100 B. C. Birthday of JULIUS CÆSAR, the Roman emperor. Pliny says of him
that he could employ at the same time his ears to listen, his eyes to
read, his hand to write, and his mind to dictate.
1174. King WILLIAM of Scotland taken by the famous chief-justiciary,
Glanville. This success of the arms of king Henry has been attributed to
his having, on the Thursday previous, done penance at the tomb of Thomas
a Becket.
1191. The Christians took possession of the city of Acre. The two
western kings planted the royal standard each in his own portion of the
conquest, and divided the booty of the Saracens between them.
1212. The Christians defeated the Moors at Toulouse.
1536. DESIDERIUS ERASMUS, the celebrated Dutch philosopher, died. He was
the most learned man of the age in which he lived, and greatly
contributed to the restoration of learning in Europe. The _New
Testament_ in Greek (of which he was the first actual publisher, 1516),
written with his own hand, is, with other relics, including his sword
and pencil, to be seen at Basil, where he died.
1543. Marriage of HENRY VIII with the protestant lady, Catharine Parr,
his sixth queen. Kate was a _doctor_, and a lover of learning; and
survived the queen-killer.
1566. First stone of the walls of the Tuilleries at Paris laid, in the
presence of Charles IX and his mother, Catharine de Medicis. The site of
this famous palace had been occupied by a manufactory.
1581. MAURICE CHAUNCEY died at Paris; a French historian prior of the
Carthusians, and confessor to queen Mary.
1609. HUDSON having continued his course westward for some days, first
obtained sight of the American continent, and on the 17th, the fog
having cleared up, ran into Penobscot bay, in the state of Maine.
1625. PAUL BENI, a learned Italian author, died. He censured the
dictionary of the della crusca academy at Florence, and refuted its
opinions in his defence of Tasso and Ariosto. His works were collected
in 5 vols. folio.
1676. HENRY STUBBE, a learned English author, drowned. His writings are
very numerous and instructive, and evince great research; at the same
time they abound in abuse, satire and malevolence.
1691. Battle of Aghrim in Ireland; the French under Gen. St. Ruth
defeated and himself killed by the forces of William III under Gen.
Ginckle. Of the French and Irish catholics 4000 were slain and 600
taken, with their baggage, artillery, &c.; English lost 800 on the
field.
1691. Cardinal PIGNATELLI elected pope, and took the name of Innocent
III.
1712. RICHARD CROMWELL died, aged 82. He assumed the protectorate of
England on the death of his father, but found himself inadequate to
sustain the office, and resigned it to retire to more peaceful pursuits.
He inherited little of his father's ambition.
1637. JOHNSON, "a stranger in London," addressed Cave, editor of the
_Gentleman's Magazine_, "having observed in his papers very uncommon
encouragement to men of letters." In this letter he proposed a
translation from the Italian of Sarpi.
1730. LAWRENCE CORSINE elected pope, the conclave having sat four
months.
1776. Lord HOWE arrived from Europe with a formidable squadron and
30,000 men, chiefly Hessians, and joined his brother Gen. Howe on Staten
island.
1776. Capt. COOK sailed on his third and last voyage of discovery.
1779. BIŒRNSTAHL, a learned Swedish professor of the oriental
languages, died at Salonica in Turkey.
1780. SUMPTER with 133 men attacked and defeated a detachment of British
at Williamson's plantation, South Carolina.
1791. BABA MAHOMET, dey of Algiers, died, aged 80. He was one of the
most singular characters of the age; raised himself from a common
soldier to the throne, and governed a nation of barbarians more than 25
years with uncommon reputation. He was succeeded by Sidi-Hassan, his
prime minister, whose succession was accomplished, for the first time,
without bloodshed.
1793. The first official trial of the Clauda Chappe telegraph was made
with complete success; transmitting despatches forty-eight leagues in 13
min. 40 sec.
1794. Battle of Edikhoffen commenced, which continued three days. The
French lost 1000 killed, and 6000 prisoners fell into the hands of the
Prussians; notwithstanding which the French finally obtained the
victory, and obliged Moellendorf to retreat 60 miles.
1796. Ninety-four prisoners taken by the Algerines on board American
vessels, were redeemed by the United States consul at Algiers.
