606. BONIFACE III, pope, died. He established the superiority of the
popes over the patriarchs of Constantinople.
1035. CANUTE (_the Great_), king of Denmark, died. He took part of
England from Edmund Ironsides, and afterwards seized the whole kingdom.
1041. The people rose on the tax collectors of Hardi Canute of England,
and slew them.
1493. COLUMBUS arrived at Navidad, on the north side of Hispaniola,
where he had left a colony on his first voyage, and had the
mortification to find that the people were all dead, and the fort
destroyed.
1550. PAUL FAGIUS (_Buchlin_), a learned protestant German minister,
died in England. He undertook a new translation and illustration of the
Old Testament under Cromwell, but died before he had made much progress.
1555. STEPHEN GARDINER, bishop of Winchester and chancellor of England,
died. In his character as a minister, he had a large portion of
haughtiness, boundless ambition and deep dissimulation; for he looked
upon religion as an engine of state, and made use of it as such.
1562. PETER MARTYR, a distinguished commentator on the Bible, died at
Zurich.
1589. The first notice of the appointment of a licenser of stage plays,
&c., in London.
1595. JOHN HAWKINS, an English admiral, died. He signalized himself in
the reign of Elizabeth, by his encounters with the Spanish armada, and
his expeditions to the West Indies.
1606. The expedition of the Plymouth company under Challons (See Aug.
12), on its passage from the West Indies towards the American coast, was
captured by a Spanish fleet and carried into Spain, where the vessel was
confiscated.
1684. Birthday of admiral EDWARD VERNON. The anniversary of his birthday
was kept with great enthusiasm formerly, in England, especially about
the year 1740.
1688. ANDREW ANDERSON commenced an auction sale of books, the first of
the kind in Scotland.
1722. ADRIAN VAN DER WERF, a Dutch portrait painter of great reputation,
died. He was held in great esteem, received a pension and the honor of
knighthood.
1746. JACQ. ALEXANDER CÆSAR CHARLES, in his lifetime so well known as a
natural philosopher, was born at Baujency, in France. He was the first
to make use of hydrogen gas instead of heated air in balloons.
1775. Montreal surrendered to the Americans; general Prescott, and
several officers with 120 privates were intercepted. Eleven sail of
vessels, with all their contents, fell into the hands of the
provincials.
1775. British ships Tamarand and Cherokee attacked the United States
schooner Defence, off South Carolina. This was the commencement of open
hostilities in that state. The Defence sustained but little injury.
1780. Battle of Broad river; a band of American volunteers under Sumpter
attacked by the British under major Wemys, who were defeated and Wemys
taken.
1783. The crew of the British ship Antelope, wrecked on the Pelew island
(see Aug. 10), sailed for China in a vessel which they had constructed,
taking the king's son, Lee Boo.
1793. BAILLY, late mayor of Paris, beheaded. He was a patriot and man of
science. The first to take the famous oath never to separate till they
had obtained a free constitution.
1799. Meteoric shower observed at Cumana, in South America; thousands of
falling stars were seen to succeed each other during four hours.
1805. ROBERT HOLMES, an English divine, died. He was distinguished as a
poet and scholar, and for his devotion to Biblical criticism.
1812. The Russians under Orloff Denizoff attacked a strong body of
French with a large convoy of provisions, cattle, horses, &c., on their
way to Smolensk. He killed 1500 and took 1300 prisoners, 400 wagons of
biscuit, brandy and wine, and 200 head of cattle and 1000 horses
destined for the artillery. Few of those who escaped ever reached
Smolensk, for the inclemency of the weather destroyed what the sword had
spared. It was a dreadful blow to the French army, which was reduced to
such extremities that the smallest assistance was invaluable.
1813. British frigate Lacedemonian captured Philadelphia sloop Betsey
off Carrituck. The British took out the crew, leaving the captain and
one man and a boy on board, in charge of a prize master and five men. In
the night the two Americans rose upon the crew, recaptured the vessel,
and brought her safe to Washington, N. C., with their six prisoners.
1820. WILLIAM HAYLEY, an English poet and miscellaneous writer, died.
1824. County of Orleans, in western New York, erected.
1832. BARNABA ORIANI, an Italian astronomer, died, aged 80. He was
director of the observatory, and one of the most accomplished
astronomers of the day.
1845. MARIA BROOKS, an American poetess, died, aged about 50. Her
principal poem is _Zophies_, which is pronounced one of the most
original, passionate and harmonious works of the imagination ever
conceived. Southey pronounced her "the most impassioned and imaginative
of poetesses."
1848. Revolutionary movements in Prussia. The burger guard at Berlin
refused to comply with the king's proclamation to give up their arms.
1849. The American ship Caleb Grimshaw took fire at sea, and burnt four
days, when 339 of her passengers were rescued; 60 who left the vessel on
a raft, perished.