Part 36
1854. J. DELIUS, of Bremen, assistant professor of English literature at Berlin, fell into the crater of Vesuvius, and perished there.
MAY 12.
48 B. C. Battle of Pharsalia, between Cæsar and Pompey, in which the latter was defeated, and escaped on foot. This battle forms an important era in the history of the world.
824. PASCHAL I, pope, died; distinguished for his benevolence and toleration.
1264. Battle of Lewes and defeat of Henry III by Leicester.
1294. EDWARD I of England met at Norham the states of Scotland, when they acknowledged his sovereignty, and engaged to deliver up to him their castles.
1430. The famous JOAN OF ARC, or maid of Orleans, pretended to be sent from God to save the kingdom of France.
1539. FERDINAND DE SOTO sailed from Havana with ten ships for the conquest of Florida.
1618. The Calvinists of Bohemia entered the castle of Prague, cast the leading members of the council from the windows, and took possession of the capital.
1621. The first marriage in the colony at Plymouth took place, between Edward Winslow and Susanna White.
1641. THOMAS WENTWORTH, an English statesman under Charles I, beheaded on a false charge of treason. The king was compelled by the clamors of the populace to order his execution.
1663. The books of the London stationers company record the names of 59 persons exercising the trade as master printers.
1690. JOHN RUSHWORTH, an English writer, died in the king's bench prison, where he had been confined 6 years; author of _Historical Collections_, in 7 vols. folio.
1763. JOHN JACKSON died; an English divine and historian, author of _Chronological Antiquities_.
1763. JOHN BELL, the distinguished anatomist of Scotland, was born at Edinburgh.
1771. CHRISTOPHER SMART, an English poet and miscellaneous writer, died; known by a popular translation of Horace. By some authorities his death is placed in 1770.
1780. Charleston, S. C., surrendered to the British; 2,500 prisoners and 400 cannon fell into the hands of the enemy.
1781. Fort Motte surrendered by the British to the American generals Marion and Lee.
1785. Mr. MCGUIRE having ascended from Dublin in a balloon, was carried with great velocity towards the sea, into which he descended, and was taken up nearly lifeless.
1791. FRANCIS GROSE died; author of the _Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue_, a complete collection of British technicals, vulgarisms, and billingsgate used by gamblers, ostlers, servants, fishwomen, &c., which, though not very popular, or creditable to him, is yet quite a curiosity. He produced some other works of great merit, which mark him a profound antiquary.
1795. EZRA STILES, president of Yale college, died. He was eminent as a divine, and an indefatigable scholar. His publications were few, but he left 40 vols. in manuscript.
1796. The French under Bonaparte defeated the Austrians with great slaughter, who were compelled to abandon their guns and baggage, and take refuge under the cannon of Mantua.
1797. BONAPARTE took possession of Venice, boasting an independence of fourteen centuries.
1798. SIDNEY SMITH escaped from France after two years imprisonment.
1809. Vienna capitulated to the French, and Napoleon established his head quarters in the imperial palace of Schoenbrunn. The emperor had already quitted it, with all his family except his daughter the archduchess Maria Louisa, afterwards wife of Napoleon, who was confined to her chamber by sickness--on learning which, Bonaparte ordered that there should be no firing in that direction.
1809. Lord WELLINGTON took Oporto by assault, and the French under Soult were compelled to retreat to Amarante.
1809. Alcantara, in Spain, taken by a division of the French under Victor, together with the British garrison.
1848. ALEXANDER BARING, lord Ashburton, died in England, aged 78. He passed much of his youth in America, and was British embassador at Washington, to settle the Maine boundary in 1842. He acquired great wealth, and was a highly accomplished man.
1848. Posen incorporated with Germany, and the insurgent Poles disarmed.--Violent earthquake at Sienna, Italy.
1849. A crevasse was made in the levee above New Orleans flooding much of the city.
1854. The British ship Tiger, 16 guns, was captured near Odessa by the Russians, with 226 prisoners.
1855. D. J. MCCORD, an American lawyer, died at Columbia, S. C. He published law reports, and edited the _Statutes at Large_, on the death of Dr. Cooper, to whom the work was first entrusted.
MAY 13.
432. B. C. METON, the Athenian astronomer, began his famous _lunar cycle_ of 19 years (then marked by successive letters in gold, which are now called the golden numbers), with the new moon nearest to the summer solstice falling upon the 16th of Scirophion.
