377 B. C. On this day was fought the famous naval battle of Naxus, in
which the Lacedemonians were totally defeated.
331 B. C. ALEXANDER crossed the Tigris and entered Assyria. The army
encountered great difficulties in the passage, both from the depth and
force of the current, and the slippery nature of its bed. The cavalry
formed a double line, within which the infantry marched with their
shields over their heads, and their arms interlinked. In this manner
they crossed without loss of lives. Their entrance into Assyria was
signalized by an almost total eclipse of the moon, by which the date of
the event is determined.
92 B. C. LUCIUS LUCINIUS CRASSUS died; a Roman orator, greatly commended
by Cicero.
692. ABDULLAH IBN ZOBEYR, khalif of Mecca, having been besieged nine
months in his capital until he was deserted by his friends and family,
put himself at the head of five faithful followers, and rushed upon the
besiegers, by whom he was slain, at the age of 72.
1142. MAUD, queen of England, besieged in Oxford by the forces of
Stephen, but escaped on foot.
1384. LOUIS I, duke of Anjou, died at Paris, of a broken heart, in
consequence of the ill success of his measures.
1415. OWEN GLENDOWER, a celebrated Welch warrior, died; he opposed the
sovereignty of Henry IV of England more than fourteen years, by force of
arms, declaring him to be an usurper and the murderer of Richard II.
1527. JANUS GRUTERIUS, an eminent Dutch philologer, died. He was an able
critic, a man of extensive erudition, and a very voluminous and
respectable writer.
1581. HUBERT LANGUET, an eminent French statesman, died. He was a man of
great political knowledge, and deservedly esteemed by the wisest and
most eminent men of his age.
1586. ANTHONY BABINGTON with others cruelly executed in St. Giles's
fields for a conspiracy against queen Elizabeth.
1639. JOHN MEURSIUS, a learned Dutch scholar, died. His works were
printed at Florence in 12 vols. folio.
1643. Battle of Newbury, between the royalists under prince Rupert, and
the parliamentary forces under the earl of Essex. Night put an end to
the action, and left the victory undecided. Lucius Carey, lord Falkland,
and the earls of Sunderland and Carnaervon, were killed.
1653. The New England colonies declared war against Ninigret, sachem of
the Niantick Indians, and voted that 250 foot soldiers should be
immediately raised in the four colonies: Massachusetts to send 166,
Plymouth 30, Connecticut 33, New-Haven 21.
1662. JOHN GAUDEN, an English prelate, died. He published the _Icon
Basilike_ of Charles I, and had the good fortune to escape the search of
the parliament for the publisher of that popular book.
1668. VINCENT WING died; a famous English astronomer and astrologer, who
published _The Celestial Harmony of the Visible World_, and other works.
1736. JOHN BERNARDI died in Newgate prison, England, aged 79. He had
been confined there 40 years on a false charge of plotting the
assassination of William III.
1740. CHARLES VI died; sixteenth and last emperor of Germany of the
house of Austria, in the male line; he was succeeded by his daughter
Maria Theresa.
1746. The _Young Pretender_, CHARLES EDWARD, having been completely
defeated at Culloden, embarked for France at Lochmannoch, in a privateer
of St. Malo, and arrived safe. His followers were less fortunate.
1759. JULIAN LE ROY, a distinguished French mechanic, died. His watches
acquired great celebrity.
1761. Auto-da-fé at Lisbon; there were 54 criminals, 3 of them in
effigy.
1770. Captain PHIPPS returned to London from his voyage to the polar
seas, being stopped by ice, latitude 81° 30´ north.
1783. Captain TURNER, the traveler, was received at Jikadze, the capital
of the lama of Thibet.
1791. LOUIS XVI, for the first time after his return from Varennes,
repaired to the hall of the national assembly, in order to give his
adhesion, viva voce, to the new constitution.
1792. Battle of Valmy, between the French and allies. It is stated that
although more than 40,000 cannon shot were fired in this engagement, not
more than 400 men were killed.
1805. PIERRE FRANÇOIS ANDRE MECHAIN died at Castillon, in Spain. His
theory of eclipses and other astronomical phenomena has much merit.
1814. The British under general DRUMMOND, in consequence of the losses
sustained on the 17th, raised the siege of fort Erie.
1814. AUGUSTUS WILLIAM IFLAND, a German actor and dramatic writer, died
at Berlin, and was interred with great pomp.
1815. WILLIAM HUTTON died; the historian of Birmingham, and author of
various other works.
1831. JOHN HENRY HOBART, bishop of the protestant episcopal diocese of
New York, died; a man of vigorous intellect and great decision of
character.
1840. FRANCIA, dictator of Paraguay, died at Paraguay, at a very
advanced age.
1842. WILLIAM MAGINN died in England. He was a contributor to the London
_Literary Gazette_, and in 1818-20 to _Blackwood's Magazine_ under the
signature of O'Doherty.
1849. JONATHAN H. HUBBARD, a distinguished American statesman, of
Vermont, died, aged 81.
1852. PHILANDER CHASE, bishop of Illinois, died at Peoria, aged 76. He
was a native of New Hampshire; was bishop of Ohio 12 years, of Illinois
17 years; laid the foundation of Kenyon college, and was president of
Jubilee college.
1854. The allies attacked the Russians under Menschikoff, who 40,000 in
number, were strongly entrenched upon the heights of Alma, and after a
contest of four hours drove them from the ground with great loss. The
allies had about 500 killed and 2,500 wounded; the Russian loss said to
have been more than 7,000.