212. GETA, emperor of Rome, slain by his brother Caracalla, who was
incited to the deed by jealousy.
1411. The charter of the university of St. Andrews, at Aberdeen in
Scotland, granted.
1642. TOBIAS CRISP died; a controversial writer on divinity, and a
great champion on antinomianism.
1697. JOHN BERKLEY, baron of Stratton, died; a noted commander in the
English fleet.
1706. JOHN EVELYN, the English diarist, died. He is ranked among the
greatest philosophers of England, who turned his pen readily to almost
every topic. His _Diary_ is a curious book, extending nearly from his
childhood to his death, and contains much information not elsewhere to
be found.
1735. JOHN ARBUTHNOT, a Scottish physician, died. He was attached to the
court of Queen Anne, was eminent in his profession, and distinguished as
a wit in an age abounding with men of wit and learning.
1738. HENRY GROOVE, an English divine, died. He belonged to the
dissenters, and wrote several valuable theological treatises.
1746. THOMAS FAUNCE died at Plymouth, aged 99. He knew the rock on which
the pilgrims landed, and learning that it was covered in the
construction of a wharf, was so affected that he wept. His tears,
perhaps, saved it from oblivion.
1776. Battle of Moor's creek bridge, in which the tories and Highlanders
under McDonald, were defeated with the loss of their bravest officers.
They fled leaving 350 guns, 1500 rifles, 13 wagons, and 150 swords in
the hands of the victors, as well as their general. This defeat
depressed the spirits of the royalists in North Carolina, and prevented
their making any farther efforts.
1794. Of the crews of 13 American vessels captured by the Algerines,
four were redeemed, leaving 126 still in the hands of their captors as
slaves. Two of these vessels were captured in 1785, and the rest in
1793. A great effort was made throughout the land to raise money for
their redemption by charitable contributions.
1797. Bank of England suspended specie payments. Twenty years after it
resumed on one and two pound notes.
1806. Action between the British ship Hydra, and French brig La Furet,
off Cadiz, in which the latter was captured.
1814. Battle of Orthes, in France, between the British under Wellington
and the French.
1817. Two shocks of an earthquake felt at Kingston, Upper Canada.
1829. Battle of Tarqui between the Colombian army of 5000, and the
Peruvian of 8000, in which the latter were defeated with considerable
loss. Articles for the cessation of hostilities were signed on the field
of battle, and mutual differences referred to the arbitration of the
United States government.
1844. NICHOLAS BIDDLE, celebrated as the president of the United States
bank for a number of years, died near Philadelphia, aged 58. He
graduated at Princeton at the early age of 15, and was a man of great
ability, of rarely equaled scholarship, and of the most polished and
courtly manners. On the ruin of the bank he retired into private life,
where however the creditors of the bank did not allow him undisturbed
repose.
1853. PAUL FREDERICK AUGUSTUS, reigning duke of Oldenburgh, died, aged
70.