1060 B. C. The 28th Jiar is kept as a fast by the Hebrews for the death
of Samuel, which took place two years before the destruction of Saul.
492 B. C. MENENIUS AGRIPPA, a Roman patrician died; celebrated for
appeasing a sedition by a fable of the belly and the limbs.
357. CONSTANTIUS, the third and surviving son of Constantine the great,
visited Rome for thirty days, when he displayed the magnificence of a
triumph.
1489. HENRY PERCY, earl of Northumberland, murdered.
1494. JOAN BOUGHTON, a widow, was burned for heresy; said to be the
first female martyr of England.
1521. CORTEZ having constructed 13 brigantines with sails and oars, and
transported them on the backs of 8000 Tlascalans, they were launched on
this day in the lake of Mexico, with religious ceremonies under a
discharge of the artillery and small arms, followed by the singing of
_Te Deum_ to the music of military instruments. They were provided with
sails and twelve oars each, and a falconet, or small brass cannon. The
final success of the enterprise was greatly indebted to these vessels.
1535. ALBERT PIO, a Spanish ecclesiastic buried with extraordinary pomp
at Paris, in the church of the Cordeliers.
1552. The council of Trent was prorogued for two years; it did not
assemble again until 1562.
1636. JULIUS CÆSAR, an English statesman under Elizabeth, died. He was a
man of great learning and integrity, charitable and benevolent.
1710. THOMAS BETTERTON, an English, tragedian, died. He was a bookbinder
previous to going upon the stage; and acquired a high degree of
reputation as an actor.
1721. An order of the English council was issued to suppress Hellfire
clubs.
1738. Shakspeare's tragedy of _Julius Cæsar_ performed at Drury Lane
theatre, for the purpose of raising a fund for the erection of a
monument to his memory at Westminster.
1751. THOMAS GIBSON, an eminent English painter, died.
1752. FRANCIS OUDIN, a French Jesuit, died. He was professor of theology
at Dijon, and an author.
1754. WASHINGTON attacked a French encampment at the confluence of the
Alleghany and Monongahela. The night was dark and rainy, and the enemy
completely secure. His troops having surrounded the camp, fired and
rushed upon the French, who immediately surrendered.
1760. Battle of Sillery, in Canada, between the British garrison at
Quebec, 3000, under Gen. Murray, and the French under Levi, consisting
of 10 battalions of regulars, 6000 Canadian militia, and a body of
Indians. The British general finding himself in danger of being
outflanked, retreated to his fortifications, with the loss of 1000 men.
The French loss was still greater, and they reaped no essential
advantage from the victory.
1772. The counts STRUENSEE, and BRANDT, the favorite of the king of
Denmark, executed at Copenhagen. Their alleged crime was an intrigue
with the queen of Denmark, princess Caroline Matilda, sister of George
III, of England.
1779. SIMON BARNARD, a celebrated aid-du-camp of Napoleon, and for some
time chief of the engineer corps of the United States, was born at Dôle,
in France.
1786. GUSTAVUS, king of Sweden, read the eulogy of Creutz, the poet and
statesman, who died a short time previous. Creutz signed with Franklin a
treaty of amity between the United States and Sweden, 1783.
1788. Maryland, the 7th state in succession, adopted the constitution of
the United States; votes 63 to 12.
1789. Mutiny on board the ship Bounty on her voyage from Otaheite,
whither she had sailed to procure fruit trees to stock the West India
islands. The vessel had on board 1015 plants of the bread fruit tree.
Lieut. Bligh and 19 of the crew were compelled to go into an open boat;
"they reached the island of Timor in June, after a perilous voyage of
1200 leagues."
1789. THOMAS HUTCHINS, geographer-general of the United States, died. He
was a native of New Jersey, and was in England at the commencement of
the revolutionary war, where he refused some excellent offers, and was
subsequently imprisoned and lost £12,000 on suspicion of holding
correspondence with Franklin in Paris. He afterwards returned to
America, served under Greene in South Carolina, and published several
historical and geographical works, with charts and maps.
1793. Battle of Duren; the French defeated by the Austrians under
Clairfait, with a loss of 2000, and their military chest, 12 cannon, and
13 ammunition wagons.
1796. Action off Lizard point, between the British ship Indefatigable,
sir Edward Pellew, and French frigate La Virginia, 44 guns; the latter
captured.
1796. CHARETTE, the Vendean chief, executed at Nantes. This afforded
General Hoche an opportunity to subdue the royalists in France.
1797. ROBERT PARKER hanged for burglary at Knoxville, Tennessee.
1799. The French ambassadors were assassinated at Radstat. The infamy of
this base action is shared by the French emigrants and Austrians.
1799. Battle of Adda, in Italy; the Russians under Suwarrow defeated the
French under Serrurier, who, with his division, was taken prisoner.
1804. Surinam, or Dutch Guiana, in South America, taken by the British;
the Dutch surrendered 2000 prisoners, 282 cannon, and several vessels.
1813. Spesutie island taken possession of by the British, situated near
the head of Chesapeake.
1813. Privateer Yorktown, Capt. Riker, of New York, captured the British
brig Avery, with a valuable cargo, and brought her safe to port.
1813. MICHAEL LAVRIONOVITCH GOLENITCHEFF KUTUSOFF-SMOLENSKI, the famous
Russian field-marshal, died. He commanded the Russian army destined to
oppose the invasion of Bonaparte in 1812.
1814. BONAPARTE embarked for Elba from Frejus. He had landed at this
place on his return from Egypt, when about to commence that astonishing
career, which will be remembered in the history of Europe to the end of
time; but which now, to all appearance, was about to terminate, and that
at the very point from which it had started.
1851. EDWARD CODRINGTON, a British admiral, died, aged 81. He
distinguished himself under Howe and Nelson, but his name is chiefly
renowned by the famous action of Navarino, where he had chief command.
1854. The American barque Hespar, bound for Antwerp, came in collision
with the Bremen barque Favorite, for Baltimore, having 180 passengers on
board, all of whom perished.
1854. WILLIAM HENRY PAGOT, marquis of Anglesey, died, aged 86. He
distinguished himself in several campaigns, especially in the Peninsular
war, and was raised to the rank of field marshal.
1855. GIOVANNI PIANORI, a hired bravo, attempted to shoot Louis Napoleon
while riding in the Champs Elysees.
1856. The receipt of the ratification of the treaty of peace by all the
foreign powers was announced officially in England, and a day of
thanksgiving throughout the United Kingdom was appointed.
1857. FREDERICK EMERSON, an eminent American instructor, died, aged 68.
He was the author of a popular arithmetic used in the public schools.