AUGUST 21.
638. Antioch in Syria taken by the Saracens.
1130. Abdulmumen, ibn Ali, elected sultan of eastern Africa by the following stratagem. Having trained a parrot and a lion, he assembled the chiefs in his tent, and urged upon them the necessity of naming a successor to their rising empire. In the midst of their deliberations the parrot perched himself upon one of the poles of the tent, and pronounced distinctly "Victory and power be the lot of the khalif Abdulmumen, commander of
the faithful." The lion then made his way through the terrified assembly, licked his hand, and lay down at his feet. Deeply impressed with this wonder, and the manifest interference of heaven, the simple Almohades unanimously proclaimed him sultan.
1553. John Dudley, duke of Northumberland, beheaded. He acquired almost unbounded authority after the death of Henry VIII, and by the abortive attempt to place lady Jane Grey on the throne, lost his own life and brought about the ruin of all concerned in the scheme.
1560. The great solar eclipse, which first turned the attention of Tycho Brahe, at the age of 14, to the science of astronomy.
1561. Mary (the Myrtle of the South), arrived in Scotland, after an absence of thirteen years in France. It was on her passage that she composed that simple and touching chanson, beginning, "Adieu, plaisant pays de France."
1621. A cargo of marriageable ladies consisting of one widow and eleven maids, consigned at London to the colony in Virginia, to be sold for tobacco, at the rate of 120 lbs. of the best leaf for each.
1682. William Penn, to prevent any future claim, obtained a release from James, duke of York, of all his right to Pennsylvania.
1703. Thomas Tryon died. He was the son of a tiler and plasterer at Bibury, England, and became a shepherd. At the age of 13 he learned to read, and at 14 he gave one of several sheep he had obtained, to be taught the art of writing. Afterwards, selling his stock, for three pounds, he went to London and apprenticed himself to a hat maker, where he spent the day in learning his trade, and most of the night in reading. He commenced business, and acquired a considerable fortune. He rejected animal food, lived in "temperance, cleanliness and innocency," and died at the age of 69.
1708. Haverhill burnt. A force of about 400 French and Indians made an irruption from Canada, and shaping their course to the Merrimack, fell upon the town in the morning, plundered and burnt the houses, killed about 40 persons, and captured many more. The enemy were pursued, and many of them killed, among whom was a brother of the French leader, Rouville. Among the captives was the clergyman; his two daughters 6 and 8 years old, were preserved by the servant, who concealed them under tubs in the cellar, which the Indians did not disturb.
1726. Great destroying earthquake at Palermo, in Sicily.
1762. Mary Wortley Montague, an English lady of great literary reputation, died. She introduced the practice of inoculation for small pox into England.
1770. A leaden equestrian statue of George III was erected in the Bowling Green, New York, near fort George, by Wilton, a celebrated statuary of the day. It being the birth day of the king's father, prince Frederick.
1775. The continental army under Gen. Montgomery arrived at Ticonderoga.
1780. French king abolished the application of torture to extort confession.
1791. The American army under Gen. Wilkinson arrived at the Rapids on the Ohio, returning from an expedition against the Ouiattanons, having destroyed their principal town, and a Kickapoo village, made many prisoners, and cut down 430 acres of corn. The army sallied from fort Washington, and made a march of 450 miles. Only 2 men were lost.
1792. Lafayette abandoned the French army, of which he was commander in chief, and with his three friends surrendered to the Austrians. They met with a long imprisonment.
1805. Brest fleet attacked in Camaret bay, by the British under Cornwallis, who with an inferior force compelled them to retire into the inner harbor.
1808. Battle of Vimiera, in Portugal. The French army, 12,000, under Junot and Kellerman, made a desperate assault on the English and Portuguese, 20,000, under Wellesley. The French were defeated.
1810. Revolution in Santa Fe, South America.
1818. The renowned Warren Hastings died.
1821. Francis Hargrave, an eminent English law writer, died. His State Trials comprise 11 vols. folio. His library was purchased by parliament at about $40,000.
1823. Marco Bozzaris, the Leonidas of modern Greece, killed. He was a native of Souli, in the mountains of Epirus, and on the breaking out of the revolution headed a battalion of Suliotes. The pasha of Schodra advancing with a numerous force of Albanians to attack Missolunghi, Bozzaris with a handful of devoted followers attacked the camp by night, and fell.
1831. Insurrection of the negroes in Virginia, and massacre of the white population.
1835. John McCulloch, distinguished for his geological writings and other works of merit, died in consequence of being thrown from his carriage.
1846. The water in lake Ontario had fallen since the first of December, 1845, 28 inches, and was lower than ever known before. Gulf island, which had been
submerged seven years before, again appeared above water, and many rocks and sandbars never before known made their appearance.
1848. A hurricane devastated the islands of Antigua, St. Kitts, Nevis, and St. Thomas.
1849. A national convention of inventors met at Baltimore; Horace H. Day, of New York, president.
1850. Daniel P. Parker, a Boston merchant, died, aged 60. He gave close attention to the construction of merchant vessels, and had in his service many ships of superior model and sailing qualities.
1851. A prisoner under sentence of death at Sacramento, California, was reprieved by the governor; but was hung, notwithstanding, by some of the disaffected citizens.
1851. New Orleans riot, growing out of the Cuban expedition. The office of La Patria, the Spanish paper, was destroyed, as well as the cigar shops kept by Spaniards; and the Spanish consul was obliged to ask protection, and was placed in the city prison for safety.
1856. The famous Charter oak at Hartford, Conn., was blown down in a storm.
1857. A hurricane passed over the town of Woodland, Wisconsin, and destroyed every house in the place.