in all the languages of modern Europe, and a military writer.
1855. The Russians under Gen. Liprandi, 30,000 strong, attacked the allies at Balaclava, carried and maintained two Turkish redoubts, and captured several guns; but were repulsed by the English and French.
1656A. M.Noahentered the ark on the 10th day of 2d month, answering to this day of our month. The ark was 525 feet long, 87 broad, and 52 deep; requiring about 245,000 cubic feet of timber; its capacity two millions cubic feet of space; was commenced about 1556 and completed 1656, having been 100 years in building.
1331.Ismael Abulfeda, prince of Hamath, in Syria, died. Before he began his reign he distinguished himself by his researches in geography, and published in Arabic an account of the regions beyond the Oxus.
1455. The charter of the beautiful town of Kirkcudbright in Scotland was given. This town was much frequented in time of persecution.
1522. DonnaMaria Pacheco, the widow of Padilla, retired into the citadel of Toledo, which she defended four months against the royalists.
1594.William Allen, usually called the great English cardinal, died, and was buried at Rome.
1645. Bloody battle of Routon Heath, in which king Charles was defeated and many of his officers slain.
1701. Birth day ofHelenandJudith, the united twin sisters, at Tzoni, in Hungary. They possessed a musical genius, were exhibited in England in 1708, and died 1723.
1703. Great storm in England, by which large tracts of country were overflowed, trees torn up by the roots, immense numbers of cattle perished, and 8000 human lives were lost on the Thames, Severn and coast of Holland alone.
1723.Godfrey Kneller, an eminent German painter, died in England, where he was greatly honored for his skill in portraits.
1724.Hilkiah Bedford, who was tried and fined for publishing a work entitled the hereditary right of the crown of England, died at London.
1727.Lewis de Sacydied; an eloquentavocatof the parliament of Paris, and a learned member of the French academy.
1728. A dispatch was received in England that more than two thirds of the city of Copenhagen in Denmark was burned down. The fire commenced on the 20th and continued three days.
1751.Philip Doddridge, an eminent English dissenting minister, died; author of theRise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, a standard work.
1773. Conspiracy of Palermo.
1774. The first congress of North America, having finished their deliberations, adjourned.
1788.Thomas Reeddied at Bordentown, N. J.; a captain in the navy of the revolution.
1794.Suwarrow, having defeated the Polish van guard, invested Praga, the suburb of Warsaw.
1795. The French national assembly dissolved itself, after three years' duration.
1796.Moreaucrossed the Rhine.
1798. A violent insurrection was raised against the French at Cairo in Egypt.
1800. Earthquake at Constantinople, destroyed the royal palace and many other buildings.
1803.Edmund Pendleton, a distinguished Virginia statesman, died. He was a member of the first congress.
1803.John Penn, one of the signers of the declaration of American independence from Virginia, died.
1807. Treaty of Fontainbleau, between Bonaparte and Spain, for the conquest of Portugal.
1807. Russia declared war against Great Britain.
1811. Saguntum surrendered by the Spanish to the French under Suchet. Same day the Spaniards defeated theFrench at Puycezda, and pursued them into the French territories, where they levied heavy contributions.
1816.Doctorow, the Russian general, died at Moscow.
1822. It was ordered in the Netherlands that the national language alone, the Dutch or Flemish, should be used in schools.
1825. Canal celebration at Albany.
1831. Cholera first appeared in England at Sunderland.
1836.George Coleman(the Younger) died in London, aged 74. He was the author of numerous comedies which were eminently successful, but failed to procure him a decent livelihood, so that many of the last years of his life were spent in great poverty.
1836.Charles Day, a wealthy blacking manufacturer, of the firm of Day & Martin, died in London. He had been totally blind for many years. He left an estate valued at about two millions of dollars, and directed about half a million to be devoted to establish a charity, to be called The Poor Blind Man's Friend.
