68. GALBA accuses Nero before the people of his enormities, and elects
himself lieutenant of the state.
1068. WILLIAM, the conqueror, again imposes the tax of Danegelt which
occasioned an armed opposition at Exeter.
1143. JOHN II (_Commenus_), emperor of the East, died. He ascended the
throne of Constantinople on the death of his father; was victorious over
the Mohammedans and other foes; and swayed the sceptre with wisdom and
ability.
1367. Battle of Navarette, and victory of Edward the black prince, by
which Peter the cruel was replaced on the Castilian throne.
1421. Battle of Beauge, in France, when the duke of Clarence and 1500
English were slain.
1617. JOHN NAPIER, baron of Merchiston, died. He was born in Scotland,
in 1550, and after completing his education traveled on the continent.
On his return he devoted himself to the cultivation of science and
literature, became a distinguished mathematician, and was regarded by
Kepler as one of the greatest men of the age. He is known as the
inventor of logarithms for the use of navigators.
1646. THOMAS LYDIAT, an English chronologer, died. He early devoted
himself to literature, became an able scholar, and was deservedly
esteemed by the learned of the times.
1707. EDMUND DICKINSON, a learned English physician, died. He was
appointed physician to Charles II and his successor; and retired from
practice to become an author.
1717. JAMES OZENHAM, an eminent French mathematician, died. He taught
mathematics at Paris, and acquired property; but the Spanish war reduced
his finances, and the death of his wife and twelve children embittered
his last days. His works are numerous and valuable.
1736. JOHN ALBERT FABRICIUS, a learned German, died at Hamburgh. He was
an indefatigable scholar, of great modesty and simplicity of manners,
and so highly esteemed by the citizens of Hamburgh, that when invited
elsewhere, the senate prevailed on him by a superior salary, not to
relinquish his residence among them.
1760. JAMES BENIGNUS WINSLOW, an eminent Danish anatomist, died. He went
to Paris, where his talents were appreciated and rewarded.
1763. All the gibbets on the Edgeware road, on which many malefactors
were hung in chains, near London, were cut down by unknown persons.
1764. The archduke JOSEPH chosen and crowned king of the Romans.
1775. New York colonial legislature held its last session.
1783. Treaty of amity and commerce for fifteen years between the United
States and Sweden concluded by Franklin.
1791. JOHN BERKENHOUT, a literary and medical character, died. He was
the son of a Dutch merchant, and experienced many vicissitudes; first
served in the Prussian and afterwards in the English army; studied
medicine at Leyden; and in 1778 came with certain commissioners to
America, where he was imprisoned by congress, on which account he
enjoyed a pension from the British government.
1792. GEORGE POCOCKE, an English admiral, died. He signalized himself by
the capture of Havana, and many other important services.
1793. DUMOURIEZ, the French general, who escaped from the lines, under
the repeated fire of three battalions, joined the Austrians, accompanied
by several other officers.
1811. Partial action on the Coa, near Sabugal, between the advanced
posts of the British, and a division of the French army under Massena,
who was defeated, and the French expelled from Portugal.
1813. Action near Urbanna, on the Chesapeake, between 17 British barges
and 2 schooners, and 3 letters of marque and 1 privateer of Baltimore;
the latter were captured.
1814. The French conservative senate solemnly decreed that Bonaparte had
forfeited the throne, and released all persons from their oaths of
allegiance to him.
1815. Eruption of mount Tomboro, on the island of Sumbawa, distant about
800 miles from Batavia, in the Indian Ocean.
1816. Treaty of peace concluded by Lord Exmouth, commanding a British
fleet before Algiers, between the Dey and Sardinia, and 51 Sardinian
prisoners liberated.
1816. THOMAS MACHIN, an officer of the revolution, died at his residence
in Schoharie county, N. Y., aged 72. He was a British officer at the
battle of _Minden_, and an American officer during the whole war of the
revolution. The chain across the Hudson at West Point was constructed
under his direction, and he was wounded at Bunker Hill and Fort
Montgomery.
1826. REGINALD HEBER, bishop of Calcutta, died. He was zealous in his
calling, and no doubt accelerated his death by his devotion to the cause
of his master. He ranks high among the British poets.
1829. Safety banking fund in the state of New York established.
1833. NICHOLAS IPSILANTI, an officer of the Greek revolution, died, at
the age of 35.
1838. M. ANTOMARCHI, physician of Napoleon at St. Helena, died at St.
Jago de Cuba. He was a native of Corsica, and left a professorship at
Florence, in order to accompany the exiled emperor. He attended him in
his last moments, of which he has given an account, and received a
legacy of 100,000 francs. He afterwards practiced medicine in Paris,
where he published a series of beautiful and expensive anatomical
plates. On the revolt of the Poles he hastened thither, and took the
direction of the medical establishments.
1854. JOHN WILSON, a Scottish author, died, aged 69. He is well known as
the Christopher North of _Blackwood's Magazine_.
1856. GORHAM A. WORTH, a New York financier, died, aged 72.
1856. President COMMONFORT returned to the city of Mexico after a
triumph at Puebla, where the rebel army surrendered to him, and where
the rebel generals were reduced to the rank of privates.