1328. EDWARD II of England deposed by parliament, and his son, Edward
III, proclaimed king.
1558. Calais, in France, retaken by the French after a short siege of
one week, having been in the possession of the English 200 years, during
which it had become a thriving place, and the seat of a considerable
trade in wool.
1610. GALILEI discovered the satellites of Jupiter.
1657. THEOPHILUS EATON, first governor of the colony at New Haven, died.
Before coming to America he was employed by the king as an agent at the
court of Denmark. He was one of the original patentees of Massachusetts.
On the settlement of New Haven he was chosen governor, for which office
his integrity, dignity and wisdom peculiarly fitted him, and which he
filled till his death.
1681. The commons of England resolved that till a bill be passed,
excluding the duke of York from the throne, no supplies could be
granted without danger to the state.
1692. The philosophical ROBERT BOYLE died leaving a sum of money for a
monthly sermon against atheism.
1715. FRANCOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTTE FENELON, died. He preached his
first sermon at the age of 15; and he was distinguished for learning and
piety. The celebrated romance, _Telemaque_, was published against his
will by the treachery of his servant, and involved him in difficulties
with the king, who considered it a satire upon his reign. During the
revolution of 1793 his coffin was dug up to furnish lead for bullets. In
1819 a monument was erected to his memory by public subscription, and in
1826 a statue by the sculptor David was placed at Cambray. The age in
which he lived could not appreciate his worth.
1740. A rock fell on a large number of young people while at play on the
first Monday of the year, at Kirkaldy, Scotland.
1758. ALLAN RAMSAY, a Scottish poet and author of the _Gentle Shepherd_,
died.
1767. THOMAS CLAP, an American mathematician and natural philosopher,
died. He graduated at Harvard college, and by singular industry made
great acquisitions in almost every branch of learning. In 1739 he was
elected president of Yale college, and continued in that office till the
year before his death. He constructed the first orrery in America.
1779. LAFAYETTE embarked at Boston, in the frigate Alliance, for France.
1779. _The Mirror_, appeared at Edinburgh, to which Mackenzie the
novelist was a principal contributor.
1782. The Bank of North America opened for business in Philadelphia. It
was the first bank regularly established in America.
1785. Mr. BLANCHARD, the æronaut, accompanied by Mr. Jeffries, an
American gentleman, made the bold attempt to cross the British channel,
from Dover to Calais, in a balloon filled with inflammable air, then
beginning to be used. They left the English coast at 10 o'clock, and at
half-past two, reached the French side, a distance of twenty-three
miles.
1798. The French army under General Menard, entered Switzerland with a
design to revolutionize the cantons after the model of the French
republic.
1806. PAULINUS, better known as John Philip Werdin, died at Rome. He was
one of the first Europeans who acquired a knowledge of the Sanscrit
language.
1807. British order in council prohibiting neutrals from trading from
one port of France or her allies to another, or to any other where Great
Britain was refused that privilege.
1811. Ship Rapid, of Boston, Capt. Dorr, with $280,000 on board, totally
lost off the coast of New Holland; captain and crew saved.
1812. JOSEPH DENNIE, an American editor, died. He was born at Boston
1768, and educated for the bar; but his literary taste and habits
interfered with his profession, which he resigned and established at
Boston a weekly paper called _The Tablet_; and subsequently edited the
_Farmer's Museum_ at Walpole, in which he published a series of popular
essays under the signature of The Lay Preacher. He was afterwards editor
of the _Port Folio_ at Philadelphia, where his superior endowments would
have procured him an independence, but for some unfortunate propensities
which deprived him of health and happiness.
1817. First paper in Chautauque co., N. Y.
1822. Liberia in Africa colonized under the direction of Dr. Ayres. Cape
Montserado with a large tract of adjoining country was purchased of the
natives by the American colonization society, and a settlement commenced
by 28 colonists; in six years the number had increased to 1200 under the
care of Ashmun.
1830. THOMAS LAWRENCE, a distinguished English portrait painter, died.
By industry and force of talent he rose in his profession, till on the
death of Sir Joshua Reynolds he was made painter to the king, and in
1815 was knighted. His income for the last twenty years of his life was
from 10,000 to 20,000 pounds; but he died poor, owing to his purchasing
the best productions at the most extravagant prices.
1841. LOUIS EDWARD BIGNON, Napoleon Bonaparte's historian, died.
1843. Mrs. WINGATE, died at Stratham, N. H., aged nearly 101 years.
1850. JOHN H. KYAN, a native of England, and inventor of Kyanized wood,
died at New York.
1850. SAMUEL MILLER, an eminent American theologian and sometime
president of Princeton college, died, aged 91.