1039. HAROLD I, the second Danish monarch of England, died, at Oxford. A
heavy tax which he imposed on his people made him unpopular. He was
buried at Winchester; but by the cruel edicts of his brother the body
was dug up, beheaded and thrown into the Thames; recovered and again
buried only to be a second time disinterred and committed to the Thames;
found and privately buried at Westminster.
1163. HELOISE, abbess of the Paraclete, died; celebrated as the mistress
of Abelard, and for her learning. She was entombed with her husband. At
the dissolution of the monasteries in 1792, the principal inhabitants of
Nogent-sur-Seine went in grand procession to the Paraclete, to transfer
the remains of the lovers to a vault in their church. In 1800 they were
transported to Paris, and one of the most picturesque and interesting
ornaments in the cemetery of Pere la Chaise, is the sepulchral chapel
covering their remains, constructed from the ruins of the Paraclete.
1498. VASQUEZ DE GAMA discovered the continent of India. On his return
he again doubled cape Good Hope, which had long been regarded as the _ne
plus ultra_ of navigation.
1536. GEORGE BOLEYN, an English statesman, beheaded. He was a man of
learning and ability, whose elevation followed that of his sister Anne
as queen; and when she fell, he too was degraded and unjustly condemned.
1575. MATTHEW PARKER, second protestant archbishop of Canterbury, died.
He was deeply versed in Saxon literature and published a work on the
antiquity of the English church.
1610. GERVASE BABINGTON died; bishop of Worcester and an eminent
theological writer.
1617. JACOB AUGUSTUS THUANUS (alias De Thou) died; an illustrious French
statesman and historian.
1664. The English conventicle act was passed forbidding more than five
persons meeting for religious purposes except those regulated by the
book of common prayer.
1690. A party of French and Indians under the sieur Hertel, returning
from a marauding excursion among the English settlements, attacked and
destroyed the fort at Casco, Me.
1723. JOSEPH BINGHAM, an English ecclesiastic, died; author of
_Antiquities of the Christian Church_, a learned and laborious work, in
10 vols.
1727. CATHARINE ALEXIEVNA, empress of Russia, died. She was the daughter
of a peasant of Livonia, married a Swedish dragoon, who was killed on
the same day in battle. The Russian general Bauer made her his mistress,
after which she lived a short time with prince Mentschicoff. In her 17th
year she became the mistress of Peter the Great, who afterwards married
her and presented her with the diadem and the sceptre. After his death
she was proclaimed sovereign empress of all the Russias, and showed
herself worthy of her high fortune.
1729. SAMUEL CLARKE, a famous English divine, died; celebrated also for
his writings on mathematics, &c.
1732. WILLIAM LOWTH died; a celebrated English theological writer and
commentator.
1738 O. S. BELL, the Scottish traveler, returned to St. Petersburg from
his embassy to Constantinople, whither he went at the earnest
solicitation of the Russian cabinet, and the British minister. This was
the last of his expeditions, and was undertaken in the midst of winter,
through a country exposed to all the horrors of a barbarous warfare,
attended by only one servant, who understood the Turkish language.
1740. PETER JULIAN ROUILLE, a French Jesuit, died; professor of theology
and philosophy to his order, and co-editor of the _Roman History_, 21
vols. quarto.
1742. Battle of Czaslau, or Chatusitz, in Bohemia; the Prussians
defeated the Austrians, who lost 7,000; Prussian loss, 3,000.
1749. SAMUEL BOYSE, an Irish poet, died. His talents were amply
rewarded, but he unfortunately had a disposition to practice the meanest
deceptions to procure benefactions, which brought him to wretchedness
and contempt.
1767. ROGER WOLCOTT, governor of Connecticut, died. He never attended
school a single day of his life, yet gradually rose by his own efforts
to the highest military and civil honors.
1772. The theatre at Amsterdam, in Holland, took fire and burned to
death 31 persons.
1774. At a town meeting of the inhabitants of Providence, R. I., the
subject of a general congress was acted upon, being the first act of the
kind by a public assemblage.
1776. Captain MUGFORD in a vessel of 4 guns captured British ship Hope,
4 guns, with 1,500 barrels powder and military stores, and brought her
into the port of Boston.
1794. Battle of Surcoign; British defeated by the French after a
sanguinary conflict.
1797. Revolution in Venice, and a democratic government formed under the
direction of the French general Angereau.
1797. Louis XVIII compelled to quit the Venetian territory.
1797. MICHEL JEAN SEDAINE, a French dramatic writer, died, aged 78. Bred
to the occupation of a stone mason, by application to study he won a
place in the French academy.
1801. A French convoy of 560 men with 1 cannon and 550 camels, in Egypt,
captured by the British.
1801. WILLIAM HEBERDEN died; an English physician and medical writer.
1809. BONAPARTE issued from Vienna a decree declaring the temporal
sovereignty of the pope to be wholly at an end, and incorporating Rome
with the French empire. The "holy father" instantly fulminated a bull of
excommunication against the daring emperor, but it did not avail; his
holiness was taken in his palace and conveyed away at midnight, under
pretence that a life so sacred in the eyes of all Christians, might be
endangered!
1817. SAMUEL JESSUP died; an opulent English grazier, of pilltaking
notoriety. An apothecary's bill, which was given in evidence on a trial
a short time previous to his death, affords a table of statistics which
will not be exceeded by the memorabilia of the life of any man. In 21
years he took 226,934 pills. He began with a moderate appetite, which
increased as he proceeded, so that in the last five years he took them
at the rate of 78 a day, and in the year 1814 swallowed not less than
51,590. Notwithstanding this, and an addition of 40,000 bottles of
mixtures, he attained the advanced age of 65 years.
1829. JOHN JAY, a distinguished American statesman, died, aged 84. His
public services commenced in 1774, and continued till 1801, when he
retired to private life; distinguished as a man of great discernment,
extensive information, and fine talents as a writer.
1829. Battle between the Russians under general Diebitsch, and the
Turks; the latter of whom, 5,000 in number, were defeated and driven
into Silistria, with heavy losses on both sides.
1829. Battle of Pravadia, between the Russian army under general Roth,
and the Turks under the grand vizier. The Turks are said to have lost
2,000, and the Russians 1,000. The latter maintained their ground, but
no important advantage was gained by either party.
1831. NATHANIEL ROCHESTER, an officer in the revolution, died at
Rochester, New York, from whom the town took its name.
1838. CHARLES MAURICE DE TALLEYRAND PERIGORD, one of the most
distinguished statesmen and diplomatists of modern times, died at Paris,
aged 84. His namdee was intimately associated with French politics, from
the commencement of the revolution in 1789.
1841. About 250 feet of the cliff on which the defences of the city of
Quebec stand, fell away, causing the ruin of several buildings, and the
death of about 30 persons.
1843. PETER W. GALLAUDET died at Washington, D. C., aged 88. The
Washington manual laborer school and the Howard institution can bear
testimony to his industry and patriotism.
1848. Massacre in Naples, justified by the king, on the ground of
necessity; 1777 bodies were found, 400 troops killed, and the city given
up to pillage.
1849. A severe and very destructive fire at St. Louis, Missouri.
1850. Gallinas, the noted slave factory on the west of Africa, purchased
by the Liberian republic.
1856. REDWOOD FISHER, an American author, died, aged 73. He began
business as a merchant in Philadelphia; subsequently edited a daily
paper in New York, and took an active part in public affairs. He
published several volumes on political economy, and was much interested
in statistics.