979. EDWARD THE MARTYR, died. He was the son of Edgar, and succeeded his
father as king of England at the age of 15. The young king paid little
attention to any thing but the chase; and hunting one day, he got
separated from his attendants, and repaired to Corfe castle, where his
step-mother, Elfrida, resided. Having procured a draught of liquor, he
was drinking it on horseback, when one of Elfrida's servants gave him a
deep stab behind. He immediately spurred his horse, but fainting from
loss of blood, was dragged in the stirrup till he died. The pity caused
by his innocence and misfortune induced the people to regard him as a
martyr.
1350. In the national roll of accounts for glazing St. Stephen's chapel,
Westminster, Edward III ordained that the wages for artists be from 5d.
per day to one shilling, except for John Barnaby, his wages should be
twopence.
1552. MAURICE of Saxony took up arms against the emperor Charles V.
1629. CHARLES JAMES, prince of Great Britain, born, baptized and died.
1629. CHARLES I, of England, issued a proclamation that he would account
it presumption in any one to prescribe a time for him to call a
parliament.
1635. PATRICK FORBES, a Scotch prelate, died. He was a great and a good
man; a benefactor particularly to Aberdeen university, of which he
revived the professorship of law, physic and divinity.
1696. BONAVENTURE BARON, professor of divinity at Rome, died. He was a
native of Ireland, but spent 60 years of his life in Rome; and was a
learned and voluminous writer.
1718. MARY WORTLEY MONTAGUE made the first experiment of inoculation for
small pox upon her own son at Belgrade, in Turkey. It was tried in
England upon criminals, with complete success, about nine years after.
This disease first made its appearance at Mecca, where it is stated to
have destroyed the invading Ethiopian army, and thus terminated in 360,
what is denominated _the war of the elephant_.
1728. GEORGE STANHOPE, an able English divine, died. His theological
works were numerous and popular.
1741. Conflagration of the chapel and buildings in the fort at New York,
which was followed immediately by the _negro plot_.
1745. ROBERT WALPOLE died, aged 69. He became heir to the family estate
by the death of his elder brother, and in the jovial life of a country
gentleman, soon lost his early inclination to literature. In 1700 he was
returned to parliament, and warmly espousing the whig interest, rose to
a high promotion in the offices of the government, and in 1742, was
created earl of Oxford, on his resignation of the premiership. He is the
reputed author of the saying that "all men have their price."
1754. The first theatre established in the city of New York, closed with
the _Beggar's Opera_ and the _Devil to Pay_, when the following notice
appeared in the prints, which managers now-a-days have little occasion
to repeat: "Lewis Hallam, comedian, intending for Philadelphia, _begs
the favor_ of those who have any demands against him to bring in their
accounts and receive their money."
1766. Stamp act repealed by the British government, reserving however,
the right to make laws binding on the colonies in all cases whatsoever.
News of this repeal excited great joy in America, where it was
celebrated by the ringing of bells, fireworks and festivals.
1768. LAURENCE STERNE, an eccentric English author and divine, died. His
romance of _Tristram Shandy_ and the _Sentimental Journey_, are well
known.
1775. British Gen. GAGE seized 13,425 musket cartridges and 3000 pounds
of ball, all of it private property, stored on Boston Neck.
1776. The British troops having evacuated Boston, Sir Archibald
Campbell, unaware of this movement, on entering the harbor with 1700
men, was made prisoner by Washington.
1780. Congress resolved to call in by taxes in one year and burn all the
continental money emitted prior to that time, and to issue ten million
dollars new money, redeemable in specie within six years.
1781. ANNE ROBERT JAMES TURGOT, an eminent French statesman, died. He
studied divinity, but his talents recommending him to the notice of the
government, he was appointed to a civil office, where he displayed so
great ability that he was appointed comptroller of the finances. His
measures were grand, liberal and useful: but being ridiculed by the
profligate and the vicious, who rioted on the miseries of the people, he
retired from public life.
1796. Steuben county erected in south western New York.
1797. Palma Nuova, a frontier town in Italy, evacuated by the archduke
Charles, who had wrested it from the Venitians only ten days before. The
French under Bernadotte and Serrurier, on entering it found 30,000
rations of bread, and a million quintals of flour.
1805. BONAPARTE assumed the title of king of Italy.
1814. JOHN VINT, editor of the _Isle of Man Gazette_, and a
distinguished philanthropist, died.
1817. An earthquake in Spain, Portugal, and Sicily, destroyed whole
villages.
1817. CHARLES COMBE died; an eminent English physician and critic, and
highly distinguished as a medalist.
1836. ABATE FEA, a celebrated archæologist, died at Rome, aged 88. He is
known as the translator of Winckelman.
1839. The Chinese imperial commissioner, Lin, issued a proclamation at
Canton, ordering the foreign opium dealers to deliver up all the opium
in their possession, to have it burnt and destroyed, and forbidding its
importation to all eternity, under pain of death.
1840. Dr. PARISH, favorably known to the medical world, died in
Philadelphia.
1846. First steam boat arrived at Austin, Texas.
1846. WILLIAM M. CRANE, of the United States navy, died by his own hand.
1848. The emperor of Austria published by proclamation, at Milan,
abolition of censorship, and a convention of the states. But the people
wanting more, troubles began.
1854. A terrible gale at Albany, N. Y.; fifty houses unroofed, many
chimneys and walls blown down, and great damage done.
1856. HENRY POTTINGEN, lieutenant general in the East India company's
service, died aged 67. He distinguished himself in the Afghanistan war,
and settled the opium difficulty with the Chinese.
1856. The Cunard steamer Curlew, from Halifax, ran on a reef north of
the Bermudas, and was lost, with a part of her mail.