1118. BALDWIN I, king of Jerusalem, died, and was buried on mount
Calvary. He accompanied his brother, Godfrey de Bouillon, to Palestine
during the crusades, and on the death of Godfrey was made king.
1141. MAUD declared queen of England in a national synod.
1196. WILLIAM LONGBEARD, a factious priest, executed. He was notorious
for raising seditions in London, during the reign of Richard I. He was
torn to pieces by horses, and then hung upon a gallows.
1498. CHARLES VIII, (_the affable_,) king of France, died. He was
crowned king of Naples, and emperor of Constantinople, but afterwards
met with reverses, and was driven back into France.
1521. MAGELLAN erected the Spanish standard on one of the Philippine
islands.
1656. JEROME BIGNON, a French statesman, died. He was born 1590, and his
attainments were so rapid that at the age of 10 he published a
description of Palestine, and at the age of 14 a treatise on the
election of the popes.
1668. WILLIAM DAVENANT, an English poet and dramatist, died. He
succeeded Ben Jonson as poet laureate, and obtained a patent for a
theatre in Lincoln's Inn fields, which was in operation a number of
years.
1684. Dublin castle in Ireland burned.
1710. THOS. BETTERTON, the actor, died. He was esteemed the greatest
master of tragic action in his time.
1710. EDWARD CODRINGTON died at Barbadoes. He was a native of the West
Indies, and distinguished himself by his learning, and by his courage in
defence of the British islands against the French.
1712. RICHARD SIMON, a French critic and historian, died. His works are
numerous, and evince extensive learning and strong judgment.
1766. TIBERIUS HEMSTERHUYS, a Dutch critic, died. He was appointed
professor of mathematics and philosophy at Amsterdam at the early age of
19, and is the author of several learned works.
1776. CHARLES PETER COLARDEAU, a French poet, died. He translated a part
of Pope and Young with great spirit and elegance, and also wrote for the
stage.
1780. ROBERT WATSON, a Scottish historian, died; author of _Philip III
of Spain_.
1785. First paper issued in Hudson, Columbia county, New York.
1786. The celebrated catacombs of Paris consecrated, with great
solemnity. They lie under a part of the city which was undermined some
centuries ago, to furnish stone for the ancient edifices of Paris, and
at length became closed up. This cemetery had been used more than a
thousand years by twenty parishes, and it is estimated that more than
three millions of people had been inhumed within its inclosures. In
process of time, as the city extended, palaces and churches were built
over the subterranean caverns, and were in imminent danger of sinking
into the pit below, before it was again discovered. The mighty city of
Paris had until now but one burial place, where a pit was dug, and the
bodies laid side by side, without any earth being put over them, till
the first tier was full; then a thin layer of earth covered them, and
another tier of dead came on; thus by layer upon layer, and dead upon
dead, the hole was filled up. These pits were emptied every thirty or
forty years to receive new tenants. The last grave digger, Francis
Pontraci, had by his own register, in less than thirty years, inhumed
more than 90,000 bodies in that ground. The great increase of burials
rendered the cemetery still more inconvenient, and it was at last
happily thought of converting the quarries under the city into a
receptacle for the dead.
1788. The first settlement in Ohio began, at Marietta, by 47 persons
from New England.
1789. PETER CAMPER, a Dutch physician and naturalist, died. He was
distinguished for the extent of his knowledge. A splendid edition of his
works was published in 6 vols. accompanied by 100 folio plates.
1789. ACHMET IV, one of the most enlightened of the Turkish rulers,
died. The first act of his successor Selim was the execution of the
grand vizier, on the pretext that he had occasioned the loss of Oczakov.
1796. The British squadron under Warren captured 3 French brigs and 1
sloop, laden with provisions.
1797. Suspension of arms between Napoleon and the Archduke Charles.
1797. WILLIAM MASON, an English poet, died. He was chaplain to the king
till the American war, when his name was erased from the list in
consequence of the sentiments he entertained in regard to the liberties
of the subject.
1800. Action between the British ship Leviathan, admiral Duckworth, and
the Spanish frigates Carmen and Florentia, 36 guns each, and 650 men,
with 3000 quintals of quicksilver on board. The Spaniards were captured,
together with 7 vessels under convoy.
1806. Alleghany county in western New York erected.
1807. LALANDE (see April 4: by some authorities his death is put down on
the 7th.)
1812. Capt. AGAR, a celebrated English pedestrian, undertook to walk a
distance of 59 miles in 8½ hours, for 200 guineas. He won the match 3
minutes within the time.
1812. Mrs. BUMBY died at Ekring, England, aged 80; remarkable for a horn
growing from her forehead in a spiral form to the length of nearly six
inches.
1814. About 200 British marines and sailors landed at Saybrook, in
Connecticut, spiked the cannon and destroyed several vessels, and
escaped in the night to their shipping.
1817. The county of Tompkins in the state of New York erected.
1835. JAMES BROWN, an American statesman, died. He rose to a high rank
at the bar, and was several years minister to France.
1836. WILLIAM GODWIN, an English novelist, and political and
miscellaneous writer, died, aged 81. He commenced his career as a
dissenting minister, which station he relinquished to gain a
subsistence by literature. His works are numerous, and acquired him
much celebrity, though tinctured more or less with skepticism.
1844. MORGAN LEWIS, a distinguished American military officer and
statesman, died at New York, aged 90. He served with fidelity under the
colonial government, and with honor and gallantry in the war of the
revolution, and in the war of 1812. He held various important civil
offices from 1791 to 1810.
1849. IRVINE SHUBRICK, an American naval officer, died. He had been
thirty-five years in the service, and fought under Decatur and Downes.
He commanded the expedition against the island of Sumatra in 1832, which
captured Qualla Battoo, and broke up a horde of pirates who molested
vessels there.
1850. JAMES EMOTT, a distinguished member of the New York bar, died at
Poughkeepsie, aged 80.
1854. All English and French vessels were ordered out of the port of
Odessa.
1856. The steamship Adriatic, the largest vessel of the kind that had
ever been built, was launched at New York.