17. The isle of Thia, one of the scattered cluster called the Sporades,
in the Grecian archipelago, rose brightly from the sea.
1117. ADAM DE ST. VICTOIRE, a French ecclesiastic and writer, died.
1174. HENRY II of England performed severe penance before the shrine of
Thomas a Becket in the cathedral of Canterbury.
1497. The Indian expedition of Emanuel, king of Portugal, sailed from
the Tagus. It consisted of three vessels, under Vasco de Gama.
1520. The retreating and almost annihilated army of Cortez entered the
dominions of their faithful allies, the Tlascalans. Here the Spaniards
rested to repair their fortunes, and the Mexicans meanwhile employed
themselves in restoring their devastated capital.
1524. JAMES VERRAZZANUS, the Florentine discoverer, dated his letter to
the king of France from Dieppe, giving an account of his voyage along
the coast of the United States, in which he is supposed to have visited
the outer harbor of New York.
1533. LUDOVICO ARIOSTO, the Italian poet, is by some authorities said to
have died on this day. (See June 6.)
1550. The king of Denmark entered into a written contract to bind the
Danish Bible in whole leather with clasps, for two marks Danish a copy
and lodging; and to complete 2,000 copies in a year and a day. It was a
middle sized folio, of 1,090 pages and sold for three rix dollars a
copy.
1560. A peace between England, France and Scotland concluded.
1623. GREGORY XV (Alexander Ludovisio), pope, died. He erected the see
of Paris into an archbishopric, and assisted the emperor and the king of
Poland in their wars.
1639. BERNARD, duke of Weimar, a German officer in the 30 years' war,
died, supposed to have been poisoned by Richelieu. With him fell one of
the chief supports of the protestants.
1709. Battle of Pultowa, in Russia, between the Swedes under Charles
XII, and the Russians under Peter the Great. The Swedes were entirely
routed, and forced to take refuge within the dominions of the sultan of
Turkey. The czar had his hat pierced by a ball, and prince Menzikoff had
three horses killed under him.
1716. ROBERT SOUTH, a celebrated English divine, died, aged 83, and was
buried with great honors to his memory. He shone as a polite scholar and
a wit, and is famous for his controversy with Dr. Sherlock on the
subject of the trinity. His sermons were published in 11 vols. octavo.
1721. ELIHU YALE, the benefactor of Yale college, died. He was descended
from an ancient and wealthy family in Wales; born in New Haven 1748;
acquired an estate in the East Indies, and on his return was chosen
governor of the East India company.
1738. JOHN PETER NICERON, a popular French preacher, died; also author
of _Memoirs of Men illustrious in the Republic of Letters_, of which the
39th volume was finished in the year of his death. He addicted himself
to laborious studies and had an extensive knowledge of ancient and
modern languages.
1747. Unsuccessful attempt of the French and Spaniards to force the pass
aux Exiles in Dauphiny; the chevalier Belleisle and 5,000 men were left
dead on the field of battle.
1758. Battle of Ticonderoga, in which the British and provincial troops
of 16,000 men under Abercrombie, were repulsed in attempting to storm
the fort, then under the command of Montcalm. The British general was
induced to this rash attack by the favorable report of the engineer, and
from having learned that a reinforcement was expected from Canada. The
French had felled a breastwork of trees in front of the fort with their
branches pointing outward and sharpened, so as to form an almost
impenetrable abatis: in this the assailants became entangled, and were
exposed to a murderous fire. Abercrombie, finding the attack fruitless,
ordered a retreat after a contest of near four hours. Nearly 2,000 of
the British were killed or wounded. Of the Highland regiment nearly half
were either killed or desperately wounded. The loss of the enemy, who
were covered by their works, was inconsiderable.
1760. Action in the bay of Chaleur, between the British and French
fleets, in which the latter were defeated with the loss of 3 large ships
of war and 20 sail of schooners, sloops and small privateers.
1768. Thirty men boarded a schooner at Boston that had been seized by
the officers of the customs, for having 30 hogsheads of molasses on
board; they confined the officers and carried off the molasses.
1775. Lord DUNMORE, the royal governor of Virginia, with his family,
took refuge on board the Fowey, British man-of-war, at Yorktown.
1776. The Declaration of Independence of the United States proclaimed
from the steps of the state house at Philadelphia, and read to the army
in the city of New York.
1777. Battle of fort Ann; the British defeated the Americans under
colonel Livingston, who retreated to fort Edward. The Americans lost 128
cannon and considerable stores.
1778. The French fleet under count d'Estaing arrived off the Delaware,
having been at sea 87 days.
1779. The British under governor TRYON plundered and burnt Norwalk,
Conn. Two churches, 80 dwellings, 87 barns, 22 stores, 4 mills and 5
vessels were destroyed.
1784. TORBERN BERGMAN, a Swedish chemist and natural philosopher, died.
He was the friend of Linnæus, and an able and successful investigator of
the secrets of nature.
1790. RENWICK WILLIAMS, known in London as the _Monster_, was convicted
of cutting the garments of Miss Porter. The judge reserved the case till
he could determine whether the crime was felony or only a misdemeanor.
Williams was a dancing master and for years a great nuisance in London.
1793. The dauphin, LOUIS XVII, taken from his mother and placed in the
care of the _sans culotte_ cobbler, Simon, under whose tender mercies
he soon yielded up his life.
1797. EDMUND BURKE, a British writer, orator and statesman of great
eminence, died. His complete works have been published in 16 vols.
octavo.
1813. Outposts of the American encampment at fort George attacked by the
British and Indians. A company under lieutenant Eldridge was sent to
support the posts, but fell into an ambush, and after an obstinate
struggle 13 were killed, 5 escaped; the remainder, including lieutenant
Eldridge, were taken prisoners and put to death by the Indians with
great barbarity. In consequence of this event and similar outrages,
general Brown received into the service of the United States a party of
Seneca and Tuscarora Indians, under young Cornplanter.
1814. The Americans under Gen. SCOTT succeeded in throwing a bridge over
the Chippewa, and compelled general Riall to retreat to Ten-mile creek.
General Brown occupied the British works the same evening.
1822. THOMAS FANSHAW MIDDLETON, bishop of Calcutta, died. He was the
first to hold that office, and was distinguished for talents and
acquirements, zeal and fidelity.
1838. Treaty of peace concluded between Russia and Turkey.
1847. The canal from the Durance to Marseilles in France completed. More
than one-fifth of its length is through the Alps in tunnels.
1848. To test the effect of an eclipse upon animals five healthy linnets
were put in a cage together and fed; at the end of it three of them were
found dead; a dog which had long been kept fasting, and which was eating
hungrily when the eclipse commenced, left his food as soon as the
darkness set in; a colony of ants which had been working actively,
suddenly ceased from their labors at the same moment.
1850. The Alabama historical society was organized at Tuskaloosa.
1852. A destructive fire at Montreal laid waste a considerable portion
of the city.
1853. The American expedition under commodore Perry arrived at Japan.
1856. PRESTON S. BROOKS, indicted at Washington for an assault upon
senator Sumner, was sentenced to pay a fine of $300.