1167. EDGAR, king of Scotland, died, and was succeeded by his younger
brother, Alexander I.
1536. CATHARINE OF ARRAGON, died; queen of Henry VIII and mother of
Mary, queen of England.
1642. GALILEO GALILEI, the astronomer, died, aged 78.
1676. French Admiral Duquesne defeated the Dutch and Spanish fleets
under De Ruyter, who had both legs shattered.
1704. LAURENTIO BELLINI, a Florentine anatomist, died, aged 61. He was
held in great estimation by prince and pontiff. His theory and practice
are out of date now, and his works also, in consequence of the vast
improvements in medicine and surgery since his day.
1775. JOHN BASKERVILLE, an English printer and type founder, of rare
celebrity, died. As a philanthropist he was also well known to large
circles.
1777. British evacuated Elizabethtown, N. J.; Gen. Maxwell fell on their
rear, and took 70 prisoners and a schooner loaded with baggage.
1780. British Admiral Rodney captured 22 sail of Spanish ships. One of
these, the Guipuscaio, of 64 guns, was named the Prince William, from a
son of George III who was in the action.
1784. Whitestown, N. Y., settled about this time.
1795. French ship Esperance, 22 guns, captured off Cape Henry by British
ship Argonaut, Capt. Ball.
1796. SAMUEL HUNTINGDON, governor of Connecticut, and one of the signers
of the Declaration of Independence, died aged 64.
1796. French took by surprise the British camp at Mount William, island
of St. Vincent, West Indies. British lost 54 killed, Brig. Gen. Strutt
and 109 wounded, and 200 missing.
1799. French privateer cutter La Rancune, from St. Maloes, captured, by
the British cutter Pigmy, Capt. Shepheard, who at the same time
recaptured two British brigs, prizes to La Rancune.
1815. Battle of New Orleans. The city was attacked by the British under
Packenham, consisting of 15,000 disciplined troops, and was defended by
6000 militia and volunteers, under Gen. Jackson, prepared to die in its
defence. The result was a brilliant victory over the British. Packenham
was killed, and 5,000 men surrendered--the rest fled to their vessels.
The loss of the Americans was trifling, 13 killed and wounded, that of
the British 2,600.
1815. Total loss of the Americans in this war up to the last battle,
1344 killed, 2673 wounded, 651 missing, 1351 taken prisoners.
1817. Two shocks of earthquake at Charleston, S. C, and at Savannah, Ga.
1825. ELI WHITNEY, inventor of the cotton gin, died.
1848. The lives of thirty persons lost by the bursting of the boilers of
the steamer Blue Ridge on the Ohio river. The boilers had been in use
nine years.
1849. The pope threatened all who should take part in electing a new
assembly, with excommunication.
1850. First ship in the United States dry dock at Brooklyn.
1853. CHARLES HUMPHREY ATHERTON, an eminent New Hampshire lawyer, died,
aged 79.
1854. WILLIAM CARR BERRESFORD, a distinguished British field officer and
nobleman, died, aged 85.
1854. Metropolitan hall and Lafarge hotel, two of the finest buildings
in New York destroyed by fire.