48 B. C. POMPEY, in passing through the Archipelago, stopt at Mitylene to receive his wife, the exemplary Cornelia, and there conversed with Cratippus, the philosopher, _on the nature of providence_.
1213. King JOHN received Pandulph, the pope's legate, in whose presence he subscribed an instrument by which the sentences of interdict, excommunication and deposition were revoked, conditionally that he reversed all his former acts of oppression.
1520. Massacre of the Mexicans by Alvarado, during the absence of Cortez. This happened on the great festival of their god _Huitzilopochtli_, in the month Toxcatl, the emperor being then a prisoner of the Spaniards in his palace, and the principal nobles gathered there for the dance, when the Spaniards fell upon them with the utmost fury. The victims were unable to defend themselves or escape by flight, and the slaughter was terrible. An insurrection immediately followed, and the quarters of the Spaniards were assaulted with such determined energy that they were compelled to hasten the return of Cortez, and led to the disaster of the 1st July (q. v.)
1539. A bill brought into the English parliament vesting in the crown all the property of the monastic institutions. This was followed by the fall of 644 monasteries, 90 colleges, 2,374 chantries, and 110 hospitals. The revenue of these establishments amounted to £161,000.
1568. Battle of Langside hill, Mary queen of Scots defeated by the regent Murray, and fled to England.
1607. Jamestown, Virginia, settled. Three small ships, with 105 persons intended to form a settlement, under Sir Christopher Newport, took possession of a peninsula in Powhatan river, and gave it the name of Jamestown. Though they had to strive against appalling difficulties, and were several times on the verge of losing or abandoning the enterprise, they were ultimately established, mainly through the great exertions and talents of Capt. John Smith, one of the most remarkable persons connected with the early history of the country, and indeed one of the most remarkable of an age prolific of memorable men. Jamestown was for a long time the capital of the state, but has sunk into ruin, and is almost desolate. Two or three old houses, the ruins of an old steeple, a churchyard, and faint marks of the rude fortifications, are the only memorials of its former importance.
1614. MARGUARD FREHER died. His books on law, criticism and history are numerous and respectable.
1619. JOHN VAN OLDENBARNEVELDT, a Dutch statesman, beheaded. Zeal for his country led him to oppose the arbitrary measures of the stadtholder, for which he was accused of treason and condemned at the age of 72. (See April 14.)
1625. CHARLES I issued a proclamation for "settling the plantation of Virginia." The colony was reduced under the immediate direction of the crown, and the commission to the new governor and council was accompanied with arbitrary instructions. "The commerce of the colony was restrained, and the persons of the colonists enslaved."
1649. WILLIAM CHAPPEL, bishop of Cork, died. His works have been translated into English. To him is ascribed, among others, the authorship of the _Whole Duty of Man_.
1704. LOUIS BOURDALOUE died; esteemed the best preacher that France ever produced.
1728. Counsellor HAGEN, formerly secretary to the famous baron Gortz, shot himself through the head. He left a letter to king George II, and a paper stating "I am quite weary of eating and drinking, of shunning my creditors, weary of being burthensome to my friends, weary of being vexatious to my enemies, and lastly tired with myself."
1734. JAMES THORNHILL, an eminent English historical painter, died.
1736. The foundation of the Ratcliffe library laid at Oxford, England.
1781. ROGER BYRNE, the Irish giant, was buried. He weighed with his coffin 578 lbs., and died of no other disease than suffocation occasioned by a superabundance of fat, which stopped the play of his lungs, and put a period to his life in the 54th year of his age. His height, it is believed, was nearly 8 feet.
1760. A copy of Tendall's testament sold at Oxford for 20 guineas, supposed to be the only copy of that edition unburned by Tonstall. This book occasioned some prelates to say that they must root out printing or printing would root out them.
1783. Society of Cincinnati established; originated by Gen. Knox, and composed exclusively of officers who had served in the regular army during the revolutionary war.
1790. Action in the port of Revel, between the Swedish fleet of 23 ships and 18 frigates, and the Russian fleet of 11 sail and 5 frigates, protected by several batteries and fortifications. A furious storm raged at the time, which destroyed two Swedish ships.
1799. BARTHOLOMEW MERCIER, abbot of St. Leger, died; a learned French author and a worthy man, whom the revolution reduced to poverty and wretchedness.
1806. Broome county in the state of New York erected.
1814. Madam MURAT surrendered the fleet and arsenal at Naples, and Ferdinand returned to his capital.
1814. British cannonaded and bombarded the town of Charlotte at the mouth of Genesee river. It was successfully defended by Gen. Peter B. Porter, with 150 volunteers and 350 militia.
