1199. JOHN, the 6th son of Henry II of England, seized the treasures of
his late father, preparatory to taking possession of his throne and
dukedom.
1284. EDWARD II born at Caernarvon, and styled the _prince of Wales_,
the first who received that appellation.
1342. BENEDICT XII (James de Nouveau, _the baker_), died. When elected,
unanimously, by the cardinals, pope of Rome, he had so little confidence
in himself that he told them they had chosen an ass. His conduct,
however, was firm and dignified, and gained him universal respect.
1513. EDWARD HOWARD, an English admiral, celebrated for his bravery,
killed in an action with a French ship.
1520. FERDINAND MAGELLAN, the Portuguese navigator killed in one of the
Phillipine islands, fighting for the king of the country, who had become
his ally. Of all his fleet, only one ship and 18 men returned to Spain,
from whence the expedition sailed.
1536. Conflagration of mount Ætna, which overwhelmed the church of St.
Leon, and the physician Piazzi.
1576. Treaty between Holland and Zealand, being the two first provinces
that united for their liberty. William of Nassau, prince of Orange, drew
up the treaty, and may be considered as the founder of the United
Provinces.
1595. TORQUATO TASSO, an illustrious Italian poet, died. He was
excellent in every kind of composition, but the _Jerusalem Delivered_
procured him the offer of the laurel crown. He expired on the day
appointed for the coronation.
1636. JAMES HAY, earl of Carlisle, died. He was the first Scotchman
raised to the English peerage, and was employed by James I in various
embassies.
1660. HENRY HAMMOND, an English divine, died. He published a commentary
on the New Testament; and began a paraphrase and commentary on the Old
Testament, which he did not live to finish.
1671. The city of Oxford, England, nearly destroyed by a great fire.
1728. JOHN WOODWARD, an English natural philosopher, died. He was bound
apprentice to a linen draper, but was attracted from the business by the
charms of science.
1732. The corpse of bishop Atterbury who died in France arrived in the
Thames. Four pieces of French silk brocaded with silver were found with
the body, which the custom house officers seized!
1734. JOHN CONRAD DIPPEL, a German chemist and physician, died. He was
an eccentric character, who pretended to have discovered the
philosophers' stone, and yet was confined for debt. In pursuing his
alchemical researches, he discovered Prussian blue, and the animal oil
which bears his name.
1735. SAMUEL WESLEY, an English poet, died. His writings made up in
quantity what they lacked in quality. He wrote the _Life of Christ_, a
heroic poem, in folio, and a history of the Bible in verse, 3 vols.
1764. JUDAH MONIS, an Italian Jew, died at Northborough, Mass., aged 82.
He was converted and baptized, and was the first Hebrew instructor at
Harvard college.
1770. JOHN ANTHONY NOLLET, a learned Frenchman, died. His writings are
valuable, and his experiments contributed much to the advancement of
science.
1775. The Baltimoreans received the news of the battle of Lexington, and
immediately seized upon the provincial magazines, containing 1500 stand
of arms, &c.
1781. Battle of Camden, between the provincials, about 1200, and the
British under lord Rawdon. In the beginning of the action the Americans
had essentially the advantage; but the premature retreat of two
companies occasioned a total defeat. Greene retreated in such order as
to bring off all his wounded and cannon, and took 50 prisoners.
1781. British under Arnold and Philips took Petersburg, Va., after a
smart action with baron Steuben. They burnt 400 hogsheads of tobacco, a
ship, and several small craft.
1782. ADRIAN BALBI, the Venitian geographer, was born at Venice. The
work by which he is best known is his _Abrégé de Géographie_.
1792. The convention having determined on adopting the proposition of
M. Guillotin, to substitute decapitation for hanging, the first criminal
was executed by this mode on this day. M. Guillotin was actuated by
benevolent motives in proposing the machine, which was called from him
_guillotine_, and from which himself narrowly escaped.
1800. WILLIAM COWPER, an excellent English poet, died. He commenced
publishing at the age of 50, and three years after produced the _Task_,
which excited universal admiration. He was subject to religious
delirium, and died in a state of absolute despair.
1805. THOMAS POWNALL, an English antiquary, died. He was successively
governor of New Jersey, Massachusetts and South Carolina under the
crown. His works are numerous, and display a great deal of information.
1810. Sweden excluded British goods, conformably to the continental
system established by Bonaparte.
1812. Baltimore privateer schooner Surprise, Capt. Cothell, of 10 guns,
captured the British brig Kutousoff, of 12 guns, laden with coffee, &c.,
and brought her safe to port.
1820. PATRICK COLQUOHUN, a distinguished Scottish magistrate, died. He
was a writer on police and political economy, and his works possess
great merit.
1832 & 1833. Spring navigation of the Erie canal opened.
1835. JONATHAN P. CUSHING, president of Hampden Sidney college, died,
aged 40. The institution, over which he had presided 14 years, was
greatly indebted to his services, and he was highly esteemed for his
virtues.
1838. The second centennial celebration of the settlement of New Haven.
1838. The steamboat Moselle burst her boiler with a tremendous
explosion. She had just left the wharf at Cincinnati for Louisville,
with 225 passengers on board, of whom but 124 were saved.
1839. SAMUEL SMITH, an officer of the revolution, died at Baltimore,
aged 87. His name is connected with some of the most important events of
that struggle for freedom, and is identified with the history of the
city of Baltimore for a great number of years; that city being indebted
to his enterprise for a large share of its commercial thrift.
1840. M. POISSON, a peer of France, and president of the academy of
sciences, died at Paris, aged 58. His life was devoted to analytical
discovery and scientific investigation, and he was styled the first
geometrician of Europe.
1849. The parliament house and library of the British provinces, at
Montreal, burned by a mob.
1849. The French republican armament against republican Rome reached
Civita Vecchia.
1854. The slaves of Venezuela became freemen by virtue of an act
previously passed for their emancipation.
1855. Lieut. Col. ST. VRAIN, with a detachment of United States troops,
came up with and captured a camp of Apache Indians, on the Purgatory,
near the Raton mountains.