480 B. C. The immortal battle in the pass of Thermopylæ is placed upon
this day; when Leonidas with 300 Spartans withstood the army of Xerxes.
There was a skirmish also with the Grecian fleet at Artemisium. Diodorus
fixes the victory of Gelon, under the walls of Himera, in Sicily, upon
the same day.
445 B. C. Dedication of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, on the 7th
of Elul, in the 21st year of Artaxerxes.
44. HEROD AGRIPPA, king of Judea, died suddenly upon his throne. He was
a great builder, whose expenses exceeded his income, for his generosity
was boundless, saith Josephus. He persecuted the Christians, and was one
of those scourges of mankind who have been cut off with their vices.
461. JULIUS VALERIUS MAJORIAN, emperor of Rome, assassinated. He was
successful in his war with the Vandals, and universally respected for
his virtues.
1106. HENRY IV, emperor of Germany, died. He was a brave, but
unfortunate prince, who, having humbled his enemies in 66 battles, was
finally dethroned and reduced to indigence by his own sons.
1485. HENRY TUDOR, earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII, landed at
Milford haven from Normandy, for the invasion of England, with 2,000
men.
1588. The Spanish armada, becalmed before Dunkirk, completely
discomfited by the appearance of eight ships filled with pitch, sulphur
and other combustibles, and having been set on fire as the breeze sprung
up were directed by the English admiral against the different divisions
of the Spanish fleet. The darkness of the night lent terror to the awful
appearance of the approaching flames; and the crews, anxious only for
their own preservation, weighed anchor or cut their cables, and suffered
their ships to drive before the wind. In this confusion many of them ran
afoul of one another, and several of them received such damage as to be
unfit for future use.
1613. Dorchester, in England, destroyed by fire.
1667. JOHN WILSON, first minister of Boston, died. He came over with
governor Winthrop, 1630, and was ordained under a tree in Charlestown.
1679. LA SALLE sailed from the foot of lake Erie in the first vessel
built upon that lake, with a crew of thirty men. His vessel was lost on
its return from Mackinaw with its crew of six men, and a cargo of
peltries, valued at fifty thousand francs.
1771. JOHN DANIEL SCHOEPFLIN, an eminent German philosopher,
historiographer and antiquary, died. His reputation was so great, that
his residence was solicited by the sovereigns of different countries.
1793. The first patient of yellow fever in Philadelphia, which raged
there with great fury this year, died on this day. The number that died
of the disease during its prevalence was about 3,500.
1804. Second attack on Tripoli by the United States squadron under Com.
Preble. One of the prizes previously taken was blown up by the passage
of a red hot ball through her magazine.
1806. ELIZABETH SMITH, an accomplished English lady, died. She
understood most of the learned languages, and had a knowledge of the
sciences.
1807. IGNATIUS MOURADGEA D'OHSSON, an Armenian diplomatist, died. He was
in the service of the Swedish embassy at Constantinople, where he
conceived the plan of a work on the Ottoman empire. It was completed,
after a labor of 45 years, in 7 vols., and published at Paris.
1812. United States frigate Essex captured British king's brig George.
1819. Battle of Bojaca; the revolutionists of Venezuela and New Granada,
under Bolivar, totally defeated the Spaniards, whose destruction was so
complete that the viceroy fled, leaving the public treasure a prey to
the conquerors. This battle decided the independence of New Granada.
1820. ELIZA BACCIOCCHI, sister of Bonaparte, died. She married a captain
in the army, who on the conquest of Italy was created prince of Lucca
and Piombino; but she was the actual sovereign, and when she reviewed
the troops, her husband discharged the office of aid-de-camp.
1821. CAROLINE AMELIA ELIZABETH, wife of George IV, of England, died,
aged 53. She was abandoned by her husband, then prince of Wales, soon
after their marriage, and the nation was repeatedly agitated by their
disputes, for more than 20 years.
1830. The throne of France declared vacant by the chamber of deputies;
after making various important modifications in the charter, they called
to the throne Louis Phillippe, and his male descendants for ever.
1848. The great comet, whose revolution occupies 292 years, passed its
perihelion in July, and was first seen on this day by a gentleman in
Altona.
1854. The Turks entered Bucharest, which the Russians had previously
evacuated.
1855. A severe and bloody riot occurred at St. Louis, Missouri, between
the Irish and Americans, which continued for 48 hours, and resulted in
the death of 10 persons, and the severe injury of 30 more.
1855. While two companies of militia were conducting to jail a prisoner
named Debar, for the murder of a negro, at Milwaukie, the mob seized him
and killed him without resistance.
1855. RICHARD SHEEPSHANKS, a British astronomer, died, aged 61. He made
great efforts in determining the latitude and longitude of places in
England and Ireland, and contributed a series of papers to the _Penny
Cyclopedia_ on the science of astronomy.