1837. Harlem, N. Y., rail road completed.
1841.Thomas Cadwalladerdied at Philadelphia, aged 61. He was a lawyer by profession, and a brigadier general in the last war with Great Britain. He was distinguished for his military talents, and greatly respected for his private virtues and public usefulness.
1842.David Trimble, distinguished as a statesman and patriot, died at Trimble Furnace, Kentucky. Few had been more useful than he in developing the resources of that important state.
1843.Alden Bradford, a New England historian, died at Boston, aged 78. He was secretary of the commonwealth from 1812 to 1824.
1845. Disturbances and civil war in Hayti; the Dominicans surprised the Haytien garrison at Laxaron, the chief frontier town on the cape side of the island, and after killing 128 men, took the fort, which they soon after evacuated.
1850.John McDonoughdied at New Orleans, aged 72, who by untiring industry and the narrowest economy amassed immense wealth, which was principally divided between the cities of New Orleans and Baltimore.
1850. The northwest passage discovered by captain McClure, of the Investigator.
1851.Richard Cowling Taylor, an English naturalist and antiquary, died at Philadelphia, aged about 60.
1852. A violent storm at Athens; one of the columns of the temple of Jupiter Olympus overthrown.
42B. C.Battle of Philippi, and death ofMarcus Junius Brutus. This eventful day threw into the hands of two autocratical magistrates, of no tried reputation, and rivals by nature, the universal rule, with the liberties of their country. There were just twenty days between the deaths of Cassius, "the last of the Romans," and his friend Brutus, in the two great battles of Philippi.
251.Valerianelected in full senate to the restored Roman censorship, an office which had dropt with the life of Titus, from the modesty of his successors. The Roman virtue stood below correction.
1492.Columbusdiscovered Cuba, and made a landing on the following day.
1553.Michael Servetus, a learned and ingenious Spaniard, burnt at Geneva by the Calvinists, for the heresy of Arianism.
1617.Ralph Winwooddied; an English statesman, and secretary of state under James I.
1644. Second battle of Newberry, in England; the royalists under Charles I defeated by the parliament army. Night favored the escape of the vanquished.
1650. The prince of Orange died of the small pox.
1675.Giles Personne Roberval, a French mathematician, died; author of a work on mechanics, &c.
1722. Third immigration of Palatines to the United States.
1775. The British under lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, cannonaded Hampton, but were repulsed.
1795. The French directory, which succeeded the national assembly, entered upon the duties of their appointment as the executive government.
1802.Henry Hunter, an eminent Scottish divine and author, died.
1805.Walter Blake Kirwandied; an Irish divine, eminent for his popularity as a preacher, which was so great that it was often necessary to keep off the crowds from the churches in which he preached by guards and palisades. He died exhausted by his labors.
1810.Bonaparteordered all British goods found in France to be burned. Not the surest way to discourage manufactures.
1822.William Lowndes, a distinguished statesman of South Carolina, died. He was respected and beloved even by his political enemies, and stood in the first rank of American statesmen.
1830. Hard fighting at Antwerp, between the Dutch and Belgians; the former were driven into the citadel, where they commenced cannonading the town, and did great execution.
1840.John Thomson, a Scottish clergyman, died; distinguished as a landscape painter.
1844.William Campbelldied at Cherry Valley, N. Y., aged 77. He was the only member of his family that escaped death or captivity at the massacre of Cherry Valley in 1778. He lived to fill many important stations with fidelity and ability.
1846.Randolph Ridgely, an officer in the Mexican war, was killed by a fall from his horse. He had greatly distinguished himself at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.
1851.William Wyon, a celebrated British medalist and die sinker, died at Brighton, aged 57. He belonged to a family of German descent, who wrought the great seals of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1853. CaptainJ. W. Gunnison, of the corps of topographical engineers, with seven other members of the party of exploration, while attempting to survey the lakes in Utah territory, were massacred by the Indians.
312. Battle of Saxa Rubra, and overthrow of the tyrant Maxentius, by Constantine. The whole race of Maxentius was extirpated, and the prætorian guards abolished at Rome.
