DECEMBER 17.
546. The Goths under Totilla captured and plundered Rome.
1413. William Gascoigne, a noted English judge, died. His opinions, arguments and decisions occur in the old law reports.
1468. The first book printed in England bears this date at Oxford, and contains 41 quarto leaves.
1500. Columbus was introduced at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella at Grenada.
1538. Luther notes in his Table Talk, that he invited the singers and musicians to supper. "I always loved music; who so has skill in this art, the same is of good kind, and fitted for all things,"—a divine saying.
1593. Henry May, an English mariner, returning from the East Indies, was wrecked on the islands of Bermudas, and was
the first Englishman, who set foot on those islands. The carpenter's tools having been saved, they built a cedar bark of about 18 tons, payed the seams with lime and turtle's fat, procured some rigging from the ship, and put in thirteen live turtles for provisions, when, having remained there nearly five months, they sailed for Newfoundland.
1615. Jacob le Maire, in his voyage to the straits, reports that he found this day at Port Desire, a skeleton of nearly 11 feet in length, entombed.
1657. James Naylor, a quaker, accused of blasphemy, convicted and ordered to be whipped and pilloried and his tongue bored through with a red hot iron.
1719. Aurora borealis first noticed in this country, and filled the people with alarm and consternation. It was of course viewed as a sign of the last judgment.
1724. Thomas Guy, founder of a hospital which bears his name, died in London, aged 81. He acquired great wealth as a bookseller, and left more than a million of dollars to one hospital, besides aiding others, and leaving nearly $400,000 to be divided among such as could prove themselves in any way related to him.
1731. Robert Bolton died; an English puritan, distinguished for his learning and eloquence, and whose high reputation is sustained by his numerous writings.
1742. Francis Joseph de Beaupoil de Saint-Aulaire, an ingenious French poet, died, aged 100. He wrote much in the manner of Anacreon, and it is remarkable, that his best pieces are those of his old age, when he had reached his 90th year.
1778. The theatre at Saragossa, in Spain, was burned, occasioning the death of 400 persons.
1788. The thermometer at Leipsic fell 27 degrees below zero.
1807. Milan decree issued by Bonaparte, denationalizing all such vessels as should submit to the British order in council.
1808. Charles Jenkinson, earl of Liverpool, died. He was a statesman of profound ability, but extremely unpopular, who rose from obscurity to wealth and rank.
1812. Mississinewa, an Indian town inhabited by Delawares and Miamis, attacked by 600 Americans under colonel Campbell. The town was burnt, with several others in the vicinity.
1812. British attacked Darby, Vt., and burnt the barracks and store houses, and carried off considerable quantities of stores.
1830. Simon Bolivar, a distinguished South American general, died. He headed the revolution of the provinces against the mother country, and having achieved their independence was elected president of Colombia.
1832. Prof. Zahn discovered a city buried under the lava, between Vesuvius and Pompeii.
1832. Robert C. Sands, the assistant editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser, died by apoplexy while in the act of composing.
1843. Jacob Mann, supposed to be the oldest newspaper editor of the state of New Jersey, died in Morristown; having published the Genius of Liberty in 1798.
1852. William Jacob, an English agricultural writer, died at London, aged 89.
1853. Ralph Wardlaw, an eminent minister of the congregational dissenters, died at Glasgow, aged 73.