The Every Day Book of History and Chronology. Joel Munsell
of their country, settled by invitation of the king of Prussia in Brandenburg.
1738. The first stone of Westminster bridge over the Thames laid.
1782. John Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville, the French geographer, died. He was esteemed as well for the gentleness and simplicity of his manners, as for his extensive knowledge. He labored at his maps fifteen hours a day for fifty years.
1782. James Murray, a very eminent historical writer, and pastor, died at New Castle upon Tyne, England.
1790. The Jews of Spain, Portugal and Avignon admitted to the privileges of French citizens.
1794. John Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf died at Leipsic. He acquired great celebrity as a printer and type founder. His foundry contained punches and matrices for 400 alphabets. He improved the printing press, and discovered a new method for facilitating the process of melting and casting. From his foundry types were sent to Russia, Sweden, Poland, and even America. With the interruption of only five or six hours for sleep, his whole life was devoted to study and useful employment.
1796. Prince of Wales, regent of England, attacked in his carriage by the populace.
1797. Battle of Unroomster, in India; Zemaun Shah attacked the Seicks at 8 o'clock in the morning, by opening his shutah renauls, or wall pieces mounted on camels, and a heavy fire was kept up until 2 o'clock, when the Seicks gave a signal for a general charge, and agreeable to their mode in close combat, flung away their turbans, let loose their hair, put their beards in their mouths, and dashed into the midst of the Huddalah army. The two armies continued engaged in close combat four hours, when Zemaun's troops gave way, and were pursued to the very gates of Lahore. The loss of the Seicks was 15,000; that of the Shah 20,000 killed.
1803. Madame Clairon, a French actress, died. She evinced when very young a predilection for the stage, and adopting the theatrical profession, soon became the first tragic performer of her age, and long remained without a rival. She published Mémoires et Réflexions sur la Déclamation Théatrale.
1804. Joseph Nicholas d'Azara, a Spanish diplomatist, died, aged 73. He became acquainted with Napoleon in 1796, who conceived great admiration of him. He was an ardent admirer of the arts and sciences, and collected an elegant library and a rich collection of paintings and antiques, which however he lost in the political changes of the times.
1816. Richard Joachim Henry Von Moellendorf, a Prussian general, died. He commanded the Prussian troops employed in 1793 in the disgraceful dismemberment of Poland, on which occasion he did every thing consistent with his commission to alleviate the misfortunes of the Poles.
1818. Nathan Birdseye died at Stratford, Conn., aged 103. His funeral was attended by 100 of his descendants; the whole number of which was 258.
1836. William Scott, Baron Stowell, died. He filled the office of judge of the court of admiralty in England, thirty years with distinguished ability. He is represented to have been the charm and ornament of every society of which he formed a part; and his unbounded charities acquired for him universal regard and esteem.
1841. William Hogg died at Brownsville, Pa., aged 86, leaving an estate of one million dollars to his heirs. Fifty years previous to his death, he crossed the Alleganies with a pack of goods on his back, which was his whole property, and opened a small store soon after at Brownsville, the first in that region of country.
1842. The first stone of the Anglican cathedral at Jerusalem laid, at a depth of 35 feet from the surface. It stands upon mount Zion, and the state of the rubbish which had accumulated since the time of David, rendered it necessary to excavate to the depth of 42 feet to the natural rock.
1854. Lewis W. Chamberlayne, a Virginia physician, died; one of the founders of the Richmond medical college, of which he was a distinguished professor.
1854. A ball-cartridge manufactory at Ravenswood, L. I., blew up killing 20 workmen and destroying 50,000 ball-cartridges.
1854. The steamer Georgia, from Montgomery, Ala., having 200 passengers and 1000 bales of cotton on board, took fire at New Orleans, and 60 passengers lost their lives.
1855. The Panama railroad being completed, the first train passed over it this day.
JANUARY 29.
164 BC Antiochus Epiphanes, the great enemy of the Jews, died.
1559. Thomas Pope, the founder of Trinity college, Dublin, died.
1597. Anthony Shirley, commanding a British squadron, landed at Jamaica, and marched six miles to the principal town, which submitted to his mercy.
1720. John Adams, a celebrated English preacher, died.
1728. Dean Swift's Stella died at Dublin.
1743. Andrew Hercule de Fleury, cardinal and prime minister of Louis XV, died, aged 90. He was 73 years of age when he was placed at the head of the ministry, at which time the state was in a miserable condition. He healed the wounds of his country, and without bloodshed or cruelty established and increased the internal happiness of France, and its national glory.
1762. From Christmas to this day the weather was severely cold in England. The ice on the Thames it is said was over five feet thick!
1780. The coldest day for 25 years at Philadelphia.
1812. Desperate attempt by a black man, a negro, to fire the British privateer Speedwell. He was killed after 7 shots had been fired at him.
1814. Battle of Brienne, in which the French under Napoleon gained an inconsiderable victory over the allies under Blücher, who narrowly escaped being taken prisoner. It was at this place that Bonaparte acquired the rudiments of that skill in the military art with which he had almost prostrated the world.
1820. George III died. It was during his reign that the discontents in America burst into an open flame, and an empire was lost to the British throne. In 1810 he retired from the government, and the interval which elapsed from that time until his death was a period of insanity. He died in the 82d year of his age and the 59th of his reign.
1824. Louisa Maria Caroline, countess of Albany, died at Florence, aged 72. She was the daughter of a German prince, and married Charles Stuart, the English pretender, whence she derived the title of countess of Albany. They resided at Rome, and had a little court, and were addressed as king and queen. The connection, however, was an unhappy one, and to escape from the barbarity of her husband she retired to a convent, and afterwards went to France. On the death of Charles, 1788, she returned to Italy. She was then secretly married to Alfieri, the poet; the French court conferred on her an annuity of 60,000 livres. Alfieri confesses that to her he owed his inspiration, and that without her friendship he should never have achieved anything excellent. Their ashes repose under a common monument in the church of Santa Croce, between the tombs of Machiavelli and Michael Angelo.
1829. Paul Francis Jean Nicholas de Barras, a French revolutionist, died. As a member of the national convention, he voted for the king's death; and subsequently, having offended Robespierre, he headed the force that captured the tyrant. As commander-in-chief of the troops of the convention, he entrusted Bonaparte with the post in which he first distinguished himself, on the 5th Oct., 1795. His political career ended 1799, when he received a passport to his estate from Napoleon, then first consul.
1829. Timothy Pickering, an American soldier and statesman, died. In public life he was distinguished for energy, ability and disinterestedness; as a soldier he was brave and patriotic; and his writings bear ample testimony to his talents and information. He was one of the leaders of the federal party.
1834.