32 B. C. TITUS POMPONIUS ATTICUS, a distinguished Roman, died. He
understood the art of conducting himself so well, that amidst the civil
wars and party strife of the time in which he lived, he preserved the
respect and esteem of all parties. He reached the age of 77 without
sickness; but finding himself at last attacked by a slight disease, he
resolved to put an end to his life by abstaining from food, and expired
in five days.
1474. The first book printed in England finished by Caxton as appears by
the following entry: "_The Game and Playe of the Chesse_; translated out
of the French and emprynted by William Caxton. Fynished the last day of
Marche, the yer of our Lord God a thousand four hundred and lxxiiij."
1547. FRANCIS I of France died. He was the rival and opponent of Charles
V of Germany, with whom he was involved in war during almost his whole
reign, with various success, and to whom he was once a prisoner, with
his two sons. He was a patron of literature and the arts.
1605. An expedition fitted out by the earl of Southampton and Lord
Arundel, under the command of George Weymouth, sailed from the Downs
with a view to the discovery of a north-west passage to India, the
passion for which was now in its full vigor.
1621. PHILIP III of Spain died. He ascended the throne of his father at
the age of 20. The war with Holland, which had revolted, was continued
with great spirit, and the siege of Ostend maintained three years, at
great expense, and the loss of 80,000 men before it was reduced. He
imprudently banished the Moors from his kingdom, and thus deprived
himself of a million of peaceable and useful artists; a loss which the
country has never recovered from.
1631. JOHN DONNE, an English poet and divine, died. He embraced
protestantism at an early age, which together with his shining talents,
procured him favors and emoluments. Dryden styles him "the greatest wit,
though not the greatest poet, of the nation," and his eloquence as a
divine is also attested to.
1654. Cockfighting prohibited in England by the parliament (called an
act of the usurpation).
1656. JAMES USHER, archbishop of Armagh, died, aged 76. He was advanced
by James I and Charles I, and courted by Cromwell.
1665. The English authorities issued an order to imprison George Fox,
the founder of the sect called Quakers, for his sermons against the
awful crime of building meeting houses with steeples.
1698. PETER JOSEPH D'ORLEANS, a French Jesuit, died. He professed
belles-lettres, and wrote several valuable histories and biographies.
1713. Peace of Utrecht concluded, which placed England at the head of
the European states, and humbled the ambition of France.
1763. Mr. HARRISON was granted £5,000 for the construction of a
chronometer to determine with more accuracy the longitude at sea.
1765. The Jesuits expelled from Madrid and all Spain. The order was
finally suppressed by the pope, 1773.
1774. The bill for closing the port of Boston received the royal
assent.
1783. NAKITA IVANOWITZ, count de Panin, a Russian statesman, died. He
was raised from the rank of a horse soldier, under Elizabeth, became a
general under Peter, and prime minister of the great Catharine. He
possessed great powers of mind, and other qualifications for the high
places which he occupied, but his business habits were lax, his conduct
haughty, and his manners dissolute.
1791. MATTHIAS OGDEN, a revolutionary patriot, died. He was one of the
first that joined Washington at Cambridge; he penetrated the wilderness
with Arnold to Canada, and was wounded in the attack on Quebec. On his
return he was promoted by congress, and remained in the army through the
war.
1794. The national convention of France, in the plenitude of
omniscience, decreed _that there was no God_!
1795. The British museum purchased the oriental manuscripts of Mr.
Halstead, the disciple of the prophet Brothers.
1797. DANIEL BULL MACARTNEY, an Irish gentleman, died, aged 112. He
married his fifth wife, who survived him, at the age of 84, when she was
14, by whom he had 20 children in 20 years. His constitution was so
hardy that no cold affected him, and he could not bear the warmth of a
sheet in the night time for the last 70 years of his life. In company he
drank freely of rum and brandy, which he called _naked truth_; and
retained his activity to the time of his death.
1797. BONAPARTE, from his head quarters at Klagenfurth, offered peace to
the archduke Charles.
1801. The island of Santa Cruz, in the West Indies, surrendered to the
British under Admiral Duckworth. It was afterwards restored.
1806. GEORGE MACARTNEY, a celebrated British statesman, died. He was
employed in several important embassies and other offices, till in 1792
he was selected as ambassador extraordinary to China, a mission which
occupied three years, and engaged much attention in Europe; and an
account of which has been published in 3 vols. quarto by Sir G.
Staunton.
1807. Slave trade abolished by the British government.
1812. WELLS, the pedestrian, undertook for 5 pounds, to walk from
Westminster bridge, London, to Croydon and back, in two hours, a
distance of 19 miles. He performed it in 2 minutes less than the time,
but dropped down with fatigue, and was unable to walk home.
1813. Battle of St. Antonio, Mexico, between the royalists and patriots.
The former were defeated with the loss of 100 killed, their camp
equipage, 6 cannon, and great quantities of stores, &c.
1814. Paris capitulated to the allied army, about 2 o'clock in the
morning, and the French troops evacuated it at 7, hostilities to
commence in 2 hours. At 11, the conquerors entered the city with the
emperor of Russia and the king of Prussia at their head.
1827. LUDWIG VON BEETHOVEN, a German musical composer, died. His works
are numerous, and universally known and admired. His musical talents
procured him wealthy patrons among the nobility, by whom he was
munificently supported. He was extremely deaf, and eccentric in his
manners.
1831. EDWARD AUGUSTUS HOLYOAKE, a venerated New England physician, died,
aged 100. He was born at Salem, Mass., 100 years after its settlement,
and was a practicing physician there 79 years. He enjoyed uninterrupted
good health during life, and at a dinner given by a number of the
profession on his centennial anniversary, he appeared among them with a
firm step. On a post mortem examination, all the vital organs appeared
to have been unimpaired by age and capable of sustaining life much
longer, except the stomach, which was divided by a stricture, leaving an
aperture less than an inch in diameter.
1831. Battle of Praga, between the Poles under Skrzynecki, and the
Russians of 8000 under Geismar, in which the latter were almost totally
destroyed, with the loss of 4000 prisoners and 1600 cannon.
1831. An Irish scholar and divine, Rev. HYNES HALLORAN, chaplain to the
Britannia in the battle of Trafalgar, was transported for seven years,
for forging a frank, value 19 pence.
1835. JOHN WHITCOMB, a soldier of the revolution, died at Swanzey, N.
H., aged 104.
1836. MATTHEW LUMSDEN died; an eminent orientalist.
1837. The president at interim of Mexico protested "in the most solemn
manner, before all civilized nations, against the acknowledgment of the
pretended republic of Texas made by the United States."
1839. Battle of Pago Largo in South America, between the troops of
Corrientes and Entre Rios, two provinces of the Argentine republic. The
former were defeated with a loss stated at 1960, including the
commander-in-chief.
1851. JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN, one of the most distinguished American
statesmen, died, aged 68, a senator from South Carolina.
1852. Tremont Temple, Boston, entirely destroyed by fire.
1854. THOMAS NOON TALFOURD, an English judge and dramatist, died, aged
57. He cultivated literature as a refreshing relief from the labors of
his profession. He died while charging the jury.
1854. Gen. CANROBERT and more than 1000 French troops landed at
Gallipoli.
1854. The artisans of Barcelona, Spain, to the number of 1500 proceeded
to the municipality and demanded that the price of provisions should be
reduced and wages increased.