164 B. C. The Jews, upon the 15th Sivan, celebrate a feast for the
victory of Judas Maccabæus over the people of Bethsan, or Scythopolis.
67. VESPASIAN invested Jotopata, in Galilee, defended by Josephus, the
historian, a very interesting siege as it respects the latter.
392. VALENTINIAN, emperor of Rome, strangled at Vienne, in Milan, by
order of Arbogastes, his rebellious general.
1213. King JOHN, oppressed with guilt and despair, resigned the kingdoms
of England and Ireland to the pope, to be held of him and of the Roman
church in fee, by the annual rent of 1,000 marks.
1464. Battle of Hexham, on the banks of the Dilswater, and defeat of the
Lancastrians under the duke of Somerset, by Edward IV. The fate of the
royal family after this defeat was extremely singular and distressing.
1494. COLUMBUS discovered a great number of small islands in the West
Indies, which he called the _Queen's Garden_. These were in his opinion
the 5,000 islands which Marco Polo and Mandeville described as the
boundary of India.
1548. The emperor CHARLES V laid before the diet of Augsburg a _rule of
faith_, which he compelled them to acquiesce in, notwithstanding that it
was disapproved by both protestants and papists.
1567. Marriage of Mary, queen of Scots, and the earl of Bothwell.
1571. Moscow burnt by the Tartars, who had surrounded the city, and set
it on fire at all points. The entire city was burnt down, and upwards of
200,000 of the inhabitants perished in the flames.
1602. BARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLD, in search of a suitable place to settle a
plantation, discovered a head land in 42 deg., where he came to anchor;
and taking a great number of cod at this place, they called it cape Cod,
which name it still retains.
1618. The celebrated KEPLER discovered his canon for the periodical
motion of the planets.
1645. Battle of Alderne, in which the earl of Montrose defeated the
Scots under Urrey with great slaughter.
1664. The Dutch governor surrendered the island of Cayenne to the
French, by treaty.
1674. Besançon, an ancient city of France, taken by Louis XIV.
1679. The Ashmolean museum, at Oxford, England, founded for the purpose
of receiving the antiquary's "twelve cartloads of rarities."
1716. JOHN BAGFORD, an English antiquary, died. He was originally a
shoemaker, became a bookseller, and an amateur of old English books and
curious prints, with which he enriched several famous libraries.
1719. FRANCIS MALAVAL died; a Frenchman, who, although he lost his sight
when 9 months old, acquired celebrity as a mystical writer on quietism.
1737. ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM, a Scottish historian, died. He wrote a
valuable _History of Great Britain_ in Latin, which remained in
manuscript till 1787, when it was translated by Thompson, and published
in 2 vols. quarto.
1740. EPHRAIM CHAMBERS, an English encyclopedist, died. He was
apprenticed to a globemaker, and during his minority projected his
_Dictionary of the Arts and Sciences_, which appeared in 1728 in 2 vols.
folio. It was extended by Dr. Rees to 45 vols. quarto.
1747. British fleet under Anson captured 1 French ship of 74 guns, 5 of
64, 4 of 60, 1 of 50, and 20 merchantmen.
1766. JOHN ASTRUC, a French physician, died; author of several useful
and curious works.
1772. ANTONY FRANCIS RICCOBONI died; an Italian actor, author of _Art du
Théatre_, a work of great merit.
1773. ALBAN BUTLER died; director of the English college of St. Omer's,
and author of the _Lives of the Fathers, Saints and Martyrs_, with
valuable notes.
1775. Congress resolved to issue paper money.
1776. American fort at the Cedars, 43 miles above Montreal, surrendered
by maj. Butterfield, with 390 men, to capt. Foster, with 650 British and
Indians. (See May 20, 27.)
1781. Fort Granby surrendered by the British to col. Lee.
1789. The number of emigrants which had passed through Muskingum to
settle in Kentucky since the first of Aug., 1786, (not including those
who passed in the night unnoticed) was 19,882. These were accompanied by
8,884 horses, 2,297 cattle, 1,920 sheep, 627 wagons, and 1,067 boats.
1800. JAMES MALLET DU PAN died in England, where he took refuge from the
revolutionary mania of France. He was a literary and political writer,
distinguished by the extent of his knowledge and vigor of style, as well
as probity and independence of character.
1800. BONAPARTE crossed the mount St. Bernard. Each man, says sir Walter
Scott, carried from sixty to eighty pounds, up icy precipices, where a
man totally without encumbrance could ascend but slowly. Probably no
troops but the French could have endured the fatigue of such a march;
and no other general than Bonaparte would have ventured to require it at
their hands.
1802. The Portuguese frigate Cine captured by the Algerines, after a
smart action. The crew having ran below, the officers were all cut to
pieces.
1814. The British plundered Poultneyville, on lake Ontario. They were
driven off by general Swift.
1817. DAVID IRVING died at Philadelphia. He was taken prisoner on board
the United States frigate Philadelphia at Tripoli and imprisoned there
two years.
1821. JOHN WALL CALLCOTT died; an English musical composer, and author
of a _Musical Grammar_.
1821. JOHN BONNYCASTLE died; an English mathematician, whose works are
in use in this country. He contributed the mathematical articles for
_Rees's Cyclopedia_.
1830. An extensive shower of red dust extending over Italy, Malta,
Sicily, Sardinia, &c., observed by Dr. John Davy.
1833. EDMUND KEAN, a celebrated English tragedian, died. It is
ascertained that the total sum which he received for acting from 1814,
was £177,000, averaging nearly $40,000 per annum for 19 years; yet he
died poor.
1836. The village of Roanoke, on the Chatahoochee, Ga., attacked and
stormed by 300 Indians, and burnt to ashes.
1838. JOHN MURPHY died in Fauquier county, Va., aged 106.
1847. DANIEL O'CONNEL, the Irish agitator, died at Genoa, on his way to
Rome. His heart was sent forward and his body carried back to Ireland.
1848. Attempted communist counter revolution in Paris.
1848. RICHARD H. TOLER, a distinguished writer and for 23 years editor
of the _Lynchburgh Virginian_, died at Richmond.
1854. GEORGE PERKINS, a retired Boston merchant, was murdered by the
Chinese crew of a boat which he had engaged to take him ashore at Macao,
whither he had just arrived from San Francisco.
1854. The ship Townsend, from Boston to San Francisco destroyed by fire,
and several lives lost.
1854. An explosion took place in the Blackheath coal mines, Virginia; by
which of the twenty-three workmen only one escaped death.
1855. The universal industrial exhibition was opened at Paris by Louis
Napoleon.
1855. A destructive tornado swept over a portion of Lapeer county,
Michigan.