Читать книгу The Every Day Book of History and Chronology - Joel Munsell - Страница 95

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1426 BC The 24th Nisan is marked as a feast in the Jews' calendar for the death of Joshua. He was buried, full of honor, on the border of his capital in Mount Ephraim.

1455. Pope Nicholas V, the friend of ancient literature and the protector of the learned exiles of Greece, died.

1495. Columbus with an army of 200 men, 20 horses and 20 dogs! commenced a campaign against the natives of Hispaniola, who in consequence of the excesses of the Spaniards had raised an army of 100,000 men to destroy the colony at Isabella. The admiral spent a year in ranging the island; and reduced it to such obedience that every inhabitant was subjected to a quarterly tribute to the king of Spain in gold dust or cotton.

1545. Diet at Worms assembled. The protestants disclaimed all connection with the council of Trent.

1564. Pius IV issued a bull denouncing the perusal of certain books, and establishing new rules by which to judge books.

1581. James Dyer, an eminent English judge, died. He was distinguished for his learning and excellence; a volume of law reports which he left in manuscript and were not published till 20 years after his death, have been often reprinted.

1588 (1580?). Bombs first used at the siege of Wachtendonk in Holland. The invention of bombs is disputed among several countries, and there are good reasons for believing that some contrivance of the kind had been made use of long before this event. Galen, bishop of Munster, is said to have been the inventor of bombs; while Strada in his account of the wars of the Low Countries, attributes the invention a few days before this siege to an inhabitant of the town of Venloo, and that the people of the city, wishing to exhibit it in presence of the duke of Cleves, discharged a bomb, which falling on one of the houses, set fire to it, and three-fourths of the town were destroyed before the flames could be extinguished.

1603. Elizabeth, queen of England, died, aged 70. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. On the death of Mary, 1558, she was proclaimed queen, at the age of twenty-five, and held the sceptre forty-five years with uncommon ability. Her reign was a period of great prosperity for England. Her treatment of the queen of Scots can never be defended, and some other foibles tarnish her fame; but the splendor of her reign and the strength of mind displayed in the conduct of the government overbalance those weaknesses which few crowned heads are devoid of.

1638. Canonicus and Miantonimoh gave Roger Williams a deed of Providence.

1645. The parliament voted that the clause for the preservation of his majesty's person should be left out of Sir Thos. Fairfax's commission. This was a bad omen for King Charles.

1674. Jonathan Goddard, an English physician and chemist, died. He was a favorite with Cromwell; but on the restoration his abilities were not in sufficient estimation to preserve him from being disgraced. He was an able writer and a liberal patron of learned men, and one of the promoters of the royal society.

1698. John Evelyn, distinguished as a poet and translator, died, aged 45. At the age of 15 he wrote the elegant Greek poem which accompanies the second edition of the Sylva, written by his father.

1718. On the island of Lithy, India, there fell a ball of fire, containing gelatinous matter.

1720. John Peringskioll, a Swedish antiquary and historian, died. He was professor of antiquities at Upsala, and secretary and councilor to the king. His works amount to 17 vols. folio.

1726. Daniel Whitby, an English prelate, died. He was, like many of his profession, totally unqualified for the common pursuits of business; but was engrossed with matters of religion and learning. His publications are more than 40 in number; one of which gave offence to the clergy and was publicly burnt.

1730. The British parliament passed an act prohibiting any subject lending money to a foreigner or other nation.

1740. The English Capt. Knowles took from the Spaniards the castle of St. Lorenzo in South America; a large amount of spoil fell into the hands of the conquerors.

1742. Peter Sabbathier, a French Benedictine, died. He was engaged 23 years in making a collection of the Latin versions of the Bible, which was published 1743 in 3 vols. folio.

1744. War between France and Great Britain declared.

1751. Fredrick, prince of Wales, died.

1754. John James Wetstein, a learned Swiss divine, died. He traveled through several countries of Europe to examine the various manuscripts of the Greek Testament, and on his return to Basel published his Prologomena; he was immediately persecuted as a Socinian, and compelled to flee his country. He found protection at Amsterdam, where he died.

1764. Thomas Slack commenced the New Castle Chronicle, a paper still well sustained in England.

1773. Philip Dormer Stanhope, earl of Chesterfield, died, aged 79. He was one of the most celebrated wits of his age, an eminent statesman, political, epistolatory and miscellaneous writer. His Letters, containing advice to his son, prove him to have been an excellent scholar; but the critical reader will find that they insidiously inculcate the loosest principles.

1773. Stephen Leake, an ingenious writer on coins and heraldry, died at Thorp, England.

1776. John Harrison, an eminent English mechanic, died. He was the son of an obscure mechanic, but made himself famous by the invention of a time-keeper, in the form of a watch, for ascertaining the longitude at sea, for which he received from parliament about $90,000.

1782. Spain acknowledged the Independence of the United States.

1782. A blockhouse situated on Toms' river, New Jersey, attacked by a body of royalists. Capt. Huddy defended the place while his ammunition lasted, and on surrendering was executed without a trial.

1783. Robert Saunders, a self created LL. D., died. His Notes on the Bible profited him very little, though in a pecuniary point of view they profited others.

1794. Insurrection of the Poles. The Russian troops evacuated Cracow, and the patriot Kosciusko took possession.

1794. Charles Philip Ronsin, with a number of his confreres, guillotined at Paris. The revolution brought him out from obscurity only to display the natural deformity of his character. He was promoted to the office of minister of war, and then to the command of an army. He met his fate at the hands of Danton and Marat, who had raised him up.

1797. Battle in the passes of Eisach in Saxony, between the Austrians under Gen. Laudohn, and the French, who captured 8 cannon and 1500 soldiers.

1801. Paul, emperor of Russia, assassinated. His reign was remarkable for its caprice and eccentricity.

1804. The county of Seneca, in Western New York, formed.

1838. Thomas Attwood, an eminent English musical composer, died, aged 73.