1816. Treaty between the United States and the Sac Indians of Rock river.
1825. CHARLES WHITWORTH, an English earl, died; employed by the government as ambassador to different courts of Europe--a man of much private worth and unquestioned talent.
1832. GEORGE LEOPOLD CUVIER, the French naturalist, died. His grand work, the _Animal Kingdom_, forms an imperishable monument of his genius.
1835. ELIZABETH COOK, widow of Capt. James Cook, the circumnavigator, died near London, aged 94. She survived her husband 55 years, and was highly esteemed for her virtues.
1835. JOHN NASH, the architect of Regent street, Buckingham palace, &c., London, died.
1836. Sir CHARLES WILKINS, an eminent oriental scholar, died.
1838. ZACHARY MACAULEY, a distinguished philanthropist, died at London, aged 70. He edited the _Christian Observer_ from 1802 to 1816, with ability, and for more than 40 years dedicated his eminent talents and active energies in conjunction with other distinguished men to the abolition of African slave trade.
1839. JOSEPH FRESCH, archbishop of Lyons, died. He was the uncle of Bonaparte, and after the fall of the emperor resided at Rome in the enjoyment of immense wealth, and one of the first picture galleries in that city.
1841. The American Bible Society celebrated its 25th anniversary at New York. The whole amount of receipts during the year preceding, was $118,860·41; the number of Bibles and testaments published and circulated through the efforts of the society since its organization, _three millions_.
1849. A revolution at Carlsruhe, and the grand duke of Baden fled.
1852. GEORGE DOLLAND, an English astronomer and optician, died, aged 78. His father and grandfather followed the same pursuits. He is the author of the _Atmospheric Recorder_.
MAY 14.
1097. The siege of Nice, the Turkish capital of Soliman, sultan of Roum, opened by the French crusaders, whose camps formed an imperfect circle of more than 6 miles.
1501. AMERIGO VESPUCCI sailed with three ships furnished him by Emanuel of Portugal. This was his third voyage, which he extended as far as Patagonia.
1602. BARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLD, after a passage of 7 weeks direct west from England, discovered land on the American coast, and fell in with a shallop with sails and oars, manned by Indians, with whom they had friendly intercourse. They are represented as naked, "save neere their wastes seale skins tyed fast like to Irish dimmi trouses;" and the chief wore a few things of European fabric, described the coast with a piece of chalk, and "spake diverse Christian words." Their vessel is supposed to have belonged to some wrecked fishermen of Biscay.
1610. HENRY IV of France assassinated by Ravaillac. Above 50 historians and 500 panegyrists, poets and orators, have spoken in his praise; but the _Henriade_ of Voltaire is the most likely to immortalize him.
1652. British commodore YOUNG fell in with a Dutch convoy, and demanded that according to an act of king John (A. D. 1200) they should strike their flag to the British flag. This being refused, a severe action ensued, which ended in the Dutch flag being struck, after which they were permitted to proceed!
1667. JOAN HENRY URSINUS died; a Lutheran divine, eminent for his learning in sacred and profane history.
1692. Sir WILLIAM PHIPS arrived at Boston with the new charter by William and Mary, where he was received with great pomp, and conducted by the military, magistrates, ministers, and principal men of the country to the town-house, where the charter was published. This charter included the whole of old Massachusetts, Plymouth colony, the provinces of Maine and Nova Scotia, the islands of Elizabeth, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, as the province of Massachusetts, of which Phips was appointed governor.
1731. A final settlement was made of the boundary line between New York and Connecticut; 60,000 acres called the Oblong being ceded to New York in exchange for lands near the sound.
1761. THOMAS SIMPSON, an eminent English mathematician, died. He was a weaver in the lowest circumstances, who raised himself to distinction by close application to science.
1780. PETER MONTAN LE BERTON died; an eminent French musician, and manager of the operas at Paris.
1781. Lieut. col. CHRISTOPHER GREENE (the conqueror of count Donop) and major FLAG, surprised and murdered at Croton river, by a party of refugees.
1785. Canal opened between the Baltic and North seas.
1796. Vaccination for cowpox first applied by Dr. Jenner.
1796. BONAPARTE made his public entry into Milan under a triumphal arch.
1798. DAVID RUHNKENIUS died; professor of belles-lettres and history, and librarian in the university at Leyden, and a learned and able critic.
