216 B. C. Battle of Cannæ, in Italy, in which the Roman consuls were
vanquished by Hannibal, with a loss of 40,000 men, including Paulus
Æmylius, and 5,630 knights. The Carthaginians seemed not to know the use
of victory.
987. LOUIS V (_the lazy_), king of France, poisoned by his wife,
Blanche.
1342. JOHN CANTACUZENUS, the historian of his own times, and a defender
of the faith, inaugurated emperor of Constantinople.
1420. Treaty of Troyes, by which Henry V of England was to marry Kate,
daughter of Charles VII of France, and the two kingdoms to be united
under Henry on the death of Charles.
1502. The island of St. Helena discovered.
1542. FERDINAND DE SOTO, a Spanish adventurer, died at the confluence of
the Guacoya and Mississippi. He was a companion of Pizarro in his
Peruvian expedition, and amassed great wealth; after which he became
governor of Cuba. He fitted out an expedition to search Florida for more
gold, and lost his life.
1643. Battle of Wakefield; the forces of Charles I defeated by the
parliamentary troops.
1647. PETER CORNELIUS HOOFT, one of the most eminent poets and prose
writers of Holland, died.
1649. The commonwealth of England proclaimed.
1650. JAMES GRAHAM, marquis of Montrose, executed. He fought with great
bravery in the royal cause; but being at length captured he was hung on
a gallows 30 feet high at Edinburgh, and his quartered remains exposed
over the city gates.
1682. MICHAEL ANGELO RICCI, an Italian cardinal, died; celebrated as a
mathematician.
1718. GASPARD ABEILLE, a French poet and wit, died. His writings are not
much esteemed.
1723. JAMES MABOUL, an eloquent French preacher, died; author of
_Orationes Funebres_.
1724. ROBERT HARLEY, earl of Oxford, died; an English statesman and
literary character.
1745. British squadron captured French ship Vigilant, 64 guns, and 560
men, with a cargo valued at £60,000.
1762. British ships Active and Favorite captured the Spanish ship
Hermione from Lima, with a cargo of $2,308,700. The four highest British
officers shared $288,000 each.
1780. Village of Johnstown, New York, burnt by the tories.
1781. British fort Dreadnought surrendered to the Americans under Gen.
Lee.
1782. American general Wayne defeated a considerable body of British
under Col. Brown, near Savannah.
1789. JOHN HAWKINS, an English writer, died; author of a _History of
Music_ in 5 vols. quarto.
1790. THOMAS WARTON, an English poet died; author of a _History of
Poetry_, 3 vols.
1794. French under Dumas scaled mount Cenis.
1794. Bastia, in Corsica, surrendered to lord Hood.
1796. Battles of Tombio and Codogno; the French defeated the Austrians;
the gallant French gen. La Harpe killed.
1799. Archduke CHARLES crossed the Rhine into Switzerland.
1804. The first interment in the cemetery of Pere la Chaise; it was
laid out and prepared by order of Bonaparte.
1807. Dantzic surrendered to the French after a siege of 51 days. Its
garrison at first consisted of 16,000; 4000 deserted; only 9000 were
taken; 800 cannon and immense stores fell into the hands of the French.
1809. Battle of Essling, in Austria. It began by a furious attack upon
the village of Asperne, which was taken and retaken several times.
Essling sustained three attacks also. Night interrupted the action; the
Austrians exulting in their partial success, Napoleon surprised that he
should not have been wholly successful. On either side the carnage had
been terrible, and the pathways of the village were literally choked
with the dead.
1813. British attacked Sacketts Harbor.
1813. Battle of Bautzen, which had continued two days; the Prussians
were driven from their position, and Napoleon advanced to Breslaw,
leaving 12,000 Frenchmen in the searching claws of their
_executors_--the crows.
1826. GEORGE REICHENBACH, a distinguished mechanical artist, died at
Munich, where he had a noted manufactory of astronomical instruments,
unsurpassed in the world.
1830. LEOPOLD of Saxe Coburg declined the throne of Greece, except on
terms which the allied sovereigns would not accede to.
1832. GEORGE W. ROGERS, an American commodore, died on board ship
Warren, off Buenos Ayres.
1849. MARIA EDGWORTH, the popular and distinguished authoress, died at
her residence in Edgworthstown, Ireland.
1855. The ship canal round the falls of St. Mary's river, Michigan, was
completed and accepted.
1855. The allied fleet of the French and English entered the Russian
port of Petropaulowski, and found it deserted.