306. CONSTANTIUS CHLORUS, emperor of Rome, died at York palace, and was
succeeded the same day by his son Constantine the Great.
811. NICEPHORUS I, emperor of Rome, died. He was chancellor of the
eastern empire, and seized the throne 807, banishing the empress Irene
to Mitylene. He overcame all opposition from his own subjects, but was
vanquished by the Bulgarians, and fell in battle.
1139. Battle of Aurique, in Portugal; Alphonse I vanquished five Moorish
kings and their barbaric heads were emblazoned in the arms of the
monarchy.
1214. Battle of Bouvines, in France, in which the forces of Otho were
overthrown by Philip Augustus, and peace restored.
1261. The Greek emperor, MICHAEL PALÆOLOGUS, expelled the Latins from
Constantinople, who had taken possession of it nearly 60 years previous.
1441. ROGER BOLINGBROKE, chaplain to the duke of Gloucester, having been
convicted of necromancy, was exposed, with his instruments, to the
public finger, at St. Paul's, in London.
1471. THOMAS A KEMPIS (_Thomas Hammerken of Kempen_), a famous German
theologian, died, aged 92. He displayed great piety and devotion, and
instead of confining himself to transcribing books of devotion, like the
rest of his brethren, composed works of divinity himself, one of which,
_De Imitatione Christi_, has been translated into nearly all languages
in the world.
1505. PHILIP BEROLDUS, a French professor of belles-letters, died. He
was extremely dissipated in youth, but reformed after marriage, and
produced several works, in prose and verse. He was a man of great
learning for that age, and is noted for his valuable edition of the
classics.
1535. CHARLES V, emperor of Germany, having assembled a powerful fleet,
landed at Tunis, and carried by assault the fortress of Goletta. This
gave him possession of Barbarossa's fleet of 87 galleys and 300 cannon.
Having reinstated Muley Hassan and liberated more than 20,000 slaves, he
returned to Europe.
1554. Queen MARY of England married to Philip of Spain at Winchester.
1564. FERDINAND I, emperor of Germany, died. He became king of Hungary
and Bohemia 1527, and was elected king of the Romans 1531. On the
abdication of his brother, Charles V, he succeeded to the empire, and
governed with great moderation and prudence.
1593. HENRY IV, of France, formally renounced the protestant faith at
St. Denys, rather than perish by the hand of an assassin.
1603. King JAMES and his queen crowned at Westminster by archbishop
Whitgift.
1653. The assembly of the Scottish church being met at Edinburgh were
dismissed by Cotterel for not having the authority of the parliament of
England, and commanded that not three of them should be seen together.
1659. The pope, ALEXANDER VII, acknowledged by a papal brief, the king
of France sovereign of the conquests and colonies which his subjects had
made in the American isles. Hitherto the court of Rome had preserved
inviolate the _universal grant_ of that infamous man, pope Alexander VI,
in 1493, to his catholic majesty, the king of Spain. (See May 3.)
1666. Engagement at the mouth of the Thames, between the English fleet
under Rupert and Albemarle, and the Dutch under Van Tromp and De Ruyter.
Each fleet consisted of about 80 sail. Three Dutch admirals were killed.
1722. New England declared war against the Indians. The small pox at
that time was waging a war with both.
1724. A violent persecution of the protestants began in France.
1757. The duke of Cumberland defeated by d'Estrees at Hastenbeck.
1759. General JOHNSON took fort Niagara in America.
1790. WILLIAM LIVINGSTON, governor of New Jersey, died. He was a member
of the New York bar, and a warm advocate of the rights of the colonies.
He removed to New Jersey, and on the deposition of the royal governor,
Franklin, he was elected to fill his place, which he held till the time
of his death.
1790. JOHN BERNARD BASEDOW died; at one time professor of moral
philosophy and belles-lettres, at Soroe in Denmark, from which he was
expelled for some irreverent remarks on religion. He was the son of a
barber at Hamburg, and acquired a reputation for learning and ability.
