1656 A. M. The tops of the mountains were seen, 73 days after the waters
of the deluge began to subside, 1st of 10th month, answering to this
day.
1184 B. C. The destruction of Troy is placed commonly by English
chronologists in the night of this day; an event which Homer has
invested with unrivaled importance, and a gorgeous immortality. (See
April 24.)
534 B. C. SERVIUS TULLIUS, sixth king of Rome, assassinated. He is
celebrated for his laws on the subjects of rank and property. He was
murdered by his son-in-law, the second Tarquin.
90 B. C. The consul RUTILIUS LUPUS was destroyed with his forces, by an
ambuscade, near the river Livis, during the social war.
816. LEO III, pope, died. A conspiracy was formed against him in 799,
and it was only through the power of Charlemagne that he was enabled to
keep the pontifical chair. He was an able pontiff.
1183. Prince HENRY, son of Henry II of England, died, aged 27. He is
sometimes called Henry III, on account of his rebellion against his
father.
1258. The great council of reform, called the mad parliament, assembled
at Oxford. Every member was sworn to allow no consideration, "neither of
gift nor promise, profit nor loss, love nor hatred, nor fear," to
influence him in the discharge of his duty.
1289. Battle of Campaldino, in Italy, in which the Florentines defeated
the people of Arezzo. The poet Dante, then in his 24th year, was
present, and served in the foremost troop of cavalry. He says, "the
Uberti, Lamberti and Abati, with all the ex-citizens of Florence who
adhered to the Ghibelline interest, were with Aretini; while those
inhabitants of Arezzo, who, owing to their attachment to the Guelph
party, had been banished from their own city, were ranged on the side of
the Florentines."
1294. ROGER BACON, an eminently learned monk of the Franciscan order,
died, aged 80. He was a miracle of the age in which he lived, and the
greatest genius, perhaps, for mechanical knowledge, that ever appeared
in the world since Archimedes. (1292 by some authorities.)
1381. WAT TYLER assembled his followers at Blackheath, amounting to
100,000 men.
1520. A grand tournament between Henry VIII of England and Francis I of
France, at Guines. "At the houre assigned," says Holinshed, "the two
kings, armed at all peeces, mounted on horssebacke, and with their
companies, entered the field; the French king on a courser barbed,
covered with purple sattin, broched with gold, and embroidered with
corbin's feathers. All the parteners of the French king's chalenge were
in like apparell, everie thing correspondent in cloath of silke
embrodered. On his person were attendant on horssebacke noble persons,
and on foot foure persons, all apparelled in purple sattin."
1526. Holy league against the emperor Charles V.
1543. NICHOLAS COPERNICUS, the astronomer, died on this day, according
to Lalande, who says, in his _History of Astronomy for 1798_, "The death
of the great Copernicus was, till lately, a problem. I resolved it in my
tour. Copernicus died on the 11th of June, 1543, although Gassendi and
Weidler date this circumstance on the 24th May, and Planche the 11th of
July." (See May 24.)
1567. Flight of MARY, queen of Scots, and her husband, Bothwell, from
Borthwick castle to Dunbar.
1576. ANTHONY COOKE, preceptor of Edward VI, died. He also educated his
own daughters, who were "learned above their sex in Greek and Latin."
1576. MARTIN FROBISHER was despatched with three pinnaces to discover a
northwest passage, but compelled by the ice to return. He was the first
navigator who attempted to find a northwest passage to China.
1578. Queen ELIZABETH granted letters patent to Humphrey Gilbert for the
discovery and settlement of "barbarous lands in America, undiscovered by
any Christian prince or people." This was the first charter granted by
the crown of England to a colony.
1665. KENELM DIGBY, an eminent English philosopher, died. He was also in
the employ of the government as a soldier and a statesman. He was brave,
learned and eloquent, but somewhat visionary.
1685. The duke of MONMOUTH landed at Lyme, Dorsetshire with men and arms
in opposition to James II.
1693. An expedition fitted out in England against Canada and Martinique,
arrived in Boston. During the voyage, 1,300 out of 2,100 sailors, and
1,800 out of 2,400 soldiers, had died of a malignant disease. On the
arrival of the fleet the disease spread into the town, and proved more
malignant than any other epidemic which had ever been known in the
country.
