394 B. C. AGESILAUS crossed the Hellespont, on his recal from the
Persian satrapy, a march of thirty days, which had occupied Xerxes
twelve months.--The great battle fought by the Spartans against their
countrymen happened about the same day.
965. BENEDICT V, pope, died. He was elected in opposition to Leo VIII.
His short reign was stormy, and he was carried to Hamburg by Otho, who
favored the cause of his rival.
1044. ABA, king of Hungary, defeated by his own subjects and killed in
battle.
1100. Jerusalem taken by the Crusaders, after a siege of five weeks, and
given up to massacre and pillage. Every inhumanity was practiced; those
who had surrendered upon terms of safety, were butchered in cold blood
to the number of 10,000; and among the inhabitants, also, neither age
nor sex escaped the merciless fury of the Christian swords.
1529. PAULUS ÆMILIUS, a Veronese historian, died at Paris. He had begun
a Latin history of the kings of France, and although he spent many years
at it, was able only to reach the reign of Charles VIII. (May 5?)
1535. THOMAS MORE, a celebrated English statesman, beheaded. He was
doomed, for his adherence to the papal supremacy, to descend from the
highest office under the king to an apartment in the tower, and suffered
death rather than yield his opinions. He wrote several works, the most
noted of which is the _Utopia_.
1566. ROBERT CARNEGIE, a Scottish statesman, died. He was a lord of
session, and often sent on important embassies to France and England.
1582. At Rockhausen, not far from Erfurth, in Prussia, there fell a
great quantity of a fibrous matter resembling human hair. It was at the
close of a great tempest, such as usually precede an earthquake.
1614. PETER DE BOURDEILLES (or _Brantome_), a French abbot and courtier,
died. His memoirs are printed in 15 vols.
1623. WILLIAM BRIDE, an English music composer, died. The grace _non
nobis Domini_, composed by him, was first sung on the second anniversary
of the gunpowder plot, 1607.
1641. SIMON BASKERVILLE, a learned and wealthy English physician, died.
He obtained great distinction, honors and a large fortune, by his
success in the practice of medicine.
1641. Battle of Lansdowne, between the parliamentary and king's forces;
a sanguinary action.
1644. York taken by the armies of the parliament.
1685. Battle of Sedgemoore; the duke of Monmouth's rebel army defeated.
The misguided nobleman was taken _napping_ in a dry ditch, with the
George and 200 guineas in his pocket.
1715. CHARLES ANCILLON, an eminent French lawyer, died. He was made
inspector of the French courts of justice in Berlin, and historiographer
to the king.
1758. The English and provincials under Abercrombie embarked on lake
George against Ticonderoga and Crown point, on board 125 whaleboats and
900 batteaux. The army consisted of nearly 16,000 effective men, of whom
about 9,000 were provincials, and was attended by a formidable train of
artillery.
1758. General lord HOWE was killed in a skirmish before Ticonderoga.
With him it is said "the soul of the army expired."
1767. JOHN KEY, said to have been the first person born in Philadelphia,
died at Kennet, Pa., aged 85.
1770. A naval action between the Turks and Russians took place, and
while two of the leading ships of each party were grappled together,
they took fire and blew up, carrying destruction and death to all
around.
1775. Birthday of WILLIAM CROTCH, a musical prodigy, who excited
universal astonishment at London by his performances on the organ, at
the age of three years.
1779. New Haven, Conn., entered by the British under sir George Collier,
and subjected to almost indiscriminate ravage and plunder till night.
1780. Action off cape Ortegal between British ships Prudent and Licorne,
and French ship Capricieuse 32 guns. The latter was captured, but so
much damaged that they were obliged to burn her.
1782. Fifth action between the British fleet, admiral Hughes, and the
French, admiral Suffrein, in the East Indies.
1788. MATHER BYLES, a Boston divine, died; a man of talent and wit, who
corresponded with Pope, Lansdowne and Watts. He was suspected of tory
principles during the revolution, and frequently, on complaint,
sentenced to be confined to his own house, with a sentinel over him; on
one of these occasions he induced the sentinel to go on an errand for
him, promising to take his place, and was seen very gravely marching
before his own door, the musket on his shoulder, keeping guard over
himself.
1792. ROBERT STRANGE died; styled the father of historical engraving in
England. He studied in France, and had the first knowledge of the dry
needle, an instrument which his genius improved and used with great
success.
1797. Second bombardment of Cadiz by the British.
1807. Buenos Ayres assaulted by the British under general Whitelocke.
They were forced to retire with the loss of 2,000 men, and soon after
compelled to withdraw the armament.
1808. Cuenca, Spain, taken by the French under Caulincourt, and given up
to pillage.
1809. Battle near Enzersdorff and Wagram. Massena having crossed the
Danube during the night, which was stormy and tempestuous, compelled the
Austrians under the archduke Charles to give Bonaparte battle. The
action continued the whole day, but neither party gained any decided
advantage.
1811. The seven provinces of Venezuela made declaration of independence.
1814. Battle of Chippewa; the United States troops under general Brown,
defeated the British, and compelled them to retire within their works.
British loss 198 killed, 100 wounded, and 137 taken prisoners--435;
American loss 60 killed, 257 wounded, and 20 missing--337.
1816. DOROTHEA JORDAN, an eminent English actress, died. Notwithstanding
her popularity and patronage, she died in France in great obscurity and
penury.
1817. The golden sovereign of England first put in circulation.
1830. Algiers surrendered to the French under general Bourmont, after a
siege of six days. A rich booty fell into the hands of the conquerors,
of gold and silver, besides 1,500 cannon, and 12 ships of war lying in
the harbor. Loss of the French previous to effecting this conquest,
2,400 men; that of the Algerines 10,000.
1836. DANIEL COLE, a native of Long island, N. Y., died in Canada, aged
106.
1839. The third centennary of the protestant reformation was celebrated
with great parade and splendor at Dresden, in Saxony.
1848. The negroes at St. Croix revolted and compelled the governor to
proclaim their freedom. The whites thereupon formed a provisional
government, deposed the governor, attacked the negroes, and having
captured 300, shot them immediately.
1852. The British minister at Washington, gave notice that to prevent
encroachments of fishing vessels belonging to the United States and
France, upon grounds reserved by the convention of 1818, directions had
been given for stationing a force of vessels and steamers off New
Brunswick, Prince Edward's island, and in the gulf of St. Lawrence, as
would be deemed sufficient to prevent the infraction of the treaty.
1852. The steam boat St. James exploded her boilers on lake
Ponchartrain, and burnt to the water's edge. About 20 persons were
killed and 19 wounded.
1852. The convention for revising the constitution of Louisiana met at
Baton Rouge; Duncan F. Kenner president.
1852. ISAAC T. PRESTON, a distinguished jurist, died near New Orleans,
aged 59. He was a native of Virginia; graduated at Yale college in 1812,
and suspended his legal studies to serve as captain of a company in the
war with Great Britain. He rose to high distinction in the legal
profession, and was elected judge of the supreme court of Louisiana,
which office he held at the time of his death. He was killed by the
explosion of a steam boiler on lake Ponchartrain.
1854. A fire at Philadelphia consumed the National theatre, Chinese
museum, and other edifices.