1341. PETRARCH crowned with laurels at Rome, with great pomp. This
distinction was awarded him on the appearance of his Latin poem entitled
_Africa_, in which he celebrates Scipio, his favorite hero. This poem he
considered his best, yet it was never finished. His reputation now rests
as a poet, on his Italian poems.
1364. JOHN I, king of France, died. He was taken by Edward III at the
battle of Poictiers, and conducted to England, where he was retained in
captivity four years. He returned from France in 1363, which he had
visited on parole, and died at his palace in London, aged 45, after a
reign of 14 years, which had been extremely calamitous to France.
1492. LORENZO DE MEDICIS, surnamed _the Great_, and the father of
letters, died at Florence. He was a great merchant, and an eminent
statesman; whose public services so recommended him to the Florentines
that he was declared chief of the republic; and whose wisdom and
judgment were so conspicuous, that foreign princes made him the arbiter
of their differences.
1546. The council of Trent declared against the Lutheran system, and
adopted the Latin or vulgate translation of the Bible by St. Jerome.
1663. The first play bill issued from Drury Lane theatre. The play was
advertised to be acted "by his majesty's company of comedians," and was
entitled the _Hvmovrovs Lievtenant_, and was to commence at three
o'clock precisely.
1679. Bosia, a village near Piedmont, in Italy, suddenly sunk into the
earth, by which about 200 persons perished.
1702. THOMAS GALE, an English divine, died. Though engaged the best part
of his life in active and laborious employments, he yet found much time
to devote to literature and classical learning. His publications are
numerous and display great ability.
1704. JOB LUDOLPHUS, a German linguist, died, aged 80. He was one of the
most eminent orientalists of his time, and the first European who
acquired the Ethiopic language, of which he published a grammar and
dictionary, and a history of the country. He was well versed in
twenty-five languages.
1704. HENRY SIDNEY, earl of Romney, died. He was brother to the famous
Algernon Sydney, and an accomplished statesman.
1731. ELIZABETH CROMWELL, grand-daughter of the lord protector of
England, Oliver Cromwell, died at Bedford row in her 82d year.
1735. FRANCIS LEOPOLD RAGOTZKI, prince of Transylvania, died. He wrote
an interesting memoir on the revolutions in Hungary.
1793. EDMUND C. GENET, first minister from the French republic to the
United States, arrived at Charleston. He was superseded by Fauchet at
the request of Washington the next year.
1801. The French surrendered Rosetta, in Egypt, to the British troops
under Col. Spencer.
1803. LOUIS FREDERICK ANTOINE ARBOGAST, a French mathematician, died. He
was a member of the national convention, but appears not to have taken
any active part in politics, his name appearing only to some report on
scientific subjects. His works place his name high among the
distinguished men of the day; his character was blameless.
1806. HERRING, aged 60, and his wife, executed at Newgate, London, for
coining money.
1808. County of Cortland in New York state erected.
1811. First law passed by the New York legislature respecting the Erie
canal.
1812. Louisiana became a member of the United States confederacy.
1821. SIMON ASSEMANNI, one of the most learned of Maronites in modern
times, died at Padua, where he had long been a professor. His
explanation of the Arabian antiquities is much esteemed.
1832. ROBERT SIMSON died at Montreal, aged 101. He was at the attack on
Quebec under Wolfe.
1835. Mr. CLAYTON, an American æronaut, made an ascension at Cincinnati,
which proved an extraordinary affair. The spot at which he came to the
earth was on Stevenson's knob, a mountain in Virginia, 3000 feet above
the level of the sea, and 350 miles from Cincinnati, which distance he
was wafted in 9½ hours.
1835. WILLIAM VON HUMBOLDT, a distinguished philologist, died, near
Berlin, Prussia. He was elder brother of the celebrated traveler of that
name, and distinguished as a statesman and a scholar.
1838. JOHN, a negro, drowned at Washington, aged 115.
1854. An explosion on the steam boat Gazelle, at Canemah, Oregon,
destroyed the boat and killed 21 persons.
1854. A fire at Salonica, in Greece, destroyed 600 houses and
warehouses.
1854. The Ganges canal, a work of vast magnitude, was opened by the
lieutenant-governor of Agra, with great ceremony and a display of
troops.