AUGUST 10.
353. Magnentius, emperor of Rome, killed. He was a German, and rose from a private soldier to the throne.
1506. The island of Madagascar discovered by the Portuguese.
1519. Ferdinand Magellan sailed from Seville with 5 ships and 234 men, on his voyage of discovery, which was continued round the world.
1543. The Turks under Barbarossa and the French under count d'Enguein assaulted Nice, but were repulsed by Montford, a Savoyard gentleman, and obliged finally to raise the siege.
1557. Battle of St. Quintin; the French under Montmorency defeated by the allies under Phillibert of Savoy and the earl of Pembroke. The duke d'Enguein, 600 gentlemen and 4,000 French were killed; several dukes and many other officers of distinction, 300 gentlemen and 4,000 men
were taken prisoners, and all their standards, cannon and ammunition fell into the hands of the victors.
1607. James Menochius died; an Italian author of great repute in his day.
1630. Staten Island was purchased of the Indians by Michael Pauw, a Dutch subject. It was the favorite spot of the primitive settlers. The Indians sold it twice afterwards.
1633. Anthony Munday, an English dramatic author, died.
1637. Edward King, a young English poet, drowned. His death gave rise to the beautiful poem of Lycidias, by Milton, his friend.
1653. Martin Harpertzoon van Tromp, a Dutch admiral, killed in an engagement with the English fleet off the Texel. He entered the navy at the age of 8, and rose from the lowest station to the chief command. This brave man refused all titles except that of father of the sailors. (July 31, O. S.)
1665. The French West India company, purchased of the order of Malta, the islands of St. Christopher, St. Cruz and St. Bartholomew, for 500,000 livres turnois.
1669. Henrietta Maria, queen dowager to Charles I, died at St. Colombe, near Paris, in France.
1672. John De Witt, the famous pensionary of Holland, killed by a mob. "He was the zealous patron of the glory and liberty of his native country; the greatest genius of his time; the ablest politician in war as well as peace; the Atlas of the commonwealth."
1674. Hugh Paulin Cressy, an English divine, died. He became a catholic, was much respected, and published some valuable works, particularly an able ecclesiastical history.
1675. Corner stone for the foundation of the royal observatory was laid at Greenwich, England. The edifice was erected by Charles II, under the superintendence of sir Christopher Wren, and Flamsteed appointed astronomer-royal.
1675. Peter Bales, an early and eminent English writing master, finished a performance which contained the Lord's prayer, the creed, the decalogue, two short prayers in Latin, his own name, motto, the date, and the year of the reign of Elizabeth, within the circle of a penny, and so accurately wrought as to be plainly legible. It was enchased in a ring of gold, and presented to the queen.
1686. John Baptist Cotelerius, a learned Frenchman, died. He published the works of all the fathers in the apostolic age, with learned notes.
1702. Lord Cutts carried, sword in hand, fort St. Michael, at Venlo, before any breach had been made. This was considered one of the greatest exploits during the wars of queen Anne.
1709. Lewis Anthony Prosper Herissant died; an eminent French poet and physician.
1723. William Dubois, cardinal and prime minister of France, died. He rose from an apothecary's shop to rank, power, and immense wealth.
1749. Thomas Topham, an Englishman of remarkable strength, died. One of his feats was that of throwing his horse over the turnpike gate. He possessed the strength of six ordinary men.
1757. Benjamin Hoadley, an English physician, died; distinguished by several able professional works, and a popular comedy, the Suspicious Husband.
1759. Ferdinand VI (the Wise), of Spain, died.
1760. Oswegatchie taken by the British.
1779. A destructive eruption of mount Vesuvius commenced and lasted several days. The country for several miles round was covered with lava.
1783. East India company's ship Antelope, wrecked on the coast of Oorolong, and the crew protected and aided by the king of the Pelew islands.
1790. Captain John Gore, who circumnavigated the earth three times, on the third conducting home the ships after the death of Cooke and Clark, died, a captain in Greenwich hospital.
1791. William Cunningham, captain of the British provost in Boston and New York during the revolutionary war, executed in England for forgery. He confessed to have starved more than 2,000 American prisoners in New York, by stopping their rations, which he sold; and to have hanged upwards of 270 in a private manner.
1792. The alarm bells rung in every part of the city of Paris, and the drums beat to arms, when an immense multitude attacked the palace of the Tuilleries. The Swiss guard at first repelled the populace; but the assailants redoubling their efforts, the palace was carried by storm, the apartments, the passages and courts soon streamed with blood. The king, the queen, and the royal family, fled for refuge to the national assembly. Of the besiegers 3,740 were killed, and 852 of those in the palace. The Swiss guards, who heroically defended the king, were inhumanly butchered by the Marsellois.
1792. Louis Bougainville, the French navigator, massacred at Paris. His discoveries were of importance to the French, but neither his services nor his virtues could shield him against the fury of the mob.
1793. Destruction of the tombs of the kings of France, at St. Denis, by order of
the national convention. The body of marshal Turenne, deposited there 1675, was found apparently as fresh as ever.
1794. Calvi, in Corsica, surrendered to the British, lord Hood, with the whole of his army, after a siege of 51 days.
1796. Battle of Bassano, in Italy; Bonaparte defeated the Austrians under Wurmzer, took 5,000 prisoners, 25 cannon, &c.
1802. The sea at Teignmouth and coast of Devonshire, England, rose and fell several times two feet in ten minutes.
1812. The Russians under Witgenstein attacked the French under Oudinot near Klaistitzy. The action continued into the following day, when the French were defeated with the loss of 5,000 killed, 3,000 prisoners, 2 cannon, and all their ammunition wagons.
1813. Partial action in the night, on lake Ontario, between the United States commodore Chauncy, and British commodore Yeo. The latter succeeded in capturing schooners Julia, 3 guns, and Growler, 5 guns.
1814. William Cowdroy, proprietor, editor and printer of the Manchester Gazette, died. Some of his best editorials were set in type without writing.
1821. Missouri became one of the members of the United States confederacy.
1821. The remains of the ill-fated Maj. Andre disinterred and taken to England.
1838. A papal decree issued at Rome by the congregation of the supreme inquisition, forbidding the introduction of infant schools into the pontifical states.
1843. Robert Adrian, a skillful mathematician, and for some time professor in Columbia college, N. Y., died in his 68th year.
1851. M. Daguerre, the inventor of the daguerreotype, died near Paris, aged 63. His peculiar process was published by him in the autumn of 1839, and the French government awarded him a pension of 6,000 francs for his discovery.
1854. Frederick Augustus, king of Saxony, died at Munich, aged 57. His carriage was overturned as he rode into the city, and he was killed by a kick from one of the horses.
1854. A fire destroyed 180 houses at Varna, in Turkey, and destroyed vast quantities of stores belonging to the allies.
1854. A violent tornado swept along the track of the Cleveland and Pittsburg rail road, between Bedford and Macedonia, covering the track with large uprooted trees, and causing great obstruction to the trains upon the road.
1855. Delegates met at the city of Mexico, and chose general Carrera president for six months, and ordained the freedom of the press.
1856. Last island, a summer resort in the gulph of Mexico, was destroyed by a terrible storm of three days' duration. The island was entirely submerged, the houses swallowed up, and 173 persons lost.
1856. James Murdock, an eminent American linguist and theologian, died, aged 80. He studied under president Dwight in 1802, and after preaching sometime became a teacher, and finally an author and translator.