1472. Birthday of COPERNICUS, at Thorn in Prussia.
1514. VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA returned to his colony at Darien, after
having made the discovery of the Pacific ocean. His expedition occupied
four months and a half; his triumph was complete. The whole population
poured down to the shore to meet him, to hail him as the author of their
fortunes, as less a man than a gift of heaven, to guide them into the
possession of glories and riches incalculable. The expedition had been
undertaken in consequence of the extravagant representations by the
Indians, of a people who lived on the borders of that ocean, six suns
distant, who owned large ships, and whose eating and drinking vessels
were of pure gold. They referred to the Peruvians.
1535. Date of the probate of the will of the famed early English
printer, Wynkyn de Worde.
1547. HENRY HOWARD, earl of Surrey, a soldier, scholar and poet,
beheaded on Tower hill for treason. In his youth he made the tour of
Europe, and at Florence signalized his courage and romantic spirit, by
publishing, in the style of a knight-errant, a challenge to all comers,
Christians, Jews, Saracens, Turks and Cannibals, in defence of the
surpassing beauty of his mistress, the fair Geraldine; and was
victorious at the tournament instituted by the grand duke on the
occasion. He served in the army sent against Scotland in 1542, and in
1544 accompanied the troops with which the king invaded France. For his
services he was promoted, but being defeated in an attempt to seize a
convoy, he was superseded. This unmerited disgrace was the beginning of
his ruin. He is said to have aspired to the hand of the Princess Mary,
and on some frivolous charges was tried by a common jury, by whom he was
obsequiously found guilty of treason. Thus perished a man "no less
valiant than learned, and of excellent hopes," aged 27.
1565. JAMES LAYNEZ, one of the founders of the Society of Jesus, died.
He was born in Castile, 1512. His intimacy with Loyola was formed in
Paris, where they matured the plan of the society. Loyola was chosen the
first general, and in 1558 was succeeded by Laynez.
1576. HANS SACHS, the famous German master-singer, died. He was born at
Nuremberg 1494; his occupation that of a shoemaker. At the age of 14 he
began to write poetry, and made verses and shoes, plays and pumps, with
equal assiduity, to the age of 77, when he took an inventory of his
literary stock in trade. It consisted of 4200 songs, 508 comedies, and
other pieces, in all 6048, making 32 folio volumes written by his own
hand. From these a selection was published in 5 volumes folio. His poems
are distinguished for _naïveté_, feeling, and striking description.
1643. Battle of Liscard, in Cornwall, England.
1657. MILES SYNDERCOMBE and others convicted of plotting the death of
Oliver Cromwell.
1706. CHARLES SACKVILLE, earl of Dorset and Middlesex, died. He was an
accomplished scholar and a good speaker, but declined all public
employment, being wholly engrossed in gallantry and pleasure. He was the
patron of poets and men of wit: his own productions are those of a man
of wit, vigorous, gay and airy. He served in the Dutch war of 1665 as a
volunteer, and on the night before an engagement, composed the
celebrated song, beginning, "To all you ladies now at hand."
1728. WILLIAM CONGREVE, the English dramatist, died. He was educated for
the bar, but like many others similarly situated, gave up the law for
the pursuit of polite literature, in which he was eminently successful.
His first work, _The Incognita_, was written at a very early age, and he
produced his first comedy at the age of 21.
1730. PETER II of Russia died of the small pox. He was the grandson of
Peter the Great, and ascended the throne by the will of Catharine, when
but 13 years old.
1757. THOMAS RUDDIMAN, a celebrated Scottish printer and grammarian, and
who excelled in many learned treatises, died.
1776. Great eruption of mount Vesuvius.
1777. HUGH MERCER, an officer of the revolution, died. He was a
Scotchman by birth, and was in the memorable battle of Culloden. Soon
after, he emigrated to America, and was engaged with Washington in the
Indian wars of 1755. He joined the patriots of the revolution, and
distinguished himself at Trenton and Princeton; was wounded in the
latter engagement, of which he died. His funeral was attended by 30,000
people.
1778. FRANCIS FURGLER, the New Jersey recluse, died. During 25 years,
without fire, he lived in a cell in the form of an oven, about four
miles from Burlington.
1782. The emperor JOSEPH pardoned all those who kept out of his
dominions on account of religion, provided they returned within a year;
he also abolished several religious orders, and absolved the monks and
nuns from their vows, and at the same time disclaimed all subordination
to the pope in secular affairs.
1795. Insurrection in the island of Granada.
1795. The French under Devinther took Amersfoort in Holland, and the
advance of the French army entered Amsterdam.
1796. The brass coffin, containing the bones of Columbus and the chains
with which he had been loaded at Cuba, were removed from St. Domingo to
Havana, by the direction of his descendants. They are now preserved in a
silver urn on the left of the altar of the cathedral.
1806. JAMES JACKSON, an officer of the revolution, died. He came from
England only two years before the war, and although but 19 years of age
in 1776, he displayed great intrepidity at the attack upon Savannah. He
continued in the service throughout the war, and in 1782 was presented
by the legislature with a house and lot in Savannah. He held various
civil offices in the state, and at the time of his death was a senator
in congress.
1809. The French entered Corunna.
1812. Ciudad Rodrigo, a town and fortress in Spain, eight miles from the
Portuguese line, garrisoned by 1700 Frenchmen, taken by storm by the
British under Wellington, after a siege of 11 days.
1817. Riot and rebellion of the students of Princeton college.
1819. CHARLES IV, king of Spain, died. He was born at Naples 1740, and
came to the throne of Spain 1788. Too imbecile to govern, he was always
ruled by his wife and ministers. He was dethroned by Napoleon 1808, and
died a pensioner at Naples of a relapse of the gout.
1836. JOHN BUTLER, "the celebrated huntsman," died, in Wake county, N.
C. He was supposed to be at least 110 years of age, and left a wife
surviving equally as old.
1840. The United States exploring expedition under Lieut. Wilkes
reported the discovery of a new antarctic continent on this day. A
subsequent British expedition sailed over its site without being able to
discern any vestige of it. It is supposed to have been a series of
icebergs.
1843. THOS. W. WHITE, editor of the _Southern Literary Messenger_, died
at Richmond.
1847. PETER R. LIVINGSTON, a prominent man in the counsels and politics
of the state of New York, died at Rhinebeck.
1848. ISAAC D'ISRAELI, author of the _Curiosities of Literature_, died
aged 82.
1853. C. B. ADAMS, an eminent American naturalist, and professor in
Amherst college, died.
1854. GEORGE MCFEELY, died at Carlisle, Pa., aged 73. He distinguished
himself on the Niagara frontier in 1813.