DECEMBER 28.
1065. St. Peter's church at Westminster dedicated by Edward the confessor.
1278. Injunction of the primate of England to the nunnery at Godstow, that public prayers on this day, Childermas, should not any more be said by little girls.
1377. Wickliff divulged his opinion upon the pope's mandate.
1499. Earl of Warwick, the last of the male line of the Plantagenets, beheaded on Tower hill.
1601. The town of Kinsale, head of the sea, in Ireland, garrisoned by Spaniards and Irish catholics, surrendered to the English armies.
1638. A Spanish ordinance establishing stamped paper in America.
1694. Mary II, queen of England, died of small pox, aged 33. She had reigned six years in conjunction with William III, and was greatly extolled for her virtues.
1697. Mary Beale, an English portrait painter, died. She is styled by Oldys "that masculine poet as well as painter, the incomparable Mrs. Beale."
1706. Peter Bayle, a most laborious and indefatigable French writer, died. He was an author of great ability, principally known by his Critical Dictionary.
1708. Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, a famous French botanist and natural historian, died.
1733. Kouli Khan defeated the Turks before Babylon, killing 20,000, with the loss of 10,000.
1737. Victor Marie d'Estrees, a French admiral, died. He was also a man of literature, and member of several learned bodies.
1737. Singular sinking and rising of land at Scarborough, in Yorkshire, England.
1757. Caroline Elizabeth, 3d daughter of Geo. II, of England, died.
1757. Leignitz taken by the Prussians under Frederick II, by which the Austrians and French were compelled to abandon Silesia, with the loss of 4,000 men.
1758. The French settlement of Goree taken by the British admiral Keppel.
1775. John Campbell, an eminent Scottish historical, biographical and political writer died.
1778. The French under count d'Estaing re-embarked their troops at St. Lucia, and sailed on the following day.
1788. John Logan, a Scottish divine and poet, died. He obtained much distinction as an eloquent preacher.
1797. War with the pope renewed by the French, occasioned by the assassination of Duplot, a French general, who was sent to Rome as an ambassador.
1811. Funeral at Richmond, Va., of those who perished at the burning of the theatre.
1814. United States privateer Prince of Neufchatel, 18 guns and 130 men, captured by British ship Leander, two frigates in company.
1814. British cannonaded unsuccessfully the Americans under Gen. Jackson. The cannonade continued 7 hours; the British loss estimated at 120 killed; American loss 9 killed, 8 wounded.
1817. Charles Barney, an eminent English scholar, died. He greatly distinguished himself by the depth of his literary researches, and by his extraordinary skill in the Greek language.
1817. American colonization society formed at Washington, having for its object the returning of free people of color to Africa.
1818. Alexander, emperor of Russia, gave to his