58 B. C. JULIUS CÆSAR finished his famous wall of entrenchment, 16 feet
in height and 17 miles in length, from Geneva to St. Claude; being a
labor of only 6 days.
1436. Paris surrendered to the French under Charles VII, having been
almost 14 years in the possession of the English.
1517. Cairo taken by the Turks under Selim, after a gallant resistance,
and 50,000 of its inhabitants barbarously massacred. The sultan was
hanged on one of the gates, Egypt was reduced to a province, and the
power of the Mamelukes crushed, who for more than 260 years had swayed
the land.
1584. An expedition fitted out by Sir Walter Raleigh took possession of
Wowoken, on the coast of America, since called Virginia. A colony was
left there, but they were cut off by the Indians, and every one put to
death.
1598. HENRY IV of France published at Nantes the memorable edict of
toleration; it was revoked 1685, by Louis XIV.
1605. BORIS GODOONOFF, czar of Moscow, died. He was called to the throne
by acclamation, on the death of Fedor, the last of the dynasty of Ruric.
In abilities and vigor of character, he resembled Peter the great; and
might be called one of the greatest of princes, was not his name
tarnished by a crime that led his way to the throne.
1638. HENRY, duke of Rohan, a French warrior and historian, died. He
signalized himself under Henry IV, both in the field and in the cabinet,
but the jealousy of Richelieu drove him to Geneva. He joined the duke of
Saxe Weimar against the imperialists, and was wounded in the battle, of
which he died.
1640. The English parliament again met by royal mandate, after a refusal
on the part of the king to call one for 12 years.
1641. RICHARD MONTAGUE, a learned English prelate, died. He published
several controversial works.
1684. NICOLAO ANTONIO, a Spanish author, died. He published an account
of all the Spanish writers, in 4 vols. folio, entitled _Bibliotheca
Hispania_. He spent his income, which was large, in acts of charity, and
in collecting a library, which at his death, amounted to 30,000
volumes.
1686. ANTONIO DE SOLIS, a Spanish author of note, died, aged 76. He was
appointed historiographer of the Indies, and wrote the _Conquest of
Mexico_, on which his fame as an author principally rests.
1699. Birthday of MARIA CATHARINA WALTER, in Germany. She died in
Philadelphia, 1802, aged over 103, having lived in three centuries.
1722. CHARLES LESLIE, an Irish theologian, died. He was a magistrate
under James II, and respected for his talents and integrity. His
writings were numerous, and sought for with avidity.
1726. VELASCO Y. PALOMINO, a highly admired Spanish painter, died at
Madrid.
1742. OLIVER REYLOF died at Ghent, eminent as a Latin poet.
1743. CHRISTOPHER PITT, an English poet, died. His translation of
Virgil's _Æneid_ is said to be superior to Dryden's.
1759. GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL, the illustrious German musical composer,
died at London, aged 75. His grand oratorio, the _Messiah_, appeared in
1741.
1759. Battle of Bergen, in which the duke of Broglio defeated the allies
under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, who lost 2,000 men and the
Hanoverian prince Ysemberg.
1777. Battle of Boundbrook, New Jersey, in which 500 Americans under
Gen. Lincoln were attacked by 2000 British under Cornwallis, and
effected a retreat with the loss of 60.
1782. Third action off Ceylon, between the British under Admiral Hughes,
and the French under Suffrein; latter defeated.
1787. Board of regents of the university of the state of New York
established.
1788. Great riot in New York, occasioned by the imprudent manner in
which the physicians procured subjects from the burying grounds; several
lives lost.
1794. PETER GASPARD CHAUMETTE, a French revolutionist, executed. He was
the son of a cobbler, displayed great courage at the taking of the
Bastile, and became one of the most sanguinary and reckless characters
of the time, till his career was arrested by the guillotine.
1795. Riots in England on account of the high prices of food.
1796. Battle in the defiles of Millesimo, Italy, in which the French
under Augereau and Joubert defeated the imperialists, who retreated to
the mountains of Cossaria.
1799. Schaffhausen, on the Rhine in Switzerland, taken by the
imperialists.
1801. The canal at Alexandria, Egypt, cut by the British, and the
country inundated.
1804. Makey, a Malay settlement on the coast of Sumatra, destroyed by
the British.
1807. ROBERT HERON, an erudite and popular writer, died. By unwearied
industry he raised himself from an obscure to a prominent situation in
society.
1813. Battle of Castilla, in Spain; the British under Sir John Murray,
defeated the French under Suchet.
1815. The bill for the construction of the Erie canal from the Hudson
river to lake Erie, passed the house of assembly, 84 to 15.
1818. THOMAS HATCHCOCK died in Richmond county, North Carolina, aged
125, leaving a son aged 93 and another 16, and a great progeny besides.
1827. HUGH CLAPPERTON, a Scottish traveler, died. He was employed by the
British to explore the interior of Africa, and died at Sackatoo, on his
second journey thither.
1832. SHADRACH BOND, first governor of Illinois, died at Kaskaskia.
1839. ROBERT HILLHOUSE, an English poet, died. He was a stocking-weaver
of Nottingham, and had no advantages of education but such as were
afforded by Sunday schools. His works "will insure his celebrity as a
poet of no mean grade."
1850. Pope PIUS IX returned to Rome.
1853. WILLIAM R. KING, vice-president of the United States, died. He was
for many years a diplomat abroad, and his career furnished a remarkable
instance of the eminent and deserved success of probity, fidelity,
industry, gentlemanly spirit and bearing, and inflexible honor.
1855. HENRY THOMAS DE LA BECHE, an eminent English geologist, died, aged
59. He was the author of many geological works, and director-general of
the geological survey of the united kingdom, and was knighted in 1848,
in recognition of his valued and long-continued services.
1856. Philadelphia visited by a tornado, 150 houses unroofed.