The Every Day Book of History and Chronology. Joel Munsell
French sloop Atalante, 16 guns, captured off Scilly by the British frigate Phœbe, 36 guns, Capt. Barlow.
1800. The first soup establishment for the poor was opened at Spitalfields, London.
1806. The Dutch surrendered the cape of Good Hope to the British.
1808. Phillips Cosby, British admiral of the Red, died aged 78.
1809. Samana taken by the British, together with two privateers, and four vessels laden with coffee.
1812. London involved for several hours in impenetrable darkness. The sky, where any light pervaded it, showed the aspect of bronze. It was the effect of a cloud of smoke, which, from the peculiar state of the atmosphere, did not pass off. Were it not for the peculiar mobility of the atmosphere, this city of a hundred thousand chimneys would be scarcely habitable in winter.
1815. The British under Gen. Lambert having abandoned the enterprise on New Orleans began to re-embark their artillery and munitions, preparatory to a general retreat.
1816. The schooner Eliza cast away near Newport; the captain and crew saved by Com. Perry, who with part of the crew of the frigate Java, went five miles in a boat to their relief.
1824. Thomas Edward Bowditch, the African traveler, died. He went to Africa at the age of 21, and engaged in a series of expeditions into the country. In 1822 he went out from England with a view of devoting himself to the exploration of the African continent. He had only arrived at the mouth of the Gambia when a disease occasioned by fatigue and anxiety of mind put an end to his existence.
1833. Adrien Marie Legendre, so well known as a profound mathematician, died at Paris. His life work on geometry is much used.
1840. The uniform penny postage commenced in England; the number of letters despatched from London on this day being 112,000; the average, for January, 1839, being 30,000.
1840. Battle between the Russian and Khivian cavalry; the latter commanded by the khan in person were completely routed and pursued to the city of Khiva.
1848. Miss Caroline Herschel, member of the Royal astronomical society, London, died at Hanover.
1855. Mary Russel Mitford died, aged 68; a distinguished English authoress.
1856. Thomas H. Perkins, a wealthy and liberal Boston merchant, died aged 89. His was the first American firm engaged in the China trade.
JANUARY 11.
395. Theodosius the Great, emperor of Rome, died. He was born about the year 346, and on coming to the throne distinguished himself by his orthodoxy, and his zeal against heresy and paganism. His public and private virtues, which procured him the name of The Great, will scarcely excuse the fierceness of his intolerance, or the barbarity of his anger and revenge.
1569. The first English lottery drawn at London. It continued day and evening four months. The prizes were money, plate and merchandise. It had been advertised two years at the time it took place.
1698. Peter, the czar of Russia, arrived in England and wrought as a mechanic in the dockyard at Deptford, as well as in the workshops of various mechanics, with view of carrying the English arts into his own country. He was well received by William III.
1751. A globular bottle of glass was made at Leith measuring 40 by 42 inches, the largest ever made in Britain.
1753. Sir Hans Sloane, the eminent English naturalist, died, aged 93. He was born at Killileagh in Ireland; studied medicine in London, and settled there in the practice of his profession. He was the second learned man whom science tempted to America. His museum, composed of the rarest productions of nature, he bequeathed to the public, on condition of the payment of £20,000 annually to his family, and was the foundation of the British Museum.
1775. The first provincial congress of South Carolina met at Charleston.
1778. Charles Linne (or Linnæus), the Swedish botanist, died, aged 71. In his twenty-fourth year he conceived the idea of a new arrangement of plants, or a sexual system of botany. In 1732 the Academy of Sciences at Upsal appropriated 50 Swedish dollars to send him on a tour through Lapland, and with this small sum he made a journey of more than 3500 miles, unaccompanied, traversing the Lapland desert, and enduring many hardships. A series of offices and honors were conferred upon him, till in 1753 he was created a Knight of the Polar Star, an honor never before conferred on a literary man; and in 1761 he was elevated to the rank of nobility.
1778. A collection amounting to £3815 was made for the 924 American prisoners in England. Dr. Franklin, at Paris, applied to the British ambassador for an exchange of prisoners, but his lordship was pleased to return only the following answer: "no application received from rebels unless they come to implore his majesty's pardon."
1782. Ostenburg, near Trincomalee, in the island of Ceylon, taken from the Dutch by the British Admiral Hughes.
1795. The French, under Pichegru, crossed the Waal on the ice at different points.
1800. William Newcome, archbishop of Armagh, died, aged 79. He rose gradually in the church to the primacy of Ireland; was a worthy man, and author of a great number of theological works.
1801. Cimarosa, the celebrated Italian musician, died.
1803. The Hindostan, East Indiaman, lost on the Culvers, off Margate, in a dreadful storm.
1805. Letters of marque and reprisal issued by Great Britain against Spain.
1807. Breig in Silesia surrendered to the French and Bavarians; 3 generals, 1400 Prussians, and considerable magazines were captured.
1810. In the night the mercury in three thermometers froze at Moscow and withdrew into the ball. At Iraish it was observed at −44½° of Fahrenheit immediately before it froze.
1811. Marie Joseph de Chenier, a French poet, died. By flattering the passions of the people he soon gained great popularity, and during the revolution was one of the most violent democrats.
1815. Cumberland island, Georgia, taken possession of by Capt. Barrie of the British ship Dragon. Same day British sloop of war, Barbadoes, Capt. Fleming captured privateer schooner Fox, of 7 guns and 72 men from Wilmington.
1817. Timothy Dwight, president of Yale college, died, aged 65. He entered Yale college at the age of 13, and became a tutor at 19. His health becoming impaired, by the advice of his physicians he traveled, walking 2000 and riding 3000 miles in the course of a year. It had the effect to restore his constitution completely. His published works consist of theology, poetry and travels. His biography is interesting; he was an uncommon character.
1829. Gregorio Funes, a patriot of La Plata, died at Buenos Ayres. He was actively engaged in the South American revolution from its commencement. He was also an author.
1839. Alexander Coffin, the last survivor of the original proprietors who settled the city of Hudson in 1784, died, aged 99. He was highly respected for his talents, integrity and usefulness.
1839. Earthquake at Martinique, which did great damage, particularly at Fort Royal, where only 18 houses were left standing, of 1700, and 900 hundred sufferers were dug out of the ruins.
1843. Francis S. Key, district attorney of the United States and author of the national song, the Star Spangled Banner, died in Baltimore.
1853. Russia, Austria and Prussia, after considerable delay, finally acknowledge Napoleon III as emperor of France.
1853. The caloric ship Ericsson made her trial trip from New York to the Potomac.