1756 A. M. The window of the ark opened 40 days after the appearance of
the tops of the mountains, 1st of 10th month, (June 11). See Nov. 2.
330 B. C. DARIUS III (_Codomanus_), the last king of the ancient Persian
empire, assassinated. He was conquered by Alexander the Great, and
treacherously slain by Bessus, governor of Bactria, his own general, who
hoped to succeed to the sovereignty. With his death the Persian empire
became extinct, after a lapse of 228 years from its establishment by
Cyrus.
365. A memorable earthquake which shook the greatest part of the Roman
world, and deluged the lower shores of the Mediterranean. The city of
Alexandria annually commemorated the fatal day, in which 50,000
inhabitants lost their lives in that inundation.
1403. Battle of Shrewsbury, between Henry IV and Henry Percy (Hotspur).
Their numbers were matched and the mutual slaughter was immense; several
earls, 2,300 gentlemen, and 6,000 privates were slain. Hotspur was
brained by an English _cloth yard_, and his rival in execution, Douglas,
was taken prisoner. But for the disparity in prudence, the dynasty upon
the English throne would probably have been reversed. (20th? 22d?)
1575. FRANCIS MARULLO, or Maurolico, abbot of Messina and an eminent
astronomer, died. Owing to the illiberality of the age in which he lived
much of his treatise on comets was suppressed.
1586. THOMAS CAVENDISH sailed upon an American expedition, at his own
expense, in three ships, with 123 persons, victualed for 2 years, and
circumnavigated the earth. It was the second English voyage round the
world, and was effected in two years and two months, with the loss of
two of his ships. On his voyage he pillaged and burnt several Spanish
settlements on the west coast of America.
1667. Treaty of Breda, between the English, French and Dutch, when New
York was exchanged for Surinam, and Antigua and Montserrat restored to
the British.
1601. PETER AIRAULT died; a magistrate of Paris of great integrity and
firmness, by which he acquired the title of _the rock of the accused_.
1637. DANIEL SENNERTUS, a learned German physician, died. He was the son
of a shoemaker, rose to great celebrity, and was one of the first to
introduce the study of chemistry among his pupils.
1683. WILLIAM RUSSEL, duke of Bedford, executed. This was one of the
arbitrary measures of the reign of Charles II. An attempt was afterwards
made to satisfy the ends of justice in this affair by seeking out the
instigators of the deed, and restoring his family to their privileges
and estates.
1688. JAMES BUTLER, duke of Ormond, died; a celebrated statesman and
warrior in the reign of Charles II, to whose restoration he materially
contributed.
1772. PETER BARRAL, a French ecclesiastic, died. He distinguished
himself by the production of several useful works, and among them a
historical dictionary.
1773. Pope CLEMENT XIV signed the famous bull which pronounced the
extinction of the society of Jesuits.
1788. GAETANO FILANGIERI died at Naples; one of the most celebrated
political economists of the last century.
1789. M. FOULON and his son-in-law, BERTHIER, massacred at Paris; they
are numbered as the 8th and 9th victims of the revolution.
1796. ROBERT BURNS, the Scottish poet, died. In the humble employment of
a ploughman, he discovered a most extraordinary genius, which has given
to his productions an enduring fame.
1797. PETER THELLUSON, a Swiss resident in London, died. He accumulated
an immense property, the bulk of which he left to be funded till it
should amount to £140,000,000, when, if he should have no lineal
descendants, it was to be applied to the _sinking fund_ of Great
Britain.
1798. Battle of the Pyramids in Egypt. Murad with 22 other beys were
defeated by the French under Bonaparte, with the loss of 40 cannon, 40
camels, and their whole baggage and provisions. Cairo surrendered to the
_king of fire_, as the Mamelukes termed the combative Corsican, and the
whole of Lower Egypt submitted to his arms.
1814. The inquisition reestablished in Spain by Ferdinand. It had been
suspended during the reign of Bonaparte.
1815. HARRIET ACKLAND died in England, aged 66. Her husband was wounded
and taken prisoner at Saratoga in 1777, and the interest felt for her on
the occasion, and the hardships and dangers she encountered have made
her the subject of history.
1827. ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE, if not the most fortunate by far the most
eminent publisher that ever adorned the Scottish capital, died. He
directed the printing and publishing of the _Edinburgh Review_, &c.
1831. LEOPOLD, king of Belgium, made his entry into Brussels, and took
the oath of the constitution.
1832. The sultan of Turkey gave his assent to the extension of the Greek
frontier, as required by the London conference, from the gulf of Arta to
that of Volo, and recognized the independence of the Greek states.
1838. JOHN MAELZEL, an ingenious German mechanist, died. He visited many
countries of Europe and America with Kempelin's automaton chess-player,
which he improved by giving it the powers of speech. He also invented
several automata of surprising powers, which are familiar throughout the
country.
1848. The cities of Dublin and Waterford proclaimed by the lord
lieutenant of Ireland to be under the coercion act.
1849. ELIZABETH DODD died at Stephens, New Brunswick, aged 111.
1849. EBENEZER MACK, long and favorably known as a distinguished printer
and the conductor of the largest book establishment in western New York,
died at Ithaca.
1853. THOMAS P. MOORE died at Harrodsburg, Ky., aged 57; an officer in
the war of 1812, member of congress, minister to Colombia in 1829, and
lieutenant-colonel in the regular army in Mexico.
1855. The fortress of Frederickshamm was attacked by the allied fleet,
and its garrison driven out.