565. BELISARIUS, a distinguished Roman general, died. He is memorable
for his signal and momentous victories, and for his misfortunes. He was
degraded to beg alms at the gates of Constantinople by the ungrateful
emperor Justinian, to whom he had rendered the most important services.
1470. Battle near Stamford, England, in which Edward IV gained an
important victory over his adversaries.
1493. COLUMBUS arrived at Palos, from his first voyage of discovery.
1519. CORTEZ, on his expedition for the conquest of Mexico, landed at
the mouth of the river Tabasco, and prepared to attack the town of the
same name, in which about 12,000 warriors had assembled. Calling upon
_St. Jago_, he fell upon the Indians, who were repulsed.
1521. MAGELLAN discovered the Phillipine islands, on one of which he was
killed by the natives.
1573. MICHAEL DE L'HOSPITAL, chancellor of France, died. He was
distinguished for the ability, integrity and mildness of his
administration, which was cast in the midst of turbulence and faction.
1604. ARNAUD D'OSSAT, a celebrated French cardinal and statesman, died.
His _Despatches_ is highly recommended to the ambassador who hopes to
succeed in his object.
1614. BARTHOLOMEW LEGAT burnt at Smithfield for the heresy of Arianism,
under the reign of James I.
1676. Attack on Groton, Mass., by a body of 400 Indians, who had
concealed themselves as usual in every part of the town during the
night, in order to shoot down the inhabitants as they issued from their
doors. The town was gathered into five garrisons, as those houses were
called which were palisaded and otherwise protected from assault. Every
man went constantly armed; and thus on a moment's warning, two of the
enemy having been accidentally discovered, pursuit was made until they
were drawn into an ambush and compelled to retreat. Another ambush in
the meantime fell upon the opposite part of the town, and the flames
arose from every unprotected building. Having pillaged every thing that
fell in their way, and cast every indignity upon the bodies of their
victims, they gave the garrison two or three volleys and disappeared.
About 40 dwellings were burnt, with their outhouses; the town soon after
broke up, and the inhabitants scattered to other settlements of greater
safety.
1695. JOHN DE LA FONTAINE, the French poet, died. His compositions are
characterized by a faithfulness to nature, and are totally unaffected.
1695. PETER MIGNARD, an eminent French painter, died. He was director
and chancellor of the royal academy of painting.
1717. JOHN BELL, the traveler, arrived at Ispahan, the residence of the
Persian court, being in the retinue of the Russian ambassador, in the
quality of physician. They were nearly two years on their journey from
St. Petersburgh.
1726. MICHAEL BERNARD VALENTIN, a German botanist and professor of
medicine at Giessen, died. He was an author on both sciences.
1775. GEORGE III gave his assent to the act restraining the commerce of
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina.
1778. CHARLES LE BEAU, an eminent French scholar, died. He was professor
of belles lettres at Paris, and author of a history of the lower empire,
in 22 vols.
1779. KERIM KHAN, king of Persia, died a natural death, an extraordinary
circumstance in the modern history of that country. He was of the family
of an obscure tribe of robbers, the Zunds of Kirdistan.
1781. HERSCHEL discovered the planet which bears his name, then the most
distant of all the known planets, its revolution round the sun occupying
a period of not less than 83 of our years. He had devoted 18 months in
surveying the heavens star by star, with a seven feet reflector when he
made the discovery of this primary planet.
1798. The body of a hair dresser at Newport, England, was buried in the
highway; reason assigned, his gluttonous eating, whereof he died.
1799. A fire broke out at Constantinople which destroyed 1300 houses,
including the hotels of the British minister, and Austrian internuncio,
and several other magnificent edifices.
1801. Battle near Lake Maadie in Egypt, between the British and French
forces, in which the former were the greatest sufferers, losing 143
killed and 946 wounded.
1808. CHRISTIAN VII of Denmark, died. He may be said to have been
virtually dead for many years.
1813. EDWARD LONG died. During a residence in the West Indies he
collected materials for his _History of Jamaica_, in 3 vols. quarto. It
contains a large mass of valuable information, and many spirited
delineations of colonial scenery and manners. He returned to England and
spent the remainder of his long life in literary pursuits.
1815. The allied powers engaged to aid Louis XVIII and declared
Bonaparte to be without the pale of social and civil relations.
1815. General JACKSON having received the ratification of the treaty of
peace, revoked his order relative to martial law, ordered a final
cessation of hostilities, and granted a general pardon for all military
offences. The British took with them 199 negroes.
1824. SOPHIA LEE, an English dramatic writer and poetess, died, aged 74.
The profits of her comedy of the _Chapter of Accidents_, were of great
benefit to herself and sisters.
1835. A remarkable eruption of Vesuvius took place.
1845. JOHN FREDERICK DANIEL, who contributed so much to lighting the
cities of Europe with gas, died of apoplexy while attending a meeting of
the royal society, in London.
1848. AMBROSE SPENCER died at Lyons, Wayne co., N. Y.; one of those
jurists who gave such a preeminence to the supreme court of the state of
New York.
1852. Ninety-five Americans who were engaged in the Lopez expedition
against Cuba, and captured and sent to Spain, arrived in New York,
having been pardoned by the queen and sent home.
1853. The funeral of Madame RASPAIL, at Paris was the occasion of a
formidable socialist demonstration; 40,000 persons marching in
procession to Pere la Chaise.
1854. A convention signed between England, France and Turkey, against
Russia.
1855. The floor of the new town hall, at Meredith, N. H., gave way,
while 800 persons were present attending an election; 300 were
precipitated below, several killed and a large number had their bones
broken.