1798. The knights of St. John at Malta surrendered to Bonaparte. They
had possessed the island nearly 270 years, and under them it had risen
from a state of destitution to a place of great opulence and luxury; and
the military works which remain to this day, are a monument of their
perseverance and power.
1801. Action off the coast of Spain between the British fleet, 5 sail of
the line, and the combined French and Spanish fleet of 13 sail, and a
considerable number of gun boats. Two of the Spanish ships, of 112 guns
each, blew up, another of 74 was taken, and the remainder made their way
into Cadiz.
1803. CHARLES JORDAN died in Anson county, North Carolina, aged 114. His
favorite amusement was hunting, and only four days before his death he
killed two deer at a shot.
1804. ALEXANDER HAMILTON, an American statesman, died of a wound
received in a duel with Col. Burr. Hamilton was born on the island of
St. Croix 1757, and came to New York in 1773. At the commencement of the
war he joined the army, and was an aid-de-camp to Washington, and
afterwards a major-general. He continued in the service until the
surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, where the troops under his command
stormed and took the British works. He afterwards commenced the
practice of law in New York, and rose to the highest eminence in the
profession. He was appointed secretary of the treasury under Washington.
As a statesman and a financier he revived the public credit, and placed
the United States revenue on a permanent footing. Of all the coadjutors
and advisors of Washington, Hamilton was doubtless the one in whose
judgment and sagacity he reposed the greatest confidence, whether in
military or civil career; and of all the American statesmen, he
displayed the most comprehensive understanding and the most varied
ability, whether applied to subjects practical or speculative. A
collection of his works was issued in New York some time after his
death, in 3 vols. octavo.
1807. Ratification of the peace between Bonaparte and the king of
Prussia at Tilsit.
1812. The United States frigate Constitution completely manned and
equipped, under the command of Com. Isaac Hull, left Annapolis in
Chesapeake bay, for New York, and made a singular escape from the
British squadron, consisting of a sixty-four gun ship, three frigates
and a schooner, by running into Nantucket harbor. She was chased sixty
hours, and escaped by _kedging_, an invention of Chas. Morris.
1812. Gen. HULL, with an army of United States volunteers invaded
Canada.
1814. JOHN SWIFT, a revolutionary soldier and brigadier general in the
United States army, killed whilst reconnoitering the British positions
at Queenstown. He had surprised an outpost, and was most basely shot in
the breast by a soldier who had begged and received quarters. Swift
however, killed the soldier himself.
1816. A slide from the bank of West Canada creek, near the village of
Herkimer, carried nearly five acres of land into the creek.
1816. A dreadful storm burst upon the town of Worchestz, in Hungary,
which injured every house in the place; damage estimated at four
millions of florins.
1823. The Diana steam boat, built at Kidderpore, near Calcutta,
launched; and on the same day she made her first voyage on the Ganges
between Calcutta and Chinsoorah in six hours and a half. This was the
first appearance of these boats in the east.
1832. The monolithic column, in honor of Alexander of Russia, was
debarked at St. Petersburg. It measures 12 feet in diameter at the base,
and is 84 feet in length; being the largest pillar of modern erection.
It was raised upon its pedestal in September following.
1836. WILLIAM MURRAY died near Jonesborough, Tenn., aged 111.
1838. JOHN JAMIESON, an eminent Scottish seceder, died, aged 80. He is
the author of several theological and miscellaneous works, and of a
celebrated _Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language_.
1841. WM. JAMES MCNEVEEN, so celebrated as a physician and author, died
at New York.
1851. DAGUERRE, inventor of the daguerreotype, died at Paris, aged 61.
1854. LOUIS DWIGHT died at Boston, aged 61. He was a native of
Stockbridge, Mass., and graduated at Yale college in 1813. On the
formation of the Prison discipline society, he was appointed
corresponding secretary, and devoted the remainder of his life to the
promotion of the interests of this important institution of public
economy and Christian philanthropy.
1855. A convention of the friends of slavery was held at Lexington, Mo.
1855. A mob at Jonesville, Mo., seized a prisoner whom a jury had found
guilty of murder, for which the statute punishment was imprisonment for
life, and hung him on a tree.
1856. The Crimea was evacuated by the last of the allied forces of Great
Britain and France.
1856. The submarine telegraph cable was laid across the St. Lawrence
gulf, from cape Race cove, Newfoundland, and Ashby bay, cape Breton, a
distance of 85 miles, and messages transmitted from place to place.