411. FLAVIUS JULIUS CONSTANTINE put to death by order of Constantius. He
was a private Roman soldier, who invested himself with the imperial
purple in Britain, and added Gaul and Spain to his dominions.
741. GREGORY III, pope, died. He was a charitable but magnificent
pontiff, who added great splendor to the holy see.
1285. PETER III, king of Arragon, died. He is notorious for the massacre
of the French in the island of Sicily, called the _Sicilian Vespers_, by
which he became master of the kingdom.
1443. Revolt of Scanderbeg from the Turkish power, holding the standard
of his native mountains.
1499. EDWARD PLANTAGENET, earl of Warwick, beheaded.
1523. Election of CLEMENT VII (_Julius de Medici_), to the
disappointment and deep resentment of cardinal Wolsey; an event which
had its weight in the establishment of the English reformation.
1631. EDMUND RICHER, an eminent French theological writer, died. He
possessed great powers of mind, and a lively imagination; but his
writings became obnoxious to the pope's legate, and drew on him
persecution.
1655. Peace between England and France proclaimed.
1680. GIOVANNI LORENZO BERNINI died; an Italian famous for his skill in
painting, sculpture, architecture and mechanics. He left a large fortune
and was buried with great magnificence.
1708. ANTHONY VANDALE died; an eminent Dutch physician and critic.
1776. WASHINGTON retreated across the Passaic before Cornwallis. The
diminution of the American army by the departure of those whose terms of
service had expired, encouraged the British to pursue the remaining
force with the prospect of annihilating it. The pursuit was urged with
so much rapidity, that the rear of the army, pulling down bridges, was
often within sight and shot of the van of the other, building them up.
1778. EDWARD ROWE MORES, an able English antiquary, died.
1782. Edict of the emperor JOSEPH II, absolving religious orders in the
Low Countries from all foreign dependence whatever.
1785. WILLIAM WHIPPLE, one of the signers, died. He was a native of New
Hampshire, and employed several years in commercial voyages. In 1775 he
was a representative from Portsmouth, and in 1777 was placed at the head
of a brigade raised to oppose Burgoyne, which he commanded at the battle
of Saratoga.
1789. The iron, lead and woodwork of the Bastile were sold at Paris by
auction.
1794. FREDERICK WILLIAM AUGUSTUS, baron Steuben, died at Steubenville,
N. Y., aged 61. He came to America from France in 1777, and joined the
revolutionary army. His sound judgment and experience, attained in the
army of Frederick the Great, was of incalculable advantage to the
Americans in establishing discipline and a uniform system of manoeuvres.
1799. KIEN LONG, emperor of China, died, aged 90. He received addresses
from Voltaire and Peter Pindar.
1800. MATTHEW YOUNG, an Irish bishop and mathematician, died.
1801. DEODAT GUY SILVAIN TANCREDE DE DOLOMIEU, an eminent French
geologist, died, of a disease taken during an imprisonment. He was
indefatigable in the pursuit of his favorite science.
1806. The French under Murat entered Warsaw, the capital of ancient
Poland, which had been overawed by the Russian soldiery, kept there for
the purpose.
1812. LOGAN, the Mingo chief, died; so well known by his misfortunes.
1812. Battle of Tchatchovo; the Russians again defeated the French on
the left bank of the Berezina. This was the last battle of consequence
in Russia. Bonaparte fled the field, and was no more seen in any
conflict during this campaign. His army was reduced to a wretched band
of the shadows of men.
1818. ANN DAWSON died at Harrowgate, England, aged 161.
1825. MAXIMILIAN SEBASTIAN FOY, a distinguished French officer and
orator, died. His funeral was attended by thousands of his countrymen,
and a monument erected to his memory.
1828. MILLER RITCHIE, justly considered the father of fine English
printing, died.
1840. London enveloped in dense fog, which arrested business in the city
and on the river. Serious accidents and loss of life occurred. Such an
event had not occurred before in 20 years; it was impossible to find the
way along the streets without lighted flambeaux.
1849. THOMAS H. BLAKE, an early settler at Terre Haute, Ind., and a
distinguished American statesman, died.