747 B. C. The era of Narbonassar (a king of Babylon) called also the
Egyptian year, began on the first day of the month Thoth, corresponding
with this day in the Julian calendar. The years are vague, containing
365 days without intercalation, so that in the year 31 B. C. the
beginning of the year fell on the 29th August, and at the end of 1460
years it ran through all the Julian months.
The Mexican year began also on the 26th February. It is also certain
that the Mexican calendar conformed greatly with the Egyptian.
387. In consequence of a sermon preached by John Chrysostom on
drunkenness and blasphemy, a sedition broke out at Antioch. The statues
of Theodosius and the imperial family were thrown from their pedestals
and demolished by the tumultuous citizens.
398. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, or the preacher with the golden mouth, elected
archbishop of Constantinople.
1426. JOHN DE BROGNI died; originally a swine herd in Savoy; he
distinguished himself for learning, virtue and piety, and was raised to
the dignity of cardinal.
1512. ROBERT FABYAN, an English historian, died. He was brought up to a
trade, became a merchant, and an alderman of London. His _Chronicle_ was
burnt by Wolsey.
1553. Four English noblemen, namely, RALPH VANE, MILES PARTRIDGE,
MICHAEL STANHOPE and THOMAS ARUNDEL, were executed as accomplices to the
duke of Somerset.
1611. ANTHONY POSSEVIN, a Jesuit, died at Ferrara. He was distinguished
as a preacher, and employed by the pope in embassies to different
countries.
1616. GALILEO appeared before Cardinal Bellarmine to renounce his
heretical opinions; and having declared that he abandoned the doctrine
of the earth's motion, and would neither defend nor teach it, in his
conversation or his writings, he was dismissed from the bar of the
inquisition.
1638. CLAUDE MEZIRIAC, a Jesuit, died; known as a poet in several
languages.
1686. GODFREY, count d'Estrades, died.
1696. CHARLES SCARBOROUGH, an eminent English physician and
mathematician, died. He succeeded Dr. Harvey as lecturer on anatomy and
surgery.
1723. THOMAS D'URFEY, an English poet, died. He was a man of sparkling
talents, but his poetic and dramatic pieces are now forgotten. His
_Pills to Purge Melancholy_ is yet upon the shelves of many English
libraries.
1726. EMANUEL MAXIMILIAN, elector of Bavaria, died. He distinguished
himself under the emperor Leopold, was placed at the head of the
Hungarian army, and made governor of the Low Countries by the king of
Spain.
1729. The British parliament resolved that it was an indignity and a
breach of privilege for any one to publish the debates or report the
proceedings of the house.
1767. HYDER ALLY and the nizam of Deccan defeated by the British at
Errour, near Trincomalee, in Ceylon.
1769. WILLIAM DUNCOMBE, an English dramatic author, died. He translated
Horace.
1770. JOSEPH TARTINI died at Padua; an Italian musician, distinguished
for his extraordinary performances on the violin.
1774. JOHN TICE died at Hagley, England, aged 125.
1775. Gen. GAGE despatched 140 soldiers under Col. Leslie to seize the
military stores collected at Salem. The people foiled the expedition by
drawing up a bridge and causing other delays till it was too late to
effect any thing, and they returned bootless.
1789. The Cayugas sold their lands to the state of New York.
1802. ALEXANDER GEDDES died at Paddington, England. He was a catholic
and is represented as a man of profound research in biblical literature,
and employed himself many years in a new translation of the Bible, which
he did not live to finish.
1807. Battle of Braunsberg in Prussian Poland, in which a division of
10,000 Russians were overthrown by the French, who took 2,000 prisoners
and 16 cannon.
1810. JOHN DALRYMPLE, a Scottish author, died, aged 84. He was for many
years baron of the exchequer in Scotland.
1813. ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, an American statesman, died. He was one of
the committee which drew up the Declaration of Independence. He was
afterwards chancellor of the state of New York, and minister to France.
He assisted Fulton with means to carry his experiments into effect,
which gave to this country the honor of the first successful steam boat.
1815. BONAPARTE escaped from the island of Elba, accompanied by 1000 of
his old guards, who had followed him into exile.
1823. JOHN PHILIP KEMBLE died; one of the most eminent tragedians of the
British stage since the days of Garrick. He possessed talent and
learning, and was an author.
1826. JOHN KAY, caricaturist, engraver, barber, and miniature painter,
died in Edinburgh. His small shop in Parliament close, was a great
lounging place for the idlers of the town.
1827. WILLIAM KITCHENER, an English physician, died. He is distinguished
for his experiments in cookery; he treated eating and drinking as the
only serious business of life, and promulgated the laws of the culinary
art, under the title of the _Cook's Oracle_, professedly founded on his
own practice. He possessed an ample fortune, which enabled him to follow
the bent of his eccentricities.
1831. JOHN BELL, who gave direction and name to _Bell's Weekly
Messenger_ at London, died.
1833. ELIZABETH PEARCE died in Johnson county, North Carolina, aged 111.
1833. The spasmodic cholera appeared at Havana, and in about one month
from that time had destroyed 7000 persons.
1834. ALOYS SENEFELDER, inventor of lithography, died at Munich, aged
63.
1852. THOMAS MOORE, the celebrated Irish poet, died, aged 73.
1854. The gallery of the French opera house at New Orleans fell during
the performance, carrying away the second tier, by which the occupants
were precipitated into the parquette, killing 3, and badly wounding 56
persons.
1854. Three shocks of an earthquake at Manchester, Kentucky, by which
the houses were violently shaken.
1855. Gen. JACKSON'S sword presented to congress by the heirs of Gen.
Armstrong.
1855. HENRY PIERPONT EDWARDS, an American judge, died at New York, aged
46.
1856. At the breaking up of the ice on the Mississippi at St. Louis, 23
steam boats were wrecked.