322 B. C. DEMOSTHENES, the Athenian orator, died at the isle of
Calauria, as is supposed by poison, to save himself from falling into
the hands of his enemies alive.
1154. STEPHEN, king of England, died. He usurped the throne, which
belonged to Matilda, wife of Henry IV, of Germany, whose son Henry II,
succeeded him.
1400. GEOFFREY CHAUCER, the father of English poetry, died.
1415. Battle of Agincourt, in France; the English army had been reduced
by disease and sword from 30,000 to 15,000, when on ascending the
heights of Blangi they saw the French army of 50,000 men drawn up to
oppose their progress. There was no alternative but to give battle,
which resulted in the defeat of the French, who lost 10,000 killed, and
14,000 taken prisoners; while the loss of the English was but 40 men.
1499. The bridge of Notre Dame, at Paris, fell.
1555. CHARLES V resigned the sovereignty of the Low Countries, in the
presence of the states at Brussels, in favor of his bigoted son Philip.
1691. GEORGE LEGGE, an able English naval officer, died in the Tower,
whither he had been sent on suspicion of favoring the revolution.
1692. PETER SCHUYLER was admitted by Gov. Fletcher to the council board,
his peculiar qualifications being required by the administration.
1701. Philadelphia first chartered by William Penn; Edward Shippen was
appointed mayor.
1714. SEBASTIAN LE CLERC died; a French engraver, who rose from
obscurity to eminence.
1731. Several valuable manuscripts destroyed in the Cottonian library at
Westminster, by a fire.
1735. CHARLES MORDAUNT, a renowned English naval officer, died. To
bravery and heroism he added a penetrating genius and a mind highly
polished.
1751. An extraordinary eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
1757. AUGUSTINE CALMET, a learned French ecclesiastic, died. He was well
acquainted with the oriental languages and published several learned
works, which are still in use.
1760. GEORGE II, of England, died suddenly at Kensington from the
extraordinary circumstance of a rupture of the right ventricle of the
heart, in the 77th year of his age and the 34th of his reign.
1764. WILLIAM HOGARTH died; one of the most original of painters. He was
originally destined for a copperplate engraver, to which art he served
an apprenticeship.
1779. The British evacuated Newport, R. I.; to the honor of Gen. Pigot,
no wanton injury was committed.
1780. JOHN HANCOCK chosen first governor of Massachusetts, under their
new constitution.
1780. Gen. MARION attacked near the high hills of Santee, 200 British
and tories, under Col. Tyne; killed or took nearly half of them, and
most of their horses, &c.
1781. Americans under Col. Willett, of New York, defeated 600 British
under major Ross.
1788. WILLIAM JULIUS MICKLE, an English poet, died. He commenced life as
a brewer, but failing in business took up literature in which he
succeeded.
1793. Battle of Wazenau; the Austrians under Wurmzer defeated the
French, who lost 3,000 men, all their baggage and 10 cannon.
1794. Venlo, an important fortress on the Meuse, surrendered to the
French republicans; the commandant, Gen. Puffer, first requiring the
French Gen. Lourent to assure him upon the honor of the French nation,
that the garrison had no hopes left of being relieved by the allied
powers.
1798. NELSON arrived at Malta with 14 ships of war and summoned Valetta
to surrender, offering to transport the French home. The offer being
refused the place was invested, and the siege left in charge of Capt.
Ball, Nelson being forced to depart to refit his ships, which were
damaged at the recent battle of Aboukir.
1806. HENRY KNOX died; major-general in the army of the United States
during the war of the revolution, and secretary of war under Washington.
1806. The French under Davoust entered Berlin, the capital of Prussia,
where they found 500 cannon, several hundred thousand pounds of powder
and some thousands of muskets.
1806. Spandau, a fortress nine miles from Berlin, surrendered to the
French under Victor; they found there oats and provisions for the French
army for two months, and ammunition sufficient to double the stores of
the artillery.
1806. A battalion of Saxons under baron Hund surrendered to the French
at Little Somerda, in Thuringia.
1812. Action between American frigate United States, 54 guns, Com.
Decatur, and British frigate Macedonian, 49 guns. The latter was
captured after an action of an hour and a half, with the loss of 104
killed and wounded. American loss 12.
1813. Action between the United States frigate Congress, Capt. Smith,
and British ship Rose, in which the latter was captured and destroyed.
1813. British and Indians repulsed in an attack upon the United States
troops under Gen. Izard.
1826. First daily paper at Rochester, N. Y., issued.
1836. The Luxor obelisk erected in Paris in the Place of Louis XV, in
the presence of the royal family and about 250,000 spectators.
1842. SAMPSON SALTER BLOWERS died at Halifax, aged 100. He was born in
Boston, and studied law under Gov. Hutchinson; but adhering to the
British party was proscribed. He was nearly 40 years a supreme court
judge.
1844. The Providence theatre burnt, destroying the valuable scientific
apparatus used by Dr. Lardner in his lectures.
1847. Tobasco was bombarded by a portion of the Gulf squadron under
Com. Perry, and all the vessels in the port were captured or destroyed.
Com. Perry lost 1 killed, 3 wounded and 2 drowned.
1848. DIXON H. LEWIS, an important member of congress from Alabama
during a quarter of a century, died at New York, aged 46.
1849. TOBIAS E. STANSBURY, a revolutionary officer, died near Baltimore,
aged 93. A great portion of his long life was spent in the service of
his country.
1849. BENJAMIN ABBOT, for half a century an eminent New England teacher,
died at Exeter, N. H., aged 87. As principal of Phillips Exeter academy,
he directed the studies of pupils who became eminent men in the land.
1852. The grand duke of Tuscany refused to give audience to an English
protestant deputation in favor of Rosa and Francisco Madiai, under
confinement for distributing Bibles.
1854. LEWIS EDWARD NOLAN, a distinguished British cavalry officer, was
killed at Balaclava. He was well versed in all the languages of modern
Europe, and a military writer.
1855. The Russians under Gen. Liprandi, 30,000 strong, attacked the
allies at Balaclava, carried and maintained two Turkish redoubts, and
captured several guns; but were repulsed by the English and French.