13. B. C. MARCUS EMILIUS LEPIDUS, one of the Roman triumvirs, with
Augustus and Anthony, died at Cerceii.
493. ODOACER, chief of the Heruli, murdered. It was reserved for him, at
the head of a tribe of barbarians almost unknown, to strike the decisive
blow that overthrew the great mistress of the world--imperial Rome.
1223. ALONZO II of Portugal died. His career was begun by an attempt to
deprive his sisters of their estates, and ended by robbing the church.
The pope, however, interfered, and compelled him to promise to be civil
to the ecclesiastics; but death overtook him before he had time to
fulfill his engagements by making restitution.
1495. HENRY VIII granted a patent to John Cabot and his three sons
Lewis, Sebastian and Sanchius, empowering them to sail under the flag of
England in quest of countries yet unoccupied by any Christian state, to
take possession of them in the name of Henry, and plant the English
banner on the walls of their castles and cities, and to maintain with
the inhabitants a traffic exclusive of all competitors, and exempted
from customs; under the condition of paying a fifth part of the free
profit on every voyage to the crown. They embarked two years after.
1534. ANTONI ALLEGRI, an illustrious Italian painter, died. He lived at
Parma, where without any instruction he executed some of the most
perfect pictures in the world. He is better known as Corregio, from his
birth place.
1546. ISABELLA LOSA died; a native of Cordova in Spain, so illustrious
for her acquirements that she was honored with the degree of D. D.
1605. CLEMENT VIII (Hippolitus Aldobrandi), pope of Rome, died. He was a
liberal minded and benevolent pontiff.
1660. MONK'S parliament ordered the printing and setting up in churches
the solemn league and covenant.
1686. JAMES II forbade the bishops to preach on controverted points.
1695. HENRY WHARTON died; an English divine and historian of uncommon
abilities.
1701. ROBERT, earl of Bellamont, governor of the province of New York,
died, two years after his installment into that office.
1708. WILLIAM BEVERIDGE, an English divine, and bishop of St. Asaph,
died, leaving many learned and valuable works.
1710. JOHN HOLT died. He had been for more than 20 years lord chief
justice of the king's bench court in England.
1737. The servants called footmen occasioned a riot at Drury lane
theatre, London, alleging that they had been shut out of the gallery, to
which they were entitled.
1744. At Huddersfield, Yorkshire, a Roman temple was discovered and an
altar inscribed to Antonius Modestus of the sixth conquering legion.
1770. Boston massacre. This occurrence, which is variously stated, is
supposed to have arisen as follows: a crowd surrounded a corporal's
guard in the evening, and commenced pelting them with snow balls, which
exasperated his majesty's legions to such a pitch of valor, that they
turned their muskets upon the citizens. The leaden balls of the soldiers
were more than a match for those of the people, and five men fell
mortally wounded. Their names were Mattucks, Gray, Caldwell, Maverick,
and Carr.
1773. PHILIP FRANCIS died at Bath, England; distinguished as a
translator of Horace and Demosthenes.
1775. PETER LAURENCE BUYRETTE DU BELLOI died; a French comedian and
tragedian, who by his own pieces became extremely popular in his day.
1775. The citizens of New York held a town meeting, in which it is said
the question of congress or no congress was carried in the affirmative
by the aid of hoop poles obtained from a neighboring cooper's yard.
1778. THOMAS AUGUSTUS ARNE died; an English musician and opera writer.
He received the degree of doctor of music.
1785. JOSEPH REED died at Philadelphia, aged 43. He was one of
Washington's aids in the revolutionary war, and subsequently an
adjutant-general, member of congress, and governor of Pennsylvania.
1794. County of Onondaga, in New York, erected.
1798. An Algerine barque arrived at Baltimore, 85 days out, manned by
Algerines; being the first that ever entered an American port.
1811. Battle of Barrosa in Portugal, between the French under Victor,
and the English, Spanish and Portuguese allied army, under Graham. The
French were defeated with the loss of 3,000; allied loss 2,742.
1827. PIERRE SIMON LAPLACE, the French mathematician, died. His
principal work, which will render him an object of admiration to
posterity, the _Mechanique Celeste_, has been translated by our
countryman Nathaniel Bowditch, in a manner creditable alike to the
author, to himself and the literature of his country.
1827. ALESSANDRO VOLTA died. He was born at Como, Italy; devoted his
attention to experiments in electricity, and made many important
discoveries.
1829. Battle near the river Natonebi, in Asiatic Turkey, between the
Turks and Russians, in which the former lost 1,000 and the latter 200
men.
1837. OLIVER ELLIOT died at Mason, N. H., aged 103. He was a soldier of
the French war of 1756, and of the revolutionary war.
1846. JOHN PICKERING, president of the American Oriental society, &c.,
&c., died at Boston.
1849. The emperor of Austria, after a series of decrees, promulgated a
new constitution.
1853. GERVINUS tried at Manheim for high treason, published in a work on
the history of the nineteenth century, was found guilty of exciting to
sedition, and sentenced to ten months imprisonment, and his book ordered
to be destroyed.
1856. Covent garden theatre, London, burnt at the close of a masked
hall.