634. ABDALLAH ATIK BEN ABI KOHAFAH, better known as Abu Bekr, died. He
was the first caliph or successor of Mohammed in the government of the
faithful. He enlarged the empire, and caused the precepts of the prophet
to be collected in a volume, called _Al Koran_, which is the sacred and
classical book of the Mohammedans.
1305. WILLIAM WALLACE, "the peerless knight of Ellerslie," at the age of
about 35, executed on Tower hill, and his head set up on London bridge,
to the public gaze.
1350. PHILIP DE VALOIS, king of France, died. His crown was disputed by
Edward VIII of England, which gave rise to a disastrous war.
1400. Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, burnt by the armies of Henry IV
of England.
1481. THOMAS LITTLETON died; a celebrated English judge in the time of
Edward IV, and author of a treatise on tenures or titles, by which all
estates were anciently held in England.
1500. Don FRANCISCO DE BOBADILLA arrived at St. Domingo, a royal
commissioner to inquire into the conduct of Columbus.
1532. WILLIAM WARHAM, bishop of Canterbury, died; some time chancellor
of England, from which office he was removed to make room for Wolsey.
1622. _The Certain News of the Present Week_ is the title of a small
quarto of 18 pages published this day in London, supposed to be the
first weekly newspaper in England.
1628. GEORGE VILLIERS, duke of Buckingham, a noted English statesman,
assassinated, at the age of 36.
1630. The first court of assistants held at Charlestown, Mass. They
determined that ministers should be settled, houses built and salaries
raised for them at the public expense. They settled the price of
mechanical labor; carpenters, joiners, bricklayers, sawyers and
thatchers, should take no more than 2_s._ a day, under a penalty of
10_s._ to giver and taker. At this court Edward Palmer was sentenced for
extortion, in charging 2_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._ for the wood work of Boston
stocks, to sit in them one hour and pay a fine of five pounds.
1642. JOHN GEORGE WIRSUNGUS, an Italian anatomist, assassinated. He was
professor of anatomy at Padua, where he discovered and explained the
pancreatic duct.
1679. WILLIAM OWTRAM died; an eminent English preacher and scholar in
the reign of Charles II.
1686. Buda, the capital of Hungary, after being in possession of the
Turks for 145 years, was taken by the imperialists.
1693. The first printing executed in New York, was a proclamation of
governor Fletcher bearing this date.
1719. HENRY CLEMENTS, an eminent bookseller in London, died. His death
was memorable on account of the occasion it furnished for the
publication of his funeral sermon, entitled _the Christian's Support
under the Loss of Friends_.
1720. JAMES VERGIER, a French poet, assassinated at Paris. He possessed
great talents; but dissipation and licentiousness were unfortunately his
distinguishing characteristics.
1723. INCREASE MATHER died; a New England clergyman during the
witchcraft delusion, which he labored to mitigate. It is said that he
usually spent 16 hours a day in study; the number of his publications
was 85, the number of his years 84. (His tomb stone says Aug. 27.)
1727. HOSIER, the English admiral, died off Porto Bello. He had been
sent out the year previous with 7 ships of war to intercept the Spanish
galleons. On his arrival the galleons unloaded their treasure, and to
prevent them from sailing the fleet lay off that pestilential coast
until both the ships and their crews were desolated. Glover, author of a
little poem called _Admiral Hosier's Ghost_, represents the number of
dead at 3,000.
1756. Foundation stone of Columbia college laid at New York.
1782. HENRY LEWIS DU HAMEL died at Paris; eminent for his knowledge of
mechanics, agriculture and commerce.
1782. Cape River fort surprised and carried by assault by the British
captain Campbell with 150 negroes. He lost but 2 killed; Spanish loss 65
killed, 9 taken, mostly wounded.
1789. SILAS DEANE, minister of the United States to France in 1776, died
in England in extreme poverty.
1793. Massacre of the French in St. Domingo.
1793. The British took Pondicherry from the French.
1795. French convention decreed that all assemblies known by the name of
clubs or popular societies in France, should be suppressed immediately,
their places of meeting shut up, and the keys delivered to the secretary
of the town house.
1795. WILLIAM BRADFORD died at Philadelphia, aged 39; some time attorney
general of the United States, and known as an author and poet.
1804. Tripoli bombarded the third time by the American commodore Preble,
from 2 P. M., until daylight the next morning, without much effect.
1806. CHARLES AUGUSTIN DE COULOMB, a French engineer, died. He is noted
for his brilliant experiments and discoveries in electricity and
magnetism.
1813. Battle of Gross-Beeren, near Berlin in Prussia; the French under
Oudinot, about 80,000, defeated with considerable loss.
1813. ALEXANDER WILSON, the naturalist, died at Philadelphia; author of
the _American Ornithology_, 7 vols. 4to, a work of great accuracy and
comprehensiveness.
1818. First steamer from Buffalo to Detroit.
1820. OLIVER HAZARD PERRY, a distinguished American naval officer, died
at Trinidad of yellow fever, on the anniversary of his birth day, which
was the 23d August, 1785. His victory on lake Erie over a British force
superior in men and guns to his own, has given his name a permanent
place in the history of his country.
1826. KOLLER, an Austrian general, died. He accompanied Napoleon, where
he had to protect him against the rabble infuriated by priests and
ultras, which was done by an exchange of garments. He left a valuable
collection of antiques.
1835. ISAAC POCOCKE died; one of the most successful dramatic writers of
his day.
1835. Massacre at Para in Brazil by the Indians. The attack commenced on
the 14th. The United States consul barely escaped with his life. It is
supposed that the slaughter must have been immense, and a more complete
sack of any city probably never took place.
1850. CHARLES DYER, a midshipman in the United States navy, was drowned
at Pensacola, in nobly attempting to save the crew of a vessel in
distress. ALEXANDER HALE, assistant engineer in the service and a
graduate of Yale college, lost his life also in the same cause.
1855. HENRY LAWSON, an English astronomer, died at Bath, aged 81.