The Every Day Book of History and Chronology. Joel Munsell
by the Turks, and subsequently commanded against the Turks in the Danube. He was one of the greatest generals of his time; made 26 campaigns, commanded at 25 sieges, fought at 13 battles, yet was never really defeated.
1753. The first number of The World appeared, conducted by Coleman, Bonnell Thornton, Chesterfield, and others.
1762. England declared war against Spain.
1773. The town meeting of Petersham, Mass., adopted a kind of manifesto of grievances, drafted by Josiah Quincy and signed by Sylvanus How.
1775. A circular letter from the British secretary of state was addressed to the governor of the several colonies, forbidding the election of delegates to the congress proposed to be held in May. The order was disregarded, and the country has not been without its annual sessions of congress since 1774.
1778. The British, under Col. Campbell, landed at the mouth of Savannah river, Ga., and defeated the Americans under Gen. Robert Howe. They took the city of Savannah, together with 38 officers, 415 privates, 48 cannons, 23 mortars, the fort, ammunition and stores, the shipping in the river, and a large quantity of provisions.
1781. British ship Courageux, Capt. Phipps, captured in one hour the French frigate Minerva 32 guns. Minerva had 50 killed, 23 wounded; Courageux 10 killed, 7 wounded.
1784. Treaty signed between the United States and Great Britain; by which the latter relinquished her right to the sovereignty of the revolted colonies.
1789. Thomas Nelson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, died. He was born at York, Va., 1738. His father was an opulent merchant and sent him to England for an education. He returned 1761, and in 1774 had become a statesman of some note. Three years afterwards he was appointed brigadier general and commander in chief of the Virginia forces, and in 1781 succeeded Jefferson as governor of the state. His services elicited the public thanks of Washington.
1793. The Alien bill passed in the British parliament. During the debate on this measure the great Burke threw upon the floor a Sheffield dagger to enforce his oratory.
1795. The French crossed the Waal near Bommel, and took possession of Tiel. They also captured Rosas and 540 of the garrison.
1796. Message from Gen. Washington to congress, accompanied by the French flag presented by the committee of public safety, which was deposited among the archives.
1804. Charlotte Lenox, the popular author of the Female Quixotte, &c., died.
1814. John George Jacobi, a German poet, died. He was the son of a wealthy merchant; studied theology; became professor of theology and eloquence at Halle, where he published a periodical for the ladies called the Iris. He was afterwards connected with several periodicals. His works are published in 7 vols.
1825. Ferdinand IV of Naples died. The life of this prince is remarkable for the uncommon length of his reign, and its many vicissitudes, embracing a period of 65 years, and being closely connected with all the great events of Europe during the last half century. He was born 1751, and came to the throne at the age of eight. The first thirty years of his reign were attended with peace and happiness; but in 1798 the country was invaded by Bonaparte, before whom Ferdinand fled to Sicily: and afterwards in 1820 the Carbonari effected a revolution which again banished the royal family. The interposition of the Austrians, however, restored the ancient order of things, which continued till the death of the king, four years after.
1827. James Chambers, an eccentric poet, died in misery at a farm-house in Stratbroke, England. From the age of 16 to 70 he wandered about the country, gaining a precarious subsistence by selling his own effusions, of which he had a number printed in a cheap form. His compositions were mostly suggested to him by his muse, during the stillness of the night while reposing in some friendly barn or hay-loft. When so inspired, he would arise and commit the effusion to paper. He continued through life in hopeless poverty, and was a lonely man and a wanderer, who had neither act nor part in the common ways of the world.
1835. Thermometer 40 deg. below zero, at Lebanon, N. Y., the mercury becoming solid. It was severely cold throughout the United States.
1843. Steven Thompson Mason, formerly governor of Michigan, died at New York, aged 31.
1845. Benjamin Russell, chiefly known as the conductor of the Columbian Centinel, died at Boston.
1849. Samuel Jenkins, a negro died at Lancaster, aged 115. He drove his master's provision wagon over the Alleganies in Braddock's expedition, and was supposed to be the last survivor of that expedition.
1849. The town of Moultan in India, after a long siege was taken by the British, but with great loss.
1852. Eliot Walburton, an author of considerable note, perished in the Amazon steamship, on his way from Southampton to the West Indies.
1853. Mr. Ingersoll, the American envoy to England, was feted by the chamber of commerce at Liverpool.
1854. Albion college, Michigan, destroyed by fire.
1856. Jean Pierre David, a celebrated French sculptor, died at Paris, aged 65.
JANUARY 5.
62. BC Lucius Sergius Catiline, the Roman conspirator, killed in Etruria. The history of his life unfolds a series of most revolting crimes; but there is reason to believe that some of them are unreal. Murder, rapine and conflagration, were thefirst pleasures of his life. Pompey, Crassus and Cæsar favored his schemes with a view to their own aggrandizement. Only two Romans remained determined to uphold their falling country—Cato and Cicero. The speeches of the latter in the Roman senate on the crisis of affairs are imperishable monuments of eloquence and patriotism, and produced the overthrow of the conspirators. Five of them were put to death, and Catiline being surrounded by the army under Petreius resolved to die sword in hand. The battle was fought with desperation, and the insurgents fell, with their leader at their head.
1066. Edward the Confessor, king of England, died. He was called to the throne 1041. He was not the immediate heir, but his claim was supported of Godwin, earl of Kent, whose daughter Editha he married. He was a weak and superstitious prince, and acquired the title of Saint or Confessor, by abstaining from nuptial connection with his queen. He was the first English monarch who undertook to cure the king's-evil by touching the patient. With him ended the Saxon line of kings.
1477. Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, killed in battle on this or the following day. This prince, the son of Philip the Good and Isabella of Portugal, early displayed a violent, impetuous and ambitious disposition; and in after life was constantly embroiled in unjust and cruel warfare, in which he performed many daring exploits. But having turned his arms against the Swiss, the fortune of war turned against him; and being deserted by his allies, with his usual temerity risked a battle with only 4000 men against a vastly superior force, was defeated and killed by the thrust of a lance in the 44th year of his age. His body covered with blood and mire, and his head imbedded in the ice, was not found till two days after the battle, when it was so disfigured that his own brother did not recognize it. With him expired the feudal government of Burgundy.
1531. The electoral college assembled at Rome and elected Ferdinand, brother of Charles V, king of the Romans. He was crowned a few days after at Aix-la-Chapelle.
1536. Catharine of Arragon, the repudiated queen of Henry VIII, died. She was the youngest daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, born 1483. She was first married to Arthur, prince of Wales, who died five months after; and the king unwilling to return her dowry caused her to be contracted to his remaining son, Henry. The prince, at the age of 15, made a public protest against this proceeding, but finally consented to the match. Notwithstanding the inequality of their ages and the capricious disposition of the