218. MARCUS OPILIUS SEVERUS MACRINUS, emperor of Rome, beheaded by his
soldiers. He was an African, and rose from the obscurest situation to
the throne on the death of Caracalla.
632. MAHOMET (or _Mohammed_), founder of the Islam religion, died, aged
62. His followers are now computed at one hundred millions.
1099. The army of Christians comprising the first crusade, encamped
before Jerusalem. The first army led on by Peter the Hermit, numbered at
the outset 300,000; another of 600,000 followed, burning with zeal to
rescue the holy land from the Moslem dominion. Battle, desertion and
disease had thinned their ranks so that now there remained scarce 22,000
fit for the field, of all that vast host that had marshaled in Europe.
1329. ROBERT BRUCE, king of Scotland, died. He succeeded by repeated and
arduous efforts in freeing his country from the English yoke, and when
he had accomplished his purpose, he devoted himself to advance the
prosperity of his subjects.
1520. Famous interview between HENRY VIII of England and Francis I of
France, upon "the field of the cloth of gold," on English ground. It
continued eighteen days.
1546. Archbishop CRANMER and the queen accused of heresy, but protected
by Henry.
1565. Sir THOMAS GRESHAM, laid the foundation of the Royal Exchange,
London, on the model of the Mart at Antwerp, then the centre of
commerce.
1593. LOPEZ, a Jew, the queen's physician, convicted and with others
executed, for conspiring to destroy Elizabeth.
1629. Charters granted to patroons in the colony of New Netherland, now
New York.
1660. An order of council that the Stationers' company do seize and
deliver to the secretary of state, all copies of Buchanan's _History of
Scotland_, and _De Jure Regni apud Scotus_, "which are very pernicious
to monarchy, and injurious to his majesty's blessed progenitors."
1663. Second war at Esopus, now Kingston, in Ulster county, New York.
1673. Action between the Dutch admiral de Ruyter, and the French and
English fleets, commanded by d'Estrees.
1692. Great earthquake in Jamaica; nine-tenths of Port Royal buried
under water, and terrible devastations were made over the whole island.
About 1000 acres were sunk northward of the city, and 2000 persons
perished; and 3000 white inhabitants perished of pestilential diseases
ascribed to the putrid effluvia issuing from the apertures.
1711. HENRY DODWELL, a learned English writer, died, aged 70. His
writings, which are very numerous, and which prove him to have been a
man of indefatigable diligence and extensive learning, are on
controversial, theological and classical subjects.
1731. WILLIAM AIKMAN, an eminent Scottish painter, died. He was the
intimate friend of the most distinguished characters of the day in
England, whose portraits he painted, and thus unwittingly added much to
their celebrity.
1751. JOHN MACHIN, a noted English astronomer, died. He is the author of
a method of determining the quadrature of the circle.
1753. ARCHIBALD CAMERON, brother of Lochiel, executed; recently the
estates of this attainted family have been restored. The execution of
this gentleman has always been held as a specimen of ministerial
cruelty.
1761. Belleisle, on the coast of Brittany, surrendered to the British.
Its reduction cost an immense sum, besides the loss of 2000 choice
troops, who perished in the expedition. British had 313 killed and 494
wounded.
1769. ANTHONY ALEXANDER HENRY POINSINET, died; a French dramatic writer.
1775. The general court of Massachusetts met at Salem, and chose
delegates to the first congress.
1779. WILLIAM WARBURTON, bishop of Gloucester, died; an English prelate
of great abilities.
1780. London riots continued. King's bench, Fleet prison, New Bridewell,
and the toll gates on Blackfriar's bridge, &c., burnt. The military
fired on the rioters, killed 210 and wounded 258.
1780. Unsuccessful attempt of the Spaniards with 10 fire ships to burn 3
British ships in the new mole, Gibraltar bay.
1780. About 5000 British under Knyphausen, Tryon and Stirling, left
Staten Island and entered Elizabethtown, N. J.; continuing their march
five miles farther to Connecticut farms, they shot the minister's wife
in the midst of her children, burnt the house and church, and had much
other pastime of the like character.
1786. A small manuscript volume of prayers composed and written by queen
Elizabeth, sold at auction for 100 guineas.
1794. Battle of Chelm; the Poles defeated by the Russians.
1795. The royalist expedition against Quiberon, assisted by English
munitions and money, terminated disastrously for the royal cause. The
Republicans obtained possession of clothing and equipments which had
been landed for 40,000 men.
1795. Luxemburgh, in Belgium, under marshal baron de Bender, surrendered
to the French under Gen. Hatry.
1798. Battle of Antrim; lord O'Niel killed with a pike.
1805. The Antigua convoy for England, captured and burnt by the combined
French and Spanish fleets.
1811. Tremendous hail storm at Alexandria, Virginia.
1826. JOSEPH VON TRAUNHOFER, died; a celebrated German optician.
1831. SARAH SIDDONS, a celebrated English tragic actress, died. She was
the daughter of Roger Kemble, manager of a strolling company, married
Siddons in her 18th year, and in 1782, appeared at Drury Lane in the
character of Isabella. Her course from that time was a perpetual
triumph, and in 1812 she retired to private life with an ample fortune.
1836. NATHAN DRAKE, an English physician, died; also a highly
respectable and voluminous author.
1836. JOHN PRINCE, an American clergyman, died at Salem, Mass., aged 85;
distinguished for his talents and literary acquirements, and for his
improvements in the air pump.
1840. FREDERICK WILLIAM III, king of Prussia, died, aged 70. He is
characterized as an honest, just and economical ruler. Destined to take
an active part in the great events which followed the French revolution,
his reign was distinguished by great vicissitudes of ill fortune and
success. He left a fortune of nearly twenty millions of dollars.
1848. GEORGE TRIPNER, an officer of the revolution, died at
Philadelphia, aged 87. He was at many of the severest battles of the
war, and throughout the entire campaign rendered no little service to
his country.
1848. Whig convention at Philadelphia nominated Gen. Zachary Taylor for
the presidency.
1852. HOSEA BALLOU, a distinguished universalist preacher, died, aged
80. He was excluded from the baptist church, and began to preach in
1791.
1853. Important amendments were made to the New York city charter,
restraining the power of municipal officers in money matters, which were
adopted by a vote of 36,672 against 3,351.
1855. The allies attacked and carried some of the Russian outworks at
Sebastopol; the French, those in front of the Mamelon, and the British
the quarries of the Redan. The Russians made six front attempts in the
course of the night to recover them, but without success. British loss
in killed and wounded 30 officers and 433 men; French loss in killed and
wounded estimated at 400; 75 guns and 502 prisoners were taken from the
Russians.
1856. CHRISTIAN WULF, a Danish naval officer, died at Beaufort, N. C.,
aged 46. He was sometime at the head of the naval academy at Copenhagen,
and inheriting the literary taste of his father, admiral Wulf, he
translated Shakspere, and Bancroft's _History of the United States_, and
at the time of his death was making the tour of the United States.