The Every Day Book of History and Chronology. Joel Munsell
voted to Decatur and Biddle, by the legislature of Pennsylvania, for their distinguished gallantry and skill. They were presented to those officers at New London, on board their respective ships.
1826. Lindley Murray, the grammarian, died in England, aged 81. He was born in Pennsylvania, of quaker parentage, and studied law; but during the revolutionary war he turned merchant, and before its close acquired sufficient property to retire upon. He visited England for the benefit of his health, where he finally settled, about a mile from the city of York, and employed his leisure in the production of those works of education, which acquired such popularity as to have maintained their places more than forty years.
1826. The Liberia Herald appeared at Monrovia, the first paper printed in Africa. It was edited by Charles L. Force, from Boston, and like the early newspapers of New England, was printed on one side only.
1829. Francis Joseph Gossec, an eminent music composer, died, aged 96. He was first attached to the cathedral at Antwerp; but in 1751 went to Paris, where he passed the remainder of his life, and acquired a reputation seldom surpassed.
1839. James Boaden, an English dramatic author and biographer, died, aged 70.
1843. Great land slide at Troy, N. Y.; 18 persons killed.
1852. Homeopathic college at Cleveland, Ohio, mobbed, and the windows and interior of the building destroyed, in consequence of the discovery of the remains of subjects which had been taken from the burial ground there.
1852. State lunatic asylum at Lexington, Ky., destroyed by fire, in which one of the inmates perished.
1853. George Manners died, aged 75; many years British consul at Boston, and author of several dramas of merit, and other poetical works.
1853. William Gibbs McNeil died, aged 51; a military officer, who, during the Dorr excitement in Rhode Island, commanded the state troops, acting throughout with great prudence and judgment.
1853. The steamer Independence from San Juan del Sud to San Francisco, wrecked on Margaretta island, and also took fire, by which 140 lives were lost.
1854. The boiler of the Kate Kearney bursted at Louisville, Ky., killing and wounding a great number of people.
1856. John Stoddard, an English author, died, aged 84. He for many years contributed leading articles to The Times newspaper, and was some time chief-justice of Malta.
1857. Elisha K. Kane, the arctic explorer, died at Havana, Cuba.
FEBRUARY 17.
364. Flavius Claud Jovianus, the Roman emperor, died at Dadastana, aged 33. He was elected by the army, on the death of Julian, and accepted the throne upon the assurance that the soldiers would embrace Christianity. He was suffocated in his bed by the fumes of a fire which had been made to dry the chamber, after a reign of only eight months.
1461. Battle of St. Albans, 21 miles from London, between the Lancastrians headed by the queen, Margaret, and the Yorkists under the earl of Warwick. The latter were defeated.
1564. Michael Angelo Buonarotti, the painter and architect, died at Rome, aged 89. He was of an illustrious family; studied painting and sculpture; and for a great number of years was employed by the popes in decorating the most superb edifices of Rome. At the age of 60 he was induced to attempt the Last Judgment, which is his master-piece. In architecture, St. Peter's and the Capitol are monuments of his ability. As a sculptor and poet also he is entitled to no mean place in the niche of fame. He was one of those favorites of nature, who combine in their single persons the excellence of many highly gifted men.
1571. An earthquake in Herefordshire, England, removed a hill containing 26 acres to a considerable distance, overturning every thing before it and continuing in motion several days.
1600. Giordano Bruno, an Italian philosopher, burnt at Rome. He entered the order of the Dominicans, but his satires upon the lives of the monks drew upon him their persecutions, and he fled to the Calvinists. These in turn were excited against him by his paradoxes. After visiting Paris, London and Wurtemberg, he returned again to Italy, and fell into the hands of the inquisition, by whom he was condemned to be burnt, and suffered death, which he might have averted by a recantation, with the greatest fortitude. His philosophical writings, which have become very rare, display a classical cultivation of mind, a deep insight into the spirit of ancient philosophy, wit and satire, as well as a profound knowledge of mathematics and natural philosophy. With all his talent and erudition he was a pantheist.
1621. The Plymouth colonists met for the purpose of settling military affairs, and chose Miles Standish their captain.
1673. Jean Baptiste Poquelin de Moliere died. At Narbonne, where the French theatre at that time began to flourish, through the talents of the great Corneille, he imbibed a strong passion for the stage. He became a distinguished comedian and dramatic writer, and died within four hours after personating a character in his play of the Hypochondriac.
1680. Denzil, Lord Hollis, an eminent English patriot, died. He nobly maintained and defended the rights and privileges of the house of commons, of which he was a member, against the arbitrary measures of Charles I and his favorites. He was also a political writer.
1710. George Bull, an eminent English writer and preacher, died.
1720. John Hughes, an English poet and dramatist, died. He was a contributor to the Tatler, Spectator and Guardian. His last production, the Siege of Damascus, was performed with splendid success on the very night the author died suddenly. He was eulogized by Pope.
1735. Nicolo Fortiguerra died, an Italian prelate, and one of their best poets of the early part of the last century.
1739. George Whitfield, the celebrated Methodist, preached from a field pulpit to coalliers in Kingswood, near Bristol.
1758. John Watkins died at Bristol, England, aged 78. He was heir to a considerable estate, which being denied possession of, he made a vow never to shave till he enjoyed it; and kept his promise to the day of his death. He went by the name of Black John; after his death there was found upwards of 200 weight of half pence and silver, besides a quantity of gold, which he had amassed as a public beggar.
1759. Thomas Siddal, a gardener at Chester, England, dug up a potatoe weighing 17 lbs. 4 oz., measuring 38 inches in circumference, and 47½ in length.
1772. Convention between Frederick II of Prussia and Catharine II of Russia signed, for the partition of Poland. This was afterwards acceded to by Austria, and ratified by the Polish diet.
1773. An appearance similar to the aurora borealis first witnessed in the southern hemisphere, by Mr. Forster, who accompanied Capt. Cook.
1782. Action between the British fleet, Admiral Hughes, and the French fleet, M. de Suffrein, in which the British suffered severely.
1794. Fornelli in Corsica attacked and carried by the British under Lord Hood.
1796. James Macpherson, the Scottish poet, died; distinguished for his translations and imitations of Gaelic poems, the principal of which is Fingal.
1797. The Spanish Admiral Apodaca compelled to burn several large battle ships in the gulf of Paria, to prevent their falling into the hands of the British fleet under Harvey.
1804. Gen. Moreau arrested at Paris, on an accusation of being concerned in the conspiracy of Pichegru and Georges.
1805. Action between the British frigate Cleopatra, 32 guns, and the French frigate Ville de Milan, pierced for 52 but mounting 26 guns. The Cleopatra was captured, with the loss of 20