168 B. C. The Roman senate assembled at eight o'clock in the morning, a
few days after Paulus Emilius had assumed the immortal consulate. The
English house of commons usually sat at the same hour five centuries
ago.
193. PUBLIUS HELVIUS PERTINAX, emperor of Rome, assassinated. He was of
obscure origin, and was elected on the death of Commodus. His virtues
were too great for the time in which he lived, and he was destroyed by
the same hands which had raised him up; and the imperial diadem was
offered at public auction.
1134. STEPHEN HARDING, an Englishman, and one of the founders of the
Cistercians, died. In the year 1098, he retired with twenty companions
to Citeaux, a marshy wilderness in France, where they founded a
monastery. A valuable manuscript copy of the Bible in four volumes,
still preserved, attests the assiduity of the monk.
1318. The town and castle of Berwick taken by the generals of Bruce.
1380. Gunpowder is said to have been first used in Europe on this day,
by the Venetians against the Genoese. The discovery of the power of
powder is attributed to Berthold Schwartz, a monk of Mayence, about
1300, though it is said to have been known in India very early, and
obtained from them by the Arabians, who employed it in a battle near
Mecca in 690. The use of gunpowder at the battles of Cressy and Poitiers
in 1346 is questioned. Rabelais says that the art of printing was
invented about the same time by divine inspiration, as a match for the
devil's suggestion of artillery.
1480. WILLIAM CAXTON, the first English printer, finished the _Cordial_
in folio. The fact is thus set forth in his own words: "_The Book named
Cordyale: or Memorare Novissima: which treateth of The foure last
Thinges. Began on the morn after the Purification of our blessid Lady
(2d Feb. 1478), &c. And finisshed on the even of thannciacion of our
said blessid Lady, fallying on the Wednesdaye the xxiiij daye of Marche
In the xix yere of Kyng Edwarde the fourthe._"
1520. SANZIO RAPHAEL, an illustrious Italian painter and architect,
died. He is by general consent called the prince of modern painters, and
was probably the best painter the world ever produced.
1636. JAMES CALLOT, an eminent French engraver, died. He carried the art
to a greater state of perfection than any other before him, and attained
all that it then seemed possible for human industry to reach.
1638. WILLIAM KIEFT arrived at New Amsterdam as governor of the colony.
1663. At Laucha, near Naumburg, in Prussia, there fell a great quantity
of a fibrous substance, represented as resembling blue silk.
1676. The Indians attacked Rehoboth, Mass., and burnt 40 houses and
about 30 barns.
1677. WENTZEL HOLLAR, a Bohemian engraver, died. His talents were
noticed by Arundel, the English ambassador, by whom he was induced to
visit England, where he executed a great number of portraits and views;
but though his graver gave celebrity to so many, he was himself the
victim of want, and was barely permitted by his creditors to die on his
own bed.
1678. JAMES DIXWELL, one of the regicides, died at New Haven, Conn.
1678. CLAUDIUS FRANCIS MILLIET DECHALES, a French mathematician, died.
His works, published in 3 vols. folio, are a complete course of
mathematics.
1741. The British Capt. KNOWLES destroyed the batteries at Passa
Cavallo, Carthagena.
1745. Ventilators, invented by the Rev. Dr. Hales, ordered by the
council of England to be introduced into Newgate.
1757. ROBERT FRANCIS DAMIENS executed at Paris for an attempt to
assassinate Louis XV. He was the son of a poor farmer, and from his
vicious inclinations acquired the title of _Robert le Diable_. As the
king was getting into his carriage at Versailles, surrounded by his
train, Damiens stabbed him in the right side with a knife. He was
seized, tried and condemned to a death of torture. Being drawn on a
sledge to the Place de Greve, he there had the flesh of his thighs and
arms torn off with red hot pincers, and the hand which held the knife
cut off. Afterwards his body was drawn and quartered by four horses, his
members and corpse burnt and the ashes thrown into the air.
1758. Action in the North Sea between 2 French and 2 British frigates;
one of the former escaped, the other was captured with 40 guns and 340
men.
1760. MARGARET WOFFINGTON, an eminent Irish actress, died. Her talents
and good sense were greatly aided by extraordinary beauty of features
and form.
1778. LOUIS XVI issued letters of marque and reprisal against England.
1783. A hill 500 feet in height was carried four miles from its site by
the great Calabrian earthquake.
1791. HONORE GABRIEL RIQUETTI, count DE MIRABEAU, the distinguished
French revolutionist but debauched man, died. The French directory
decreed a public mourning of eight days; and all the places of amusement
in Paris were shut on the day of his death.
1794. J. B. V. GUILLOTINE was beheaded at Lyons. There is some mistake
about this event; the authority from which it is derived stating that he
was the inventor of the guillotine. (See March 20, and April 25, 1792;
also May 26, 1814.)
1794. JOHN ANTHONY NICHOLAS CARITAT, marquis de Condorcet, died. His
mathematical essays at an early age procured him a seat in the academy
of sciences, of which he was afterwards elected secretary. He published
the lives of several eminent men of his day, and was an active
contributor to the famous _Encyclopedie_. He unfortunately took part in
the revolution, and failing to keep pace with the ultra views of the
Robespierre party, was proscribed, and died in prison either from want
or by his own hand.
1801. RALPH ABERCROMBY died. He rose from a common soldier, through all
the gradations, to the highest rank in the army; was appointed commander
in chief of the expedition to Egypt, and landed after a severe contest
at Aboukir bay. He was wounded and unhorsed at the battle of Alexandria,
notwithstanding which he disarmed his antagonist, and kept the field
during the day and was victorious. He was conveyed on board the
admiral's ship where he lingered a few days, and died. He was buried
beneath the castle of St. Elmo, in Malta.
1802. The planet Pallas discovered by Dr. Olbers, at Bremen. Its
revolution round the sun occupies 4 years, 7 months and 11 days.
1805. The county of Jefferson, in northern New York, erected.
1811. A hereditary monarchy established in Hayti, and Christophe
declared king, by the title of Henry I.
1814. Action in the neutral port of Valparaiso between the United States
frigate Essex, Capt. Porter, 52 guns, 255 men, and the British ship
Phebe and sloop of war Cherub, in all 81 guns and 500 men. After a most
sanguinary conflict of more than 2 hours, the Essex was captured, with
the loss of 58 killed.
1818. ALEXANDER SABES PETION, president of Hayti, died. He joined the
revolution at the age of 20, and when the blacks had succeeded in
gaining their independence, he was appointed governor of the western
province, and in 1807 elected president.
1836. RICHARD VALPY, an eminent Greek and Latin scholar, died, aged 82,
at Kensington, England.
1838. THOMAS MORTON, one of the most successful of modern dramatists,
died at London, aged 74.
1849. The king of Prussia elected emperor by the German parliament at
Frankfort. He did not accept.
1852. JOHN HAVILAND, an eminent architect, died at Washington, aged 60.
He was born in England, and commenced his career in Russia. He came to
this country highly recommended by J. Q. Adams, and constructed many
public works. He paid especial attention to the construction of jails
and prisons.
1853. A peace address signed by 4000 English merchants, bankers and
traders, presented to Napoleon III at the Tuilleries.
1854. War formally declared against Russia by Great Britain and France.
1855. The United States marshal at Philadelphia arrested 12 men who had
enlisted in that city for a foreign legion.