1805. ROBERT BISSET died; a Scottish historian, biographer, and novelist.
1810. Lerida, in Spain, surrendered to the French general Suchet, who found large quantities of stores. Same day, Catalonians defeated the French, whose loss is stated at 45,000, and that of the Catalonians 25,000.
1814. British fleet on lake Champlain commenced a heavy cannonade on the American batteries under colonel Davis, at the mouth of Otter creek. The British were compelled to retreat.
1814. French defeated at Madrid by lord Wellington.
1814. Spanish squadron belonging to Monte Video, defeated by the Buenos Ayrean squadron under com. Brown.
1820. HENRY GRATTAN, an Irish statesman, died. He warmly espoused the interests of his country, and many important measures were effected by his eloquence.
1826. State prison at Sing Sing, New York, commenced.
MAY 15.
164 B. C. The Jews, upon the 15th Sivan, celebrate a feast for the victory of Judas Maccabæus over the people of Bethsan, or Scythopolis.
67. VESPASIAN invested Jotopata, in Galilee, defended by Josephus, the historian, a very interesting siege as it respects the latter.
392. VALENTINIAN, emperor of Rome, strangled at Vienne, in Milan, by order of Arbogastes, his rebellious general.
1213. King JOHN, oppressed with guilt and despair, resigned the kingdoms of England and Ireland to the pope, to be held of him and of the Roman church in fee, by the annual rent of 1,000 marks.
1464. Battle of Hexham, on the banks of the Dilswater, and defeat of the Lancastrians under the duke of Somerset, by Edward IV. The fate of the royal family after this defeat was extremely singular and distressing.
1494. COLUMBUS discovered a great number of small islands in the West Indies, which he called the _Queen's Garden_. These were in his opinion the 5,000 islands which Marco Polo and Mandeville described as the boundary of India.
1548. The emperor CHARLES V laid before the diet of Augsburg a _rule of faith_, which he compelled them to acquiesce in, notwithstanding that it was disapproved by both protestants and papists.
1567. Marriage of Mary, queen of Scots, and the earl of Bothwell.
1571. Moscow burnt by the Tartars, who had surrounded the city, and set it on fire at all points. The entire city was burnt down, and upwards of 200,000 of the inhabitants perished in the flames.
1602. BARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLD, in search of a suitable place to settle a plantation, discovered a head land in 42 deg., where he came to anchor; and taking a great number of cod at this place, they called it cape Cod, which name it still retains.
1618. The celebrated KEPLER discovered his canon for the periodical motion of the planets.
1645. Battle of Alderne, in which the earl of Montrose defeated the Scots under Urrey with great slaughter.
1664. The Dutch governor surrendered the island of Cayenne to the French, by treaty.
1674. Besançon, an ancient city of France, taken by Louis XIV.
1679. The Ashmolean museum, at Oxford, England, founded for the purpose of receiving the antiquary's "twelve cartloads of rarities."
1716. JOHN BAGFORD, an English antiquary, died. He was originally a shoemaker, became a bookseller, and an amateur of old English books and curious prints, with which he enriched several famous libraries.
1719. FRANCIS MALAVAL died; a Frenchman, who, although he lost his sight when 9 months old, acquired celebrity as a mystical writer on quietism.
1737. ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM, a Scottish historian, died. He wrote a valuable _History of Great Britain_ in Latin, which remained in manuscript till 1787, when it was translated by Thompson, and published in 2 vols. quarto.
1740. EPHRAIM CHAMBERS, an English encyclopedist, died. He was apprenticed to a globemaker, and during his minority projected his _Dictionary of the Arts and Sciences_, which appeared in 1728 in 2 vols. folio. It was extended by Dr. Rees to 45 vols. quarto.
1747. British fleet under Anson captured 1 French ship of 74 guns, 5 of 64, 4 of 60, 1 of 50, and 20 merchantmen.
1766. JOHN ASTRUC, a French physician, died; author of several useful and curious works.
1772. ANTONY FRANCIS RICCOBONI died; an Italian actor, author of _Art du Théatre_, a work of great merit.
1773. ALBAN BUTLER died; director of the English college of St. Omer's, and author of the _Lives of the Fathers, Saints and Martyrs_, with valuable notes.
1775. Congress resolved to issue paper money.
1776. American fort at the Cedars, 43 miles above Montreal, surrendered by maj. Butterfield, with 390 men, to capt. Foster, with 650 British and Indians. (See May 20, 27.)
