The Every Day Book of History and Chronology. Joel Munsell
church of St. Denis.
1815. American commodore Patterson captured a British transport schooner, and took 63 prisoners. His own force was 53.
1815. United States privateer schooner Tomahawk 9 guns and 84 men, captured by the British ship Bulwark.
1818. Caspar Wistar died, a distinguished physician of Philadelphia. He was of German parentage, and a member of the society of Friends; became eminent as an anatomist, and corresponded with Cuvier and other eminent naturalists of Europe. He held scientific meetings at his own house, and was an active contributer to knowledge of all kinds. He died of a slow fever, caught by attending a poor family in a close apartment.
1822. John Julius Angerstein died, celebrated as the founder of the British national gallery, which was purchased by the government after his death for £40,000, (Cyclopedia Americana says £60,000) and was first exhibited in May, 1824. He was born at St. Petersburg, 1735.
1830. Great fire at Pera, Constantinople, extinguished by the exertions of the crew of an English ship.
1834. Great earthquake in South-America; the cities of Popayan and Pasto almost entirely destroyed, and many lives lost.
1835. Andrew Wallace died at New York, aged 105. He emigrated from Scotland in 1752, enlisted in the American army in 1776, and continued in it till 1813, when he was honorably discharged, on account of his disability, having suffered a stroke of paralysis.
1840. John Frederick Blumenbach died at Göttingen, aged 88. He was long a distinguished professor at the university, and a very eminent naturalist. His collection of skulls was said to be the richest in the world. The 50th year of his professorship was celebrated in 1826.
1849. John C. Calhoun's draft of an address to the people of the United States adopted in preference to Berrien's, and the Southern convention adjourned sine die.
1854. Patrick O'Donahoe died at Brooklyn, N. Y.; one of the Irish exiles who escaped from Van Diemen's Land.
JANUARY 23.
1401. Tamerlane introduced his troops into the city of Damascus, in violation of a truce; and after levying an enormous contribution in gold, massacred the inhabitants, and reduced the city to ashes, in revenge of the murder of the grandson of Mahomet, seven centuries before, by the Syrians.
1516. Ferdinand V of Spain died. He inherited the crowns of Aragon and Sicily, and united to them the kingdom of Castile by marriage. In 1492 he added to these the kingdom of Granada, the last possession of the Moors, by conquest; at the same time Columbus was discovering for him the new world. By force and treachery he acquired the kingdom of Naples, and by similar means Navarre was also added to his dominions. Thus the whole of Spain was united under him; so that he may be considered as the restorer if not the founder of the Spanish monarchy. He was the most powerful monarch of his time; but his conduct was characterized by a total want of faith, and a recklessness of principle of which he made no scruple of boasting. He was the founder of that fearful tribunal, the Inquisition.
1570. Earl Murray, regent of Scotland, shot by Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh. The latter, after the battle of Langside hill, had been condemned to death as a rebel, and pardoned. A part of his estate, however, was bestowed upon one of the regent's favorites, who seized Hamilton's house and turned his wife out into the fields naked in a cold night, by which she became deranged. This injury induced him to seek revenge on the regent, after which he escaped to France.
1722. Henri De Boulainvilliers, count of St. Saire in Normandy, died. Having finished his studies he entered the army, which however, he soon left to devote his attention to literature. A marked antipathy to revelation pervades his writings, and exhibits itself in singular contrast with a superstitious reverence for judicial astrology, and the mystic sciences, which he cultivated with much diligence.
1733. O. S. Birthday of Benjamin Lincoln, a revolutionary general, at Hingham, Mass. Great reliance was placed in his abilities by Washington, and many important commissions entrusted to him. In 1781 he was appointed secretary of war, which office he held three years, and then retired to his farm. He died 1810.
1761. Action between the British frigate Minerva, 22 guns, Capt. Hood, and French ship Warwick, 34 guns, M. de Bellair, near cape Pinas, which resulted in the capture of the latter. French loss 14 killed, 32 wounded; British loss 14 killed, 33 wounded, 3 of whom died.
1765. The British under Capt. Byron colonized the Falkland islands.
1766. William Caslon, an eminent English type founder, died. He was induced to attempt letter-cutting by a friend, and such was the perfection to which he carried the art, that the beauty of his type exceeded all others of the day, and was sought for from other countries on the continent. He was employed to cut characters for several languages of Asia.
1772. Mrs. Clum died near Litchfield, England, aged 138. She had lived 103 years in one house.
1775. The Pennsylvania convention declared their determination, in case the arbitrary laws of England were attempted to be executed by force, to repel the same by the most determined resistance.
1780. The British ship Culloden of 74 guns lost off Long island.
1789. Frances Brooke died, an English lady, remarkable for her literary accomplishments. Her works consist of novels, periodicals, tragedies, musical dramas, and translations.
1789. John Cleland died; author of the notoriously immoral romance, Fanny Hill.
1790. The mutineers of the ship Bounty having arrived at Pitcairn's island, and landed all their effects, set fire to the vessel and destroyed every vestige that could lead to the discovery of their retreat. The island was then divided into nine equal portions between them, and the natives were reduced to the condition of slaves. (See Oct. 3.)
1795. John Sullivan, a distinguished general in the revolutionary army, died. He was of Irish descent, and before the revolution practiced law in New Hampshire. He was among the first to take an active part in the contest; resigned his seat in the first congress to enter the army; was conspicuous at several engagements; and terminated his military career in laying waste the country of the Six Nations, in order to put a stop to their depredations. After the peace he filled several important state offices.
1795. The French took possession of the Hague and Helvoetsluis, made 800 Englishmen prisoners, and liberated 600 Frenchmen.
1799. The French under Championnet entered Naples.
1800. A convention signed between Gen. Kleber and the grand vizier for the evacuation of Egypt by the French troops.
1800. Edward Rutledge, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, died. He was a member of the first congress and acted a conspicuous part during the war. While the British beleaguered Charleston, his native city, he commanded a company of troops, and was taken prisoner. On the restoration of peace he returned to the practice of law, and a short time previous to his death was elected governor of the state of South Carolina.
1802. Humboldt and his companions ascended Chimborazo to the height of 18,576 feet above the surface of the sea. The blood started from their eyes, lips and gums, and they became almost torpid with cold. A narrow deep valley prevented them from reaching the summit, which was 1344 feet higher.
1806. William Pitt, second son of the earl of Chatham, died. He was born 1759, and at the age of 23 became chancellor of the exchequer and the next year prime minister. It was during the early part of his career that the American war was concluded. Notwithstanding the emoluments of his offices were great, so far from acquiring wealth, he died involved. Parliament decreed him a public funeral, and £40,000