1514. ANNE OF BRETAGNE, queen of France died, aged 37.
1584. WILLIAM CARTER, a daring London printer, hanged, boweled, and
quartered at Tyburn, for printing lewd pamphlets, popish and others, and
particularly a _Treatise on Schisme_.
1596. FRANCIS DRAKE, the English navigator, died. He served with
distinction under his relative Sir J. Hawkins; and having lost all his
property in an action with the Spaniards, he conceived an inveterate
hatred against them. He signalized himself in the destruction of the
Spanish Armada; and finally died on the coast of America in a war
against the Spanish settlements. He made the first voyage round the
world. To him is attributed the introduction of the potatoe into Europe.
The day of his death is differently stated.
1621. The Plymouth colonists commenced the erection of their projected
town, which they built in two rows of houses for greater security. The
same street still exists, leading to the water side.
1658. Birthday of NICHOLAS COUSTON, a famous French sculptor, from whose
labors the art of statuary received a noble impulse. He died at Paris
1733.
1757. BERNARD LE BOVIER DE FONTENELLE, a French author of great repute,
died. He was born at Rouen 1657; his mother was the sister of Corneille.
Although his works are now obsolete in consequence of the advancement of
science, no learned man exerted a more decided influence on the age in
which he lived than Fontenelle.
1766. THOMAS BIRCH, an English historian and biographer, died. He was of
quaker parentage, and by unwearied industry educated himself. His
literary labors were prodigious, which early rising and a strict economy
of time enabled him to perform. He bequeathed his library to the British
museum; it contained an incredible number of MSS. in his own
handwriting.
1770. CATHARINE TALBOT, authoress of _Reflections on the Seven Days of
the Week_, and a contributor to the _Rambler_, died.
1779. JOHN REINHOLD FOSTER, author of _Northern Voyages_, and who
circumnavigated the globe with Cook, died in his 70th year.
1788. Connecticut, the fifth state which adopted the constitution of the
United States without amendments.
1792. Treaty of peace signed at Jassy between Russia and Turkey.
1793. MR. BLANCHARD, the French æronaut, made the first balloon
ascension in the United States, at Philadelphia, in the presence of
General Washington.
1795. Thiel in Holland taken by the French under Macdonald.
1799. The habeas corpus act suspended in Great Britain.
1805. NOBLE WIMBERLY JONES, a revolutionary character, died. He came to
America under Gen. Oglethorpe, and at the breaking out of the war was a
practicing physician in Savannah. He was elected to the Georgia
legislature a number of years and then resumed his practice again, at
the solicitation of many of his former patients.
1809. Congress passed laws to enforce the embargo.
1810. The Diocesan court of the officiality of Paris pronounced a
nullity of marriage between Bonaparte and Josephine.
1811. The Spanish cortes published a manifesto declaring their
determination not to enter into a treaty with Bonaparte until his troops
should have entirely evacuated the Peninsula.
1811. The whole militia of New Orleans ordered into immediate service by
Gov. Claiborne to suppress a negro insurrection.
1812. Valentia in Spain surrendered to the French under Suchet, with 374
cannons, 18000 troops and stores of all kinds.
1813. British manifesto against the United States.
1815. Truce between Gen. Jackson and Gen. Lambert to bury the dead of
the battle of the previous day.
1815. The British began the bombardment of the American fort St. Philip,
defended by Major Overton, which was kept up daily until the 17th.
1816. A society instituted at Trenton, N. J., for forming a colony of
blacks.
1818. OLD JOHN died. During eighty years, from the premiership of
Walpole to that of Liverpool, he acted as messenger in the Royal
printing office, London. He styled himself King's messenger.
1827. ELIZABETH OGILVY BENGER, an English authoress, died. In her 13th
year she wrote a poem, and afterwards attempted the drama. Her
reputation is based upon her _Historical Biographies_, which were
originally published in 10 vols.
1828. FRANCIS DE NEUFCHATEAU, a French statesman, died. He was born
1750, and in his 13th year published a volume of poems, which indicated
more for the future than was realized. He took part in the affairs of
the revolution, but was condemned for his moderation. Napoleon took him
into favor; his pursuits were chiefly literary, however.
1843. Great fire at Port-au-Prince; 600 houses burnt and property to an
immense amount destroyed. The blacks who inhabited the mountains rushed
down and completed the work of destruction, by firing and plundering
such houses as the fire had not reached, and committing every sort of
excess.
1854. The Astor library in New York opened to the public.