1794. FREDERICK VON DER TRENCK, a Prussian baron, guillotined at Paris.
For some imprudent conduct he excited the indignation of the
authorities, and was imprisoned a long time at Magdeburg. He finally
escaped to France, where he became obnoxious to the guardians of the
state, and suffered death at the age of 70. The account of his
imprisonment and adventures, written by himself, and highly spiced with
romance, is translated into English.
1795. WILLIAM ROMAINE, an eminent English divine, died; author of many
valuable theological works.
1799. Battle of Aboukir, in Egypt, between the French under Bonaparte,
and the Turks, Arabs and Mamelukes, under Mustapha. The Egyptians were
defeated, with the loss of their general and 200 taken prisoners, with
all their equipage and 20 cannon; 2,000 dead on the field, and about
10,000 driven into the sea and drowned.
1804. GEORGES and 11 of his companions guillotined at Paris for a
conspiracy against Bonaparte.
1804. The American squadron, consisting of the Constitution frigate, 3
brigs, 3 schooners, 2 bomb and 6 gun boats, arrived in sight of Tripoli.
1812. Battle of Ostrovna; the Russians under Ostermann Tolstoy defeated
by the French. The battle continued two days; the loss was about 4,000
on each side.
1814. Battle of Bridgewater, (alias Lundy's Lane,) near Niagara falls,
between the British under Riall, and the Americans under Brown. It was a
sanguinary action, and for the numbers engaged, perhaps unequaled in
modern warfare; in which both the senior generals were wounded. British
loss 878 killed and wounded and missing; American loss 860 do. The
battle commenced at 5 P. M., and ended at 12 in the defeat of the
British, 2,700 veteran regulars, exclusive of a large body of Indians.
1814. CHARLES DIBDIN, a celebrated English song writer and dramatist,
died. His songs amount to upwards of 1,200; he has scarcely an equal in
the number and merit of this species of composition.
1824. WILLIAM SHARP, an eminent English engraver, died. He rose to
distinction in his art by his own unassisted exertions, but was in other
respects a very simple character. His works are numerous and held in
high estimation.
1830. CHARLES X of France ordained that the liberty of the periodical
press was suspended, and five days after was himself suspended from the
throne.
1833. JAMES MARTIN, a soldier of the revolution, died at Knoxville,
Tenn., aged 106.
1834. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE, an eminent English poet, metaphysician
and theologian, died. As a poet and author he was popular, but his
conversational powers captivated the most learned men of his time, who
visited him to enjoy his conversation. Two volumes of his _Table Talk_
were published after his death.
1840. A couple of officers belonging to the United States exploring
expedition having gone on shore at Malolo, one of the Fejee islands,
were murdered by the natives. Lieut. Wilkes immediately attacked and
burnt the town and fort, killed upwards of 70 of the natives, destroyed
the plantations and laid the island waste.
1840. ANDREW LAUGHLIN died at Devrock, Ireland, aged 110. He saw five
sovereigns successively ascend the British throne. The faculties of his
mind were unimpaired until the last few months of his life.
1852. Baron GOURGAUD, a distinguished French general, died at Paris,
aged 69. He entered the French service in 1801, was engaged in most of
the great battles of Napoleon, including Waterloo; attended the emperor
to St. Helena, and was afterwards near being involved in a duel with
Walter Scott, through his fervid zeal for his master.
1852. WILLIAM SCROOP, an eminent English naturalist, died at London,
aged 81.
1852. JAMES SPENCER CANNON, a talented minister of the Dutch reformed
church, died at New Brunswick, N. J., aged 60. He was 26 years professor
of metaphysics in Rutgers college, and of pastoral theology and
ecclesiastical history in the Theological seminary at that place, and
was distinguished for strong and original powers of mind, urbanity of
manners, and fervent piety.