404 B. C. Athens was taken by Lysander and the tyranny of the 30
commenced.
37. CLAUDIUS DRUSUS NERO TIBERIUS, emperor of Rome, died. On his
accession to the throne, he gave promise of a wise and happy reign, but
soon became unrestrained in his conduct, and after a reign of 23 years,
died in odium with the people.
455. FLAVIUS PLACIDUS VALENTINIAN, emperor of Rome, assassinated. He was
a profligate and licentious ruler.
1190. The Jews of York lawlessly massacred for their wealth by the
citizens.
1286. ALEXANDER III king of Scotland, killed. He succeeded his father,
Alexander II, at the age of eight years. An enterprising and virtuous
ruler; he introduced many good regulations of government, and under his
sway the country seems to have enjoyed a tranquility to which she had
long been a stranger. As he was riding in a dark night between
Bruntisland and Ringhorn, on the banks of the frith of Forth, he was
thrown with his horse over a precipice and killed on the spot.
1532. JOHN BOURCHIER died at Calais in France, of which he was the
English governor. He translated Froissart's _Chronicle_ into English.
1621. The Plymouth colonists received the first Indian visit to their
town. This was Samoset, sagamore of a country lying five days' journey
from thence, called Patuxet. He informed the English that all the
inhabitants had died of an extraordinary plague about four years before,
and that there was neither man, woman or child remaining. Of course
there was no one to dispute their possession.
1649. An army of 1000 Iroquois armed with guns fell upon the Huron
village at the eastern extremity of the lake, and nearly massacred the
entire population. The Hurons defended themselves bravely, but were
forced to yield before the fire arms and superior numbers of the
Iroquois, who lost more than a hundred of their best warriors. The
French missionaries, Brebeuf and Lallemant, who labored with the
Hurons, were taken, and suffered death by torture.
1660. The long parliament dissolved by its own act.
1675. Under a pair of stairs in the tower of London two bodies were
found, supposed to be those of Edward V and his brother, whom their
uncle Richard III murdered nearly two hundred years before.
1680. The first assembly of New Hampshire met at Portsmouth; John Cutts
first president.
1689. The Habeas corpus act suspended for the first time in England.
1691. JACOB LEISLER, who had exercised the office of governor of New
York nearly two years by the election of the freeholders and the consent
of the British ministry, was barbarously executed by some malcontents,
as a traitor.
1738. Captain JENKINS, the master of a Scottish ship, exhibited his ear
in a piece of cotton, which he affirmed had been torn off by a guarda
costa. This is alluded to by Burke as the fable of Capt. Jenkins.
1751. JAMES MADISON, fourth president of the United States, born.
1781. Action off cape Henry between the British fleet, admiral
Arbuthnot, and French fleet under d'Estouches. Both sides claimed the
victory. British loss, 30 killed and 73 wounded.
1781. French surrendered the island of St. Bartholomews to the British.
1782. Action off cape Spartel, between British frigate Success and
Spanish frigate Santo Catalina, 34 guns. The latter was captured, having
25 killed. British loss 1.
1792. GUSTAVUS III, king of Sweden, shot by Count Ankerstroem at a
masquerade.
1795. CLAUSEL, adjutant general of the army of the Eastern Pyrennes,
presented to the national convention 25 pairs of colors and a standard
taken from the Spaniards at Figuieres.
1797. Battle of Cainin in Italy. The French under Murat passed the
Tagliamento and attacked the Austrians, who were driven from the
village, where the archduke had established his head quarters.
1799. JOHN DUSSAULX died. He distinguished himself in the war of Hanover
under Richelieu, after which he devoted himself to literary pursuits. He
took part in the French revolution, and was among the 73 proscribed
deputies.
1799. A portion of the pavement in front of the Royal exchange, London,
suddenly sank and a well of water was discovered which had not been used
in 600 years.
1802. A military institution established by government at West Point,
which was the origin of the present academy there.
1808. JOSEPH BONOMI, an Italian artist, died at London. He was
distinguished particularly by his architectural knowledge and genius,
was an associate of the royal academy, and patronized by Sir Joshua
Reynolds.
1810. On a pane of glass at an inn near London, under this date, is the
following inscription. "Thomas Mount Jones dined here, ate six pounds
bacon, and drank nineteen pots beer." It is a question for discussion,
whether in this frail memorial, the love of distinction and desire for
fame were not as great as the love of brutal gluttony.
1813. Captain BERRESFORD of the British ship Poictiers, 74 guns,
demanded of the inhabitants of Lewistown, Delaware, 25 oxen and
vegetables and hay, otherwise he threatened to destroy the town. The
demand was refused.
1817. WILLIAM THOMPSON, an industrious Scottish writer and compiler,
died. He possessed ability, but his writings bear the marks of haste and
want of care.
1838. NATHANIEL BOWDITCH died at Boston, aged 65. His father and
ancestors in several generations were by profession shipmasters.
Notwithstanding the very limited advantages of his education, and his
laborious employment through life for the support of his family, yet by
his extraordinary genius and economy of time, he made great acquisitions
in learning and science, gained most of the languages, and made himself
the most eminent mathematician and astronomer that America has produced.
He published the _Practical Navigator_, a standard book; but the great
work on which his fame will rest, is the copious and profound commentary
upon the _Mechanique Celeste_ of La Place, of which he made the first
entire translation, and published at his own expense in 4 vols. quarto;
saying that he preferred spending a thousand dollars a year in that way
to keeping a carriage.
1853. ANTHONY DUMOND STANLEY, an American mathematician, died, aged 42.
Profoundly versed in the science, he had begun a series of works which
would have placed his name high on the scroll of fame.