432 B. C. The estival solstice of Meton, the Athenian, corresponds with
this day, in the 87th Olympiad. From the time of Solon the Attic months
were lunar, composed alternately of 30 and 29 days.
1137. The city of Bath in England destroyed by fire.
1299. Pope BONIFACE VIII issued an authoritative rescript, directed to
Edward I, claiming the feudal sovereignty over Scotland. Edward received
it in his camp, and in reply formally deduced his claim to the
superiority, from _Brute the Trojan_. His holiness rejoined that the
Scots cared not for Brute the Trojan, as they were derived from _Scota_,
the daughter of Pharaoh, who landed in Ireland, and whose descendants
became kings of Albany by conquest.
1506. FERDINAND of Arragon resigned the government of Castile, and
Philip and Joanna were enthroned.
1534. The University of Oxford unanimously determined that the
jurisdiction of the pope of Rome did not exceed the ministry of any
other English bishop.
1627. VILLIERS, duke of Buckingham, sailed from England on his
expedition against the French coast, from which he returned in disgrace,
with the loss of the flower of his army.
1627. JOHN HAYWARD, an English historian, died. He wrote also
biographies of some of the kings, and several religious works.
1630. FREDERICK MOREL, a learned French printer, died. Some of his
predecessors had been directors of the king's printing house, and his
descendants were also distinguished for their learning, and as elegant
printers.
1651. "Milton's book" burnt at Toulouse by an _arrêt_ of the parliament.
The famous _Defence of the People of England_, was twelve days later
burnt by the common executioner, at Paris, under a judicial sentence.
1689. Dover, N. H., attacked by the Indians. The houses were garrisoned,
but some squaws got permission to sleep by the fire in two of them, who
gave the Indians admission in the night. Several houses were burnt, 23
persons killed, and 29 captivated.
1694. The French under Du Casse, attacked the island of Jamaica, and
laid it waste.
1699. SEBASTIAN JOSEPH DE PONTCHASTEAU, a French author, died;
remarkable for the singularity of his acts of devotion and charity.
1709. Battle of Pultowa in Russia, between the Russians under Peter the
Great and the Swedes under Charles XII, in which the latter were totally
defeated, after a desperate conflict of two hours.
1720. The _Mississippi bubble_ burst in France; amount about
$450,000,000.
1724. A party of 13 Indians, called French Mohawks, attacked the house
of John Hanson, a quaker, in Dover, N. H., killed and scalped two small
children, and carried off his wife, three children and the nurse. The
quakers could not be persuaded to use any means for their defence though
equally exposed with their neighbors to an enemy who made no distinction
between them.
1725. CHRISTIAN HENRY HEINECKEN, an extraordinary German boy, died. He
spoke his maternal tongue fluently at ten months; at one year old he
knew the principal events of the Pentateuch; in two months more he was
master of the entire histories of the Old and New Testament; at two
years and a half he answered the principal questions in geography, and
in ancient and modern history. He spoke Latin and French, German and Low
Dutch, with great facility, before the commencement of his fourth year,
1725, in which he died. His constitution was so delicate that he was not
weaned till a few months before his death.
1742. NATHAN BAILEY, the English lexicographer, died. Besides his well
known dictionary, he was the editor of school editions and translations
of several of the ancient classic poets and historians.
1774. NICHOLAS TINDAL, an English historian, died; known as the
translator of Rapin's history.
1777. WILLIAM DODD, an English divine, hanged for forgery.
1780. I. H. WASER, a Swiss ecclesiastic, executed at Zurich, for some
strictures in a newspaper on the administration of justice in that city.
1785. SAMUEL MATHER, a learned New England divine, died, aged 79. He
wrote the life of his father, Cotton Mather.
1788. Virginia adopted the constitution of the United States,
recommending amendments; tenth state which ratified that document.
1789. Union of all the orders in the national assembly of France.
1794. SIMON NICHOLAS HENRY LINGUET, a French writer, guillotined. The
freedom of his writings drove him from one country to another to escape
prosecution, till he finally came under the revolutionary axe at Paris.
The number of his works is thirty-five.
1794. The populace of Warsaw put eight of their principal noblemen to
death as traitors to their country.
1800. WILLIAM CUMBERLAND CRUIKSHANK, an eminent Scottish anatomist, died
in London, where he distinguished himself as a surgeon and medical
writer.
1801. Cairo surrendered by the French to the Anglo-Turkish army;
conditioned to be sent to France. The army consisted of 13,754 men, of
whom 600 were Greeks and Copts, and 100 Mamelukes.
1806. The British took possession of Montevideo only to be made
prisoners of war.
1817. Fort Bizoton, Port-au-Prince, blown up by its commandant, in
revenge of some supposed injuries received from his superiors. He was
the only one killed.
1819. The commune of Grignoncourt, in the arrondissement of Neufchateau
in France was desolated by a hail storm. M. Jacoutot, the mayor,
collected and melted several weighing upwards of a pound each and having
a transparent stone in the centre, flat, round and polished, and
perforated in the centre. Wherever the hail had fallen, there were
found, when it had melted, many similar stones, hitherto unknown in
Grignoncourt.
1820. JOSEPH VON HAGER, an eminent Chinese scholar, died. He was born in
Italy, studied in Germany, and resided some time in London. He published
several works on Chinese literature, and detected the historical fraud
of Vella, a Sicilian monk.
1826. PETER EDWARD LEMONTEY, a French dramatist, died. He was also an
able statesman, and censor of the theatre.
1828. ABIEL ABBOT, an American clergyman, died; author of _Letters
written in the Interior of Cuba_, and various pamphlets.
1829. Erzeroum, in Turkey, captured by the Russians. Among the prisoners
were the seraskier and 4 pashas, 150 cannon.
1832. Cholera appeared in New York.
1840. LUCIEN BONAPARTE, younger brother of Napoleon, died at Viterbo, in
Italy, aged 66, of a cancer in the breast, the same disease of which
Napoleon died.
1843. JOHN MURRAY, a distinguished London publisher, died. He not only
maintained an eminent position in his profession for a long series of
years, but was much esteemed in private life.
1849. The steamer Europa came in collision with the American bark
Charles Bartlett, on the ocean; the latter was sunk with the loss of 134
persons.
1857. ---- MITCHELL, a North Carolina geologist, was killed by a fall
into the Caney river, while engaged alone in scientific explorations.