1781. Fort Granby surrendered by the British to col. Lee.
1789. The number of emigrants which had passed through Muskingum to settle in Kentucky since the first of Aug., 1786, (not including those who passed in the night unnoticed) was 19,882. These were accompanied by 8,884 horses, 2,297 cattle, 1,920 sheep, 627 wagons, and 1,067 boats.
1800. JAMES MALLET DU PAN died in England, where he took refuge from the revolutionary mania of France. He was a literary and political writer, distinguished by the extent of his knowledge and vigor of style, as well as probity and independence of character.
1800. BONAPARTE crossed the mount St. Bernard. Each man, says sir Walter Scott, carried from sixty to eighty pounds, up icy precipices, where a man totally without encumbrance could ascend but slowly. Probably no troops but the French could have endured the fatigue of such a march; and no other general than Bonaparte would have ventured to require it at their hands.
1802. The Portuguese frigate Cine captured by the Algerines, after a smart action. The crew having ran below, the officers were all cut to pieces.
1814. The British plundered Poultneyville, on lake Ontario. They were driven off by general Swift.
1817. DAVID IRVING died at Philadelphia. He was taken prisoner on board the United States frigate Philadelphia at Tripoli and imprisoned there two years.
1821. JOHN WALL CALLCOTT died; an English musical composer, and author of a _Musical Grammar_.
1821. JOHN BONNYCASTLE died; an English mathematician, whose works are in use in this country. He contributed the mathematical articles for _Rees's Cyclopedia_.
1830. An extensive shower of red dust extending over Italy, Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, &c., observed by Dr. John Davy.
1833. EDMUND KEAN, a celebrated English tragedian, died. It is ascertained that the total sum which he received for acting from 1814, was £177,000, averaging nearly $40,000 per annum for 19 years; yet he died poor.
1836. The village of Roanoke, on the Chatahoochee, Ga., attacked and stormed by 300 Indians, and burnt to ashes.
1838. JOHN MURPHY died in Fauquier county, Va., aged 106.
1847. DANIEL O'CONNEL, the Irish agitator, died at Genoa, on his way to Rome. His heart was sent forward and his body carried back to Ireland.
1848. Attempted communist counter revolution in Paris.
1848. RICHARD H. TOLER, a distinguished writer and for 23 years editor of the _Lynchburgh Virginian_, died at Richmond.
1854. GEORGE PERKINS, a retired Boston merchant, was murdered by the Chinese crew of a boat which he had engaged to take him ashore at Macao, whither he had just arrived from San Francisco.
1854. The ship Townsend, from Boston to San Francisco destroyed by fire, and several lives lost.
1854. An explosion took place in the Blackheath coal mines, Virginia; by which of the twenty-three workmen only one escaped death.
1855. The universal industrial exhibition was opened at Paris by Louis Napoleon.
1855. A destructive tornado swept over a portion of Lapeer county, Michigan.
MAY 16.
1277. JOHN XXI, pope, killed by the fall of a building. He was a Portuguese, and wrote on philosophy, medicine, &c.
1525. THOMAS MUNZER, a Saxon divine, executed. In conjunction with Stork, he pulled down all the images in the churches which Luther had left standing, and finally at the head of 40,000 men, commenced leveler of all ranks and distinctions, as usurpations on the rights of mankind. He was at length defeated in battle, when 7,000 of his followers were slain and himself captured.
1568. MARY, queen of Scots, crossed the frith of Solway, the _irremeable stream_, and landed in England.
1681. Female dancers first introduced on the Parisian stage, in a court opera, called _Le Triumphe de l'Amour_.
1691. LEISLER and MILBOURNE hung as the cause of the Schenectady massacre.
1710. THOMAS SMITH died; a learned English writer on the manners and religion of the Turks, &c.
1725. PAUL DE RAPIN DE THOYRAS, an eminent French historical writer, died. He served in the English army, and devoted 17 years to a _History of England_, which was published in 10 vols. quarto.
1747. M. BUFFON, the celebrated naturalist, communicated to the Academy of sciences the results of some experiments on burning glasses, asserting the account of Archimedes burning the Roman ships at Syracuse, were neither absurd nor false.
1770. LOUIS XVI of France espoused Maria Antoinette, archduchess of Austria. A violent tempest on that day was regarded as an omen of future misfortunes.
1776. The French navigator, DE PAGES, passed the 81st degree of north latitude, in an attempt to reach the pole.