1456. JOHN CORVINUS HUNNIADES died; a general in the Hungarian armies,
distinguished for his bravery and his great success in the wars with the
Turks.
1532. PIZARRO, having landed in Peru and founded a colony, now began his
march for the conquest of the country. His force consisted of 62 horse,
and 106 foot, among whom were 20 crossbowmen, with which he went forth
to encounter tens of thousands of fierce and warlike men. It is said
that Pizarro incited his followers to this dangerous enterprise by the
singular argument, that this main design was the propagation of the
catholic faith, without injuring any person.
1588. ROBERT DUDLEY, earl of Leicester, died. He was a great favorite at
the court of Elizabeth, and accounted a man of talents; but artful,
ambitious, and criminal.
1598. PHILIP II of Spain died at the Escurial of a loathsome disease. By
his own account, he expended 600,000,000 of gold ducats and sacrificed
20,000,000 of human lives.
1665. Naval action between the English and Dutch; the latter lost 12 war
and 2 East India ships.
1676. JOHN OGILBY, a Scottish writer, died. From the profession of a
dancing master he became an eminent geographer, critic and poet.
1699. CHRISTIAN V, king of Denmark, died, in consequence of a wound
received in hunting, aged 53. He was much engaged in war. (August 25?)
1727. The body of GEORGE I of England was interred in the night at
Hanover.
1745. The town of Perth occupied by the adherents to Charles the
pretender, and he himself proclaimed king of Great Britain.
1753. ANDREW FOUNTAINE, an English antiquarian, died. He traveled over
the European continent in search of pictures, medals, statues and
inscriptions, with which he enriched the cabinets of England.
1759. PAUL FRANCIS VELLI, a French Jesuit, died; author of a valuable
history of France.
1780. JOHN FIELDING, one of the police justices of London, died at
Bromton. Though blind from his youth he was a vigorous writer, and an
efficient magistrate.
1784. CÆSAR CASSINI DE THURY, an eminent French astronomer, died. He had
acquired much knowledge on the science at the age of 10. He published a
map of France in 182 sheets, which has served as a model for all
subsequent works of the kind. This family had been at the head of the
Royal observatory at Paris 113 years.
1785. A Mr. SADLER ascended at Oxford, England, in a balloon of his own
construction. He was the first Englishman who undertook an ærial voyage.
1796. A quantity of rope was brought into the office of the secretary of
state at London as the first specimen of the labor of convicts at Botany
bay. It was two inches thick.
1797. On this day the majority of the French directory overthrew the
opposite party; sixty-five deputies were condemned to deportation as
guilty of a conspiracy for the restoration of the monarchy. The councils
renewed their oaths of hatred against royalty on this occasion.
1800. Cayuga bridge over the lake finished.
1802. GARNERIN, a French æronaut, made a descent of about 8,000 feet in
his parachute. This was not so successful as a former experiment, the
parachute not opening for some time after being cut from the balloon.
1804. Great hurricane in the West Indies; 274 vessels lost.
1805. PETER FRANCIS ANDREW MECHAIN, a French astronomer, died. He was a
practical man, and accomplished much useful labor.
1808. JOHN HOME, a Scottish writer, died, aged 84. He was a preacher at
the time his admirable play of _Douglas_ appeared, which gave so much
offence to the presbytery that he resigned.
1830. DONALD MCDONALD died at Lynn, Mass., aged 108. He was born in
Scotland, 1722, and during the last years of his life wandered about the
country, a vagrant of the most intemperate habits. He was with Wolfe at
the battle of Quebec.
1834. GEORGE CLYMER, inventor of the Columbian printing press, died in
London, aged 80; formerly of Philadelphia.
1836. The sultan of Turkey released all the inmates of his seraglio from
the perpetual imprisonment within the precincts of his palace, to which
they had considered themselves to be condemned for life.
1843. Capt. ROSS landed at Folkstone on his return from a voyage of
discovery in the southern polar circle, which had occupied four years.
1844. Metamoras destroyed by a hurricane. More than two-thirds of the
houses in the city were prostrated, and 200 lives lost. This city was
devastated in the same way in 1835 and 1837.
1850. Marshal HAYNAU, who commanded the Austrian forces in the Hungarian
war, visited the brewery of Perkins & Barclay, London, and was attacked
by a mob composed of the workmen in the establishment, and the draymen
and coal heavers outside, and barely escaped with his life, by the
assistance of the police. The cruelties of his acts had excited the
indignation of all Christendom.
1852. The Hudson river steam boat Reindeer exploded, by which 28 lives
were lost, and 20 others were injured.