900.Alfred(the Great), king of England, died, aged 51, in the 28th year of his reign. To him is ascribed the mode of trial by jury.
1216. The crown and other regalia of England being lost, Henry III was crowned with a plain circle of gold on his temples.
1485.Rodolphus Agricola, a Dutch author, died. He was one of the most learned men of his age.
1541. Great storm accompanied by an earthquake, at Algiers, which destroyed 86 Spanish ships and 15 galleys with their crews, belonging to a powerful fleet fitted out for the reduction of that place by the emperor Charles V. He was compelled to raise the siege and return to his own dominions.
1572. Earl Mar, regent of Scotland, died, and was succeeded by Morton.
1592.Augier Ghislen Busbequius, a celebrated Flemish ambassador, died. He was learned and venerated.
1597.Aldus Manutius, an eminent Venitian printer, died. He was the third of a line of illustrious printers, celebrated for the elegance and correctness of their editions, and in his youth bid fair to excel his predecessors. But he met with reverses, and was compelled to sell the excellent library collected by his ancestors, of 80,000 volumes, to maintain himself. He wrote several learned works.
1646.William Dobson, an English painter, died. He was drawn from obscurity by Vandyke, after which he rose to great celebrity; but becoming addicted to pleasure before he had acquired a fortune, he became involved, and died at the age of 36.
1652.William Mead, an English physician, died, aged 149.
1652. Action between the English fleet under Blake and Penn, and the Dutch fleet under De Witt and De Ruyter. Three ships of the latter were destroyed and one taken.
1670.John Hacket, an English prelate, died; eminent for his learning and exemplary virtues.
1681. Algiers bombarded by the French fleet under admiral Duquesne and Bernard Renaud. It is said that bomb vessels were first used on this occasion, being the invention of Renaud, who had five of them built.
1685.Michael le Tellier, a French statesman, died. He had sufficient influence with the king, Louis XIV, to procure the revocation to the edict of Nantes. He lived to triumph in the cruel measures which followed but a few days.
1687.James Atkins, a learned Scottish bishop, died. He wrote against the presbyterians, but his writings are now almost unknown.
1699. PopeInnocent XIIdied.
1701.William Penngranted a charter of privileges to Pennsylvania and the counties, now state of Delaware, in which the liberty of conscience was fully recognized.
1703.John Wallis, an eminent English divine and mathematician, died. His works are numerous; and though his theological writings are respectable, yet it is from his mathematical labors that he derives a lasting celebrity.
1704.John Locke, the illustrious English philosopher, died.
1708.Georgeof Denmark, husband of Anne, queen of England, died; "an illustrious instance of conjugal affection among the great."
1710.Ezekiel Spanheimdied; an eminent Swiss writer on history and antiquities.
1740.Anna Iwanowna, empress of Russia, died.
1741.Balthazar Gibert, a French writer, died. He was 50 years professor of rhetoric at the college of Mazarin.
1746. Earthquake at Lima, by which that city and the port of Callao were destroyed. The sea first receded, then rushedupon the shore, carrying everything before it. Of 23 ships in the harbor 19 were sunk, and 4 carried a considerable way up the country, and Callao became a part of the ocean.
1748. Gov.Clintonsigned the bill reviving the act to raise £1,800 by lottery, to build a college.
1776. Battle of White Plains. The brunt of this battle was sustained by the troops under McDougal, 600 men, who nobly sustained their post, though deserted by 4 regiments of militia, who fled on the approach of the British light horse. Both armies laid on their arms awaiting another attack.
1788. First court held at Plattsburgh, Clinton county, N. Y.
1791.George Louis Oeder, an eminent German physician and botanist, died.
1792.John Smeaton, an eminent English mechanic and engineer, died; celebrated as the builder of the Eddystone lighthouse.
1793. Hurricane on the island of Cuba; several vessels driven out to sea, and 520 houses in Havana totally destroyed.
1800.Artemas Ward, the first major-general in the American revolutionary army, died. He graduated at Harvard, was subsequently a member of congress, and noted for incorruptible integrity.