1695. ANDREW FELIBIEN, counselor and historiographer to the king of
France, died. He was also celebrated for his taste and judgment in the
fine arts, and his _Dialogues upon the Lives of the Painters_ has done
him great honor.
1698. BALTHAZAR BEKKER, a Dutch divine, died. His writings got him into
trouble with the church, which was alarmed at some very harmless notions
he entertained about spirits and devils.
1712. LEWIS JOSEPH, duke de Vendome, died. He was a descendant of Henry
IV of France, and distinguished himself under Philip V of Spain, whom he
succeeded in raising to the throne, in opposition to the claims of
Charles III, archduke of Austria.
1719. A terrible earthquake happened at Pekin, in China, throwing down
houses and burying more than 1,000 inhabitants in the ruins.
1727. GEORGE I, king of England, died in his carriage near Osnabruck, in
Germany, aged 68. He was the first king of England of the house of
Brunswick, and had reigned 13 years.
1756. CÆSAR CHESNEAU DU MARSAIS, a French grammarian, died. He was
engaged in the _Encyclopedie_, and his articles on grammar are drawn up
with great precision, correctness and judgment.
1776. Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin
and Robert R. Livingston, a committee to prepare a Declaration of
Independence.
1783. Great eruption of the Scaptar Jokul, in Iceland, commenced, and
continued several days (see 18th).
1792. The first bank in New Hampshire commenced discounting at
Portsmouth.
1792. Battle of Mire; the Polish general Judycki, surrounded by the
Russians, defeated, and compelled to retreat.
1793. N. GOUVION, a French officer, killed at Maubeuge, on the Sambre.
He served in America in the war of the revolution, and at the time of
his death was a general in the army of the north.
1793. WILLIAM ROBERTSON, the Scottish historian, died. His works are
popular, and the _History of Charles V_ will be long read with
admiration.
1796. St. Vincent, Grenada, and St. Lucia islands in the West Indies
were taken by the British.
1798. BONAPARTE seized Malta, the key of the Mediterranean, which he
garrisoned, and proceeded with the fleet, carrying 20,000 regular
troops, to the Egyptian coast.
1800. SAMUEL IRELAND, an ingenious English mechanic, died. He
distinguished himself by his skill in drawing and engraving. He was
unjustly accused of an attempt to impose upon the world a spurious
volume of letters and papers in the name of Shakspeare. (See April 17th,
1835.)
1812. A great skirmish of cavalry in Estremadura, Spain, between the
English under general Slade, and the French under general Lallemand.
1825. DANIEL D. TOMPKINS, a distinguished New York statesman, died, aged
51. He was vice-president of the United States under Mr. Monroe, and
governor of the state of New York.
1828. DUGALD STEWART, an eminent Scottish philosopher and writer, died.
His philosophical works are well known.
1829. Battle of Schoumla; the Turks under the grand vizier defeated by
the Russians under general Diebitsch, with the loss of 6,000 killed,
1,500 prisoners, and 60 pieces of cannon. Russian loss, 1,400 killed,
600 wounded.
1842. ALEXANDER CROMBIE died at London. As a scholar and a critic, a
metaphysician and a theologian, his name stands high among the first
writers of the age.
1845. THEODORE DWIGHT, secretary of the Hartford convention, died, aged
81. He was editor of the _Connecticut Mirror_, published at Hartford,
and in 1815 established the _Albany Daily Advertiser_, the first daily
paper in that city. In 1817 he became editor of the _New York Daily
Advertiser_.
1849. Great excitement at Paris, and a proposition to impeach the
president for his aiding the cause of the pope, signed by Ledru Rollin
and 141 others.
1849. Ancona capitulated to the Austrians after a very destructive
bombardment.
1853. GUERAZZI, ex-minister of Tuscany, tried for high treason at
Florence, and found guilty, was sentenced to fifteen years'
imprisonment, which was subsequently commuted to perpetual exile.
1854. THOMAS H. BOTTS died at Fredericksburg, Va., aged 54; a lawyer,
and one of the leading men of his profession.