70. Jerusalem demolished, and her foundations broke up on this day,
Gregorian time. The walls were crossed on Friday, the last day of
August, the conquest was completed on the sabbath and the calends of
September, and the havoc consumed about six days. There were slain or
butchered one million _beards_. (See 8th Aug. Gorpeius is a tropical
month, beginning 25th Aug.)
1069. The Danes again made a descent on England, and landed at Dover.
1134. ALFONSO, king of Arragon, killed in battle.
1493. FREDERICK IV, of Germany, died. He was a weak, indolent and
superstitious monarch, who saw his subjects revolt with indifference,
and was afterwards reduced to beg his bread.
1533. Birthday of ELIZABETH, afterwards queen of England; daughter of
Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
1566. NICHOLAS ZRINYI, a Hungarian Leonidas, killed. He had thrown
himself into the castle of Szigeth, with 3,000 men, and was besieged by
the Turks. This number was dwindled down to 600 by repeated sallies. The
sultan died of rage at his obstinacy, and the grand vizier made a
general assault. Zrinyi rushed out at the head of his band, and was
killed by three balls; the whole garrison shared his fate. Above 20,000
Turks had been killed during the siege.
1644. GREY BENTIVOGLIO, an Italian cardinal, died. He wrote an account
of Flanders, and a history of its civil wars.
1655. NICHOLAS ABRAM, a French Jesuit, died; distinguished for his
proficiency in the dead languages.
1671. A great training in Boston, says Winthrop's journal, which lasted
two days; 1,200 men in the field, not an oath uttered, nor any body
drunk during the whole time, though there was much wine and strong beer
in town.
1706. Battle of Turin; the French under count Marisin defeated by prince
Eugene, with the loss of 2,000 killed, and all their baggage and
ammunition, and the military chest.
1736. The door of the Tolbooth, of Edinburgh, burnt, and John Porteus,
who had been sentenced to death, but reprieved by the queen, taken out
of jail by a mob, and hanged on a lamp post.
1760. Montreal surrendered to the English. By the reduction of this
place, Gen. Amherst completed the conquest of Canada, and the subversion
of the French empire in North America, which was added to the British
possessions.
1772. An unprecedented rain and consequent flood happened in Inverary,
Scotland.
1776. GEORGE SMITH, an eminent English landscape painter and author,
died.
1779. JOHN ARMSTRONG, a celebrated Scottish poet, died.
1783. LEONARD EULER, a Swiss mathematician, died. He possessed great
erudition, and was perfect master of ancient mathematical literature;
and had the history of all ages and nations, even to the minutest facts,
ever present to his mind.
1784. ANN LEE, known by the appellation of the "elect lady," or mother
of Zion, and head of the sect called Shakers, died at Nisqueunia, near
Albany, N. Y.
1798. PETER FREDERICK SUHM, an eminent Danish historian and
miscellaneous writer, died. His histories form 16 quarto volumes, and
his other works 15 vols.
1799. JOHN INGENHOUZ, an eminent Belgian natural philosopher, died in
England. His chemical discoveries were applied to medical and
agricultural improvements.
1799. PETER CHARLES LE MONNIER, a celebrated French astronomer, died. He
was one of those who made the journey to the north in 1785, for the
admeasurement of the globe.
1805. THOMAS BUTLER died; he was a brave officer in the American
revolutionary army, but refusing to comply with the general order, to
cut the hair close to the head, he was involved in much difficulty with
general Wilkeson.
1807. Copenhagen surrendered to the British after a long bombardment, in
which six thousand were killed and wounded, and 1,800 houses destroyed.
1811. PETER SIMON PALLAS, a distinguished writer of Prussia, died. He
accompanied empress Catherine's famous expedition to Siberia, for the
observation of the transit of Venus, &c. He was subsequently tutor to
the grand dukes Alexander (afterwards emperor) and Constantine.
1812. Battle of Borodino; the Russian army consisted of 120,000, and the
French had an equal number. There were also 500 cannon employed by each.
The slaughter was dreadful; of one of the Russian divisions that
mustered 30,000 in the morning, only 8,000 survived. These had fought in
close order under a fire of 80 cannon. It is computed that not less than
30,000 Russians, and 50,000 French were killed; and night found either
army on the ground they had occupied at day break.
1820. Great solar eclipse in England.
1827. Abo, the capital of Finland, nearly destroyed by fire. Only 800
volumes of the public library escaped destruction, and nearly 100
persons perished.
1831. Warsaw captured by the Russians under Paskiewitch after two days'
fighting. Russian loss estimated at 20,000.
1833. HANNAH MORE, a celebrated English authoress, died, aged 88. Her
works are very numerous, by which she realized upwards of $140,000.
1836. JOHN POND, an eminent English astronomer, died. He was named by
Dr. Maskelyne as the fittest man to succeed him as astronomer royal,
which office he held during 25 years with consumate ability.
1838. WILLIAM COLFAX, an officer of the revolution, died. He was one of
the life guards of Washington, and supposed to have been the last
survivor of that corps.
1839. ANDREW HALLIDAY died; a Scottish medical and historical writer of
merit.
1847. Letters from St. Petersburgh of the 7th Sept. state, that that
city has been visited with the most terrific storm of wind and rain ever
experienced within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. It rained
incessantly for forty-eight hours, whilst the wind blew with intense
violence. The result of this visitation was the destruction of above 400
houses. At one period fears were entertained for the safety of the
entire city, and some timid and superstitious persons apprehended the
end of the world was at hand.
1850. The bill admitting California as a state and Utah as a territory
of the United States, passed the house of representatives.
1851. LEVI WOODBURY, an American statesman, died at Portsmouth, N. H.,
aged 64.
1855. The first Hebrew temple in the Mississippi valley was consecrated
at St. Louis.
1855. LEONARD MAELZEL, the inventor of several musical and automatic
instruments, and who exhibited the famous chess player in this country,
died at Vienna, aged 79.