293 B. C. PAPIRIUS CURSOR dedicated a temple to Quirinus, on which he
placed a sun-dial, the first ever seen in Rome.
291 B. C. ESCULAPIUS, the Sanitary god, as it was fabled, was enshrined
as a serpent on an island in the Tiber. As a physician he used the
probe, cathartics, bandages, &c., hence the respect.
1250. ROBERT, count of Artois, killed. He was brother to Louis IX of
France, refused the empire of Germany offered him by the pope, and
accompanied his brother to the Holy Land, where he conducted himself
with great valor. He fell in the battle of Massourah.
1574. GEOFFREY VALLEE, a French writer, author of _Béatitude des
Chrétiens_, which drew upon him the censure of the inquisition, burnt at
Paris.
1587. MARY STUART, queen of Scots, beheaded in the great hall of
Fotheringay castle, at the age of 44. She was the daughter of James V,
of Scotland. The misfortunes which it was the destiny of this beautiful
and accomplished woman to undergo are well known. After an imprisonment
of 19 years in England, she was brought to the scaffold on a conviction
of conspiracy against the queen, Elizabeth.
1594. EDMUND BONNEFOY, a writer on oriental law, died at Geneva in
Switzerland, at the age of 38. He was appointed professor in the
university of Valence, in France, where he narrowly escaped
assassination at the massacre of St. Bartholomews. He bore an excellent
character, independent of his talents and learning.
1637. FERDINAND II of Germany, an enterprising monarch, died.
1664. MOSES AMYRAULT, an eminent French divine, died. He was a man of
such remarkable benevolence, that he bestowed the whole of his salary
upon the poor, without distinguishing between catholics and protestants.
1674. A resolution was adopted by the house of commons in England, that
a standing army is a grievance; that the king should have no other guard
than the militia.
1690. A party of about 300 French and Indians made an assault on
Schenectady about 12 o'clock at night. The inhabitants were taken by
surprise, and 60 men, women and children massacred, and the town
destroyed. They took 27 prisoners, the remainder of the inhabitants fled
to Albany, nearly naked through a deep snow, of whom 25 lost their limbs
from the severity of the frost.
1716. Earthquake in Peru.
1724. PETER I, emperor of Russia, died.
1727. GEORGE SEWELL died; an English dramatic poet, physician and
miscellaneous writer.
1750. An earthquake in London.
1750. AARON HILL, a celebrated dramatic and miscellaneous writer in the
time of Garrick, died.
1752. GASPER DE REAL died at Paris, author of a valuable work on
government.
1772. The princess dowager of Wales died in her 53d year. She is said to
have given the peculiar tone to the first years of her son's
administration by her laconic exhortation "George be king."
1779. MOSES ALLEN, chaplain to the Georgia brigade, was drowned in
attempting to escape from a British prison ship. He was a native of
Northampton, Mass.; his age 31.
1807. Battle of Preussish Eylau, between the French army of 90,000 under
Bonaparte, and 60,000 Russians under Benningsen. The battle commenced at
the dawn of day. At noon a storm arose, which drifted the snow in the
eyes of the Russians. The contest ended at 10 o'clock at night, when
each army, after 14 hours hard fighting, occupied the same position as
in the morning. Twelve of Napoleon's eagles were in the hands of
Benningsen, and the field between was strewed with 50,000 dead, dying
and wounded. The Russians finally retreated, leaving 15,000 prisoners in
the hands of the French.
1815. The congress of Vienna determined to abolish slavery.
1817. FRANCIS HORNER died, aged 39. He was distinguished alike for his
spirited report of the bullion committee, and his rich contributions to
the _Edinburgh Review_.
1819. JOHN DAVID ACKERBLAD died; a Swedish scholar, who distinguished
himself by his researches in Runic, Phœnician, Coptic and
Hieroglyphic literature.
1820. CHARLES JUSTUS GRUNER, a Prussian police officer, died. He was an
active opponent of Napoleon during the whole of his career, and was
finally imprisoned to appease the French. After the second fall of
Bonaparte he was made Prussian director of the police for Paris and the
environs, in which capacity he counteracted with great decision and
dexterity, the cunning of Fouche, who employed every means to retain the
works of art which had been collected at Paris. He wrote several
valuable works on subjects connected with politics and the police.
1820. ROBERT COWLEY, an African, died at Richmond, Va., aged 125. He had
been for many years door-keeper to the Capitol of Virginia, which office
was bestowed upon him as a reward for revolutionary services.
1827. WILLIAM MITFORD, an eminent historical and philosophical writer,
died. He is best known as the author of a popular history of Greece.
1842. Great earthquake at the Windward islands. Point Petre, in
Guadaloupe, totally destroyed, and 10,000 lives lost. It extended over
46 degrees of latitude.
1851. NICHOLAS VAN SITTART, a British statesman, died, aged 85.
1856. M. CHACORNAC discovered the thirty-ninth asteroid.