30 B. C. CLEOPATRA, queen of Egypt, destroyed herself by the bite of an
asp, to save herself from the disgrace of captivity.
526. THEODORIC, first king of the Goths in Italy, died. He advanced
commerce and the arts, and patronized literature, but committed great
acts of cruelty.
1181. ALEXANDER III, pope, died. He was an able pontiff, beloved by his
subjects and respected by the world.
1483. LOUIS XI, of France, died. His ambition led him to the commission
of the greatest crimes, by which he acquired the title of the Tiberius
of France.
1563. WOLFGANG MUSCULUS, a celebrated German divine, died. He adopted
the tenets of Luther, and by his eloquence gained over the city of
Augsburg.
1566. SOLYMAN II (_the Magnificent_), sultan of Turkey, died. He
prosecuted war with various success in Europe and Asia, and took the
island of Rhodes from the knights of Jerusalem.
1645. Treaty of peace between the New England colonies and the
Narragansett Indians; by which the latter were to pay the expense of the
preparations already made for war, estimated at 2,000 fathoms of wampum;
restore to Uncus the prisoners and canoes taken from him; keep perpetual
peace with the English and all their allies; and give hostages for the
performance of the treaty. Formidable preparations were made for this
contest with the heathen savages. They drew up a manifesto, containing
such facts as they considered sufficient to justify them in making war
against the Narragansetts. It was entitled, "a declaration of former
passages and proceedings betwixt the English and the Narrohiggansetts,
with their confederates, wherein the grounds and justice of the ensuing
warr are opened and cleared." In this document it is affirmed that the
English colonies, "both in their treaties and converse with the
barbarous natives of this wilderness, have had an awful respect to
divine rules." It was determined immediately to raise 300 men;
Massachusetts to raise 190, Plymouth 40, Connecticut 40, New Haven 30.
1645. A formal treaty of peace between the Dutch in New Amsterdam, under
William Kieft, and the Indians in the vicinity.
1645. Parliament ordered a fast for a blessing on Scotland and sir
Thomas Fairfax's army, and a cessation of the plague.
1690. King WILLIAM forced to raise the siege of Limerick after
sustaining great loss.
1717. WILLIAM LLOYD, an English prelate, died, aged 91. He was a zealous
promoter of the revolution, and a voluminous author.
1757. Battle of Norkettin; the Prussians forced the Russian camp and
batteries, and killed 2,000 men with an equal loss on their own part.
1785. By the plague which raged at Tripoli, 30,000 persons had died up
to this date, of which 3,300 were Jews. The brother of the bey, his two
sons, and all the ministers of the bey were dead. All the Christians
established in the city as merchants had died.
1794. The Austrian garrison of Conde laid down their arms as prisoners
of war at the first summons of the French republican general Scherer.
The garrison was strongly entrenched, and might have defied the enemy as
long as their provisions lasted.
1795. ANDREW DANICAN (_Philidor_) died; noted for his musical
performances and compositions, by which he acquired the _sobriquet_ from
the king, of Philidor, after an Italian musician of that name, and by
which he is generally known as a celebrated chess player. His fondness
for the game grew into a passion, in order to indulge which he traveled
over a great part of Europe, engaging everywhere with the best players.
He remained some time in England, during which he printed his _Analysis
of Chess_, a standard work. On his return to France he devoted his
attention to the comic opera, of which he produced 21 pieces. A short
time previous to his decease he played two games blindfolded at the same
time against two excellent chess players, and won.
1797. In England, the Leeds methodist conference resolved to eject from
their communion, a brother, who should propagate opinions in opposition
to the established church.
1801. Cairo surrendered to the British, and Egypt evacuated by the
French under Menou. He was the first French general who landed with
Bonaparte, and the last who left it.
1804. THOMAS PERCIVAL, well known for his writings on moral and medical
subjects, died at Manchester, England.
1804. JOHN BLAIR LINN, an American poet, died, aged 27. He published 2
vols. of miscellaneous pieces.
1810. JOHN PHILIP DE COBENTZL, an Austrian statesman, died. He was the
last of that illustrious family.
1813. Battle of Nollendorf, in Bohemia, when Von Kleist made a daring
descent from the mountains, upon the rear of Vandamme, and gaining a
decisive victory saved Bohemia, against which Bonaparte had directed his
masterly demonstrations.
1814. Alexandria, in Virginia, capitulated to the British, and delivered
up the public stores, shipping, &c.
1814. The British under sir Peter Parker, having attacked the Americans
at Moorsfield, were repulsed with considerable loss. Among the killed
was sir Peter himself.
1832. Number of deaths in Paris from cholera since March, 18,000.
1834. HARDING, an eminent astronomer, died at Gottingen; celebrated as
the discoverer of the planet Juno.
1835. WILLIAM T. BARRY, postmaster-general under president Jackson, died
at Liverpool on his way to Spain, as minister plenipotentiary of the
United States.
1838. DAVID HUME died, aged 82; baron of the exchequer in Scotland, and
author of a celebrated work on criminal law.
1844. FRANCIS BAILEY, so favorably known as a stock broker and author,
died in England. He was instrumental in founding the astronomical
society of London.
1848. The United States district attorney of Arkansas had orders from
government to discover and prosecute all those who were engaged in
preparing a military expedition against Mexico, and establishing the
republic of the Sierra Madre.
1849. The chamber of deputies at Turin voted 100,000 livres to relieve
the refugees from different parts of Italy.
1850. JOHN INMAN, a New York editor, died, aged 46. He was educated for
the law, but commenced his editorial experience about 1830, with the
_Spirit of the Times_. He was also for a time connected with the _New
York Mirror_, and in 1834 became assistant editor of the _New York
Commercial Advertiser_, which he edited ably on the death of William L.
Stone.
1852. JOHN CAMDEN NEILD, an English barrister, died at London, aged 72.
He was privately known by his eccentricities and miserliness, and after
his death became more publicly known by the strange bequest of all his
property, estimated at $2,500,000, to the queen.
1852. GEORGE FREDERICK VON LANGSDORFF, a noted botanist and traveler,
died at Freidburg, in the duchy of Baden.
1853. The cholera, which prevailed very generally in the north of
Europe, became nearly extinct at Copenhagen, where it destroyed 4,006
lives. In St. Petersburg the deaths during this visitation were 5,609.
1854. The British admiral PRICE engaged in bombarding the Russian town
Petropaulowski, was killed by a shot from his own pistol.
1855. FEARGUS EDWARD O'CONNOR, leader of the chartists in Great Britain,
died at Notting hill, England, aged 59, in the custody of an institution
for the insane.