258. THASCIUS CÆCILIUS CYPRIANUS, beheaded. He was bishop of Carthage,
and a principal father of the Christian church.
407. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, one of the most illustrious fathers of the church,
died. His works were edited by Montfaucon in 13 vols. folio.
533. The Roman general Belisarius achieved the conquest of Africa, a
chaotic waste of enslaved humanity, where the image of _intelligence_ is
unknown.
1321. ALGHIERI DANTE, a celebrated Italian poet, died. His most
considerable work is the _Inferno_.
1403. Battle of Homildon hill, in which the Scots were defeated.
1499. VASCO DE GAMA landed at Lisbon from his immortal adventure.
1523. ADRIAN VI, pope, died. He was of obscure birth, but his abilities
raised him gradually to consequence.
1528. RICHARD FOX, bishop of Exeter and Durham, died. He was of obscure
origin; besides his episcopal offices he was employed on several
embassies.
1544. The English under the duke of Norfolk raised the siege of
Montreuil in France.
1646. THOMAS HOWARD, earl of Arundel, died; famous for the discovery of
the Parian marbles which bear his name, and which he gave to the
university of Oxford.
1661. The bodies of May the historian, the mother and daughter of
Cromwell, Pym and several others, were removed from king Henry VII's
chapel and buried in the churchyard.
1666. A French expedition, consisting of 28 companies of foot and all
the militia of the colony, marched from Quebec for the purpose of
destroying the Mohawks. This formidable army, entered the Mohawk
country, after a march of 700 miles, and laid waste their villages; the
Indians, retiring into the woods with their women and children, escaped.
The expedition was commanded by M. de Tracy, then upwards of 70 years of
age.
1677. RICHARD ATKINS, a typographical author, who suffered much on
account of his loyalty, died in Marshalsea prison, being confined for
debt. His writings were all of the ultra kind.
1704. WILLIAM HUBBARD, a New England clergyman and historian, died, aged
83. He was settled at Ipswich, Mass., and was one of the best writers of
the time in which he lived.
1711. The British fleet intended for the reduction of Canada having met
with numerous reverses, arrived at Spanish-river bay, a council of land
and sea officers, considering that they had but ten weeks' provisions,
and could not depend upon a supply from New England, concluded to return
home and abandon the enterprise.
1712. JOHN DOMINIC CASSINI, a celebrated Italian astronomer, died. He
was invited by the senate to teach mathematics at Bologna, at the age of
15; and before his death had enriched science with a thousand new
discoveries.
1714. THOMAS BRITTON, a celebrated musical small coal man, died. He
rented a house in London, commenced business, and occupied his leisure
hours in learning chemistry and music. He became an adept in those
sciences, and excelled in many curious arts and crafts, all which he had
acquired without neglecting his business. During the day he was seen
with his sack and measure crying small coal, and in the evening
conducting a concert at his house, where men of fashion and well dressed
ladies of high rank ascended to his room by a ladder, to regale their
ears. He was a member of a weekly society of black-lettered literati,
where leaving his sack at the door, he entered the room among noblemen
in his checked shirt, and produced his books collected from stalls and
shops in blind alleys. His death was occasioned by a ventriloquial
friend, who during a musical conversation pronounced these words
distinctly as coming from a distance: "Thomas Britton, go home, for thou
shalt die." Honest Tom, supposing the voice to have proceeded from an
angel, went home depressed in spirits, took to his bed and died. He was
twice induced to sit for his portrait. In one he is represented in a
blue frock, with a small coal measure in his hand; and in the other
tuning a harpsichord. One of them is in the British Museum.
1716. The Thames both above and below London bridge nearly dry, supposed
to be caused by a strong west wind keeping back the tide.
1726. The Senecas, Cayugas and Onondagas surrendered to the English
their habitations and country, from Cayahoza to Oswego, and sixty miles
inland.
1741. CHARLES ROLLIN, the celebrated French historian, died, aged 81. He
was the son of a cutler, and became famous not only as a writer, but
also for his eloquence.
1751. JAMES PHILIP D'ORVILLE, a Dutch critic, died; professor of
eloquence, history and Greek at Amsterdam.
1772. A bow and quiver were found in the new forest, England, supposed
to have lain since the time of William Rufus, who was killed by an arrow
in this forest in 1100.
1777. BURGOYNE, having collected about thirty days' provision, and
thrown a bridge of boats over the Hudson, crossed and encamped on the
heights and plains of Saratoga.
1778. During the celebration of mass at Bourbon-les-bains, in Bassigni,
France, the vault under the church gave way, which occasioned the death
of 600 persons.
1784. JAMES ESSEX died; an Englishman famous for his skill in Gothic
architecture.
1788. JORDAN NOEL DE VAUX, a celebrated French general, died. He was
made governor of Corsica in 1769, and completed the conquest of that
island; he was afterwards raised to the dignity of marshal of France. He
had been present at 19 sieges and 14 battles.
1792. JOHN VANDER MERSCH died. He headed the insurgents of Brabant
against the imperial forces, in 1789, and distinguished himself by his
valor and prudence.
1795. The English drove the Dutch from their camp at the cape of Good
Hope, and captured the Williamstad of 26 guns.
1811. JAMES GRAHAME, a Scottish poet and divine, died.
1814. The French advance guard under Murat and Beauharnois entered
Moscow. No defence was made except by the populace in the Kremlin, who
fired the palace, and the whole city was wrapt in flames. Of 4,000
superb stone houses, only 200 remained; of 800 churches, all were
destroyed or heavily damaged, and of 8,000 wooden houses, about 500
escaped.
1814. Gloutzk attacked and stormed by the Russians; the Poles and French
under Dombrofsky retreated with the loss of 1,000 men.
1816. WILLIAM BAWDWEEN, an English vicar, died. He was an excellent
Saxon scholar, and translated the two first volumes of that curious
national work the _Domes-day Book_, which was published by a vote of the
British parliament. He proposed to publish the whole work, and is said
to have left the other 8 vols. prepared for the press.
1835. JOHN BRINKLEY, bishop of Cloyne in Ireland, died. He was
distinguished as a mathematician and astronomer.
1836. AARON BURR, third vice-president of the United States, died, aged
81. He possessed very distinguished talents, but manifested a lamentable
want of principle.
1839. Don CARLOS abandoned Spain and retired with his family into
France, by which the long protracted civil war in Spain was regarded as
at length closed.
1847. Battle of Gareta San Cosme in Mexico, which preceded the entrance
of the Americans into the city.
1848. The British forces under Gen. Whish had besieged for several days
the city of Moultan, in northern India. After much bloody fighting, the
desertion of Shere Singh, an important ally, they were compelled to
withdraw.
1851. JAMES FENNIMORE COOPER, a distinguished American novelist, died,
aged 62. He was born at Burlington, N. J., graduated at Yale, and
adopted the navy as his profession. He stands at the head of nautical
novelists, and is the author of historical works besides.
1852. The world-renowned duke of WELLINGTON, died at Walmer Castle, in
Kent, England, aged 83; and the numerous honors concentrated upon him
were scattered in various directions. (See Nov. 18.)
1852. AUGUSTUS N. W. PUGIN, styled the _Christian architect_, died at
Ramsgate, England, aged 41. The revival of Gothic architecture in
England is associated with the names of himself and his father.
1853. The engine of a freight train on the Ohio and Pennsylvania rail
road exploded while running, lifting the locomotive from the track and
hurling it fifty feet.
1853. The first ground broken of the European and North American rail
road, at St. John, by lady Head, assisted by the lieutenant-governor in
the presence of 25,000 people.
1854. ALEXANDER W. STOWE, chief justice of the state of Wisconsin, died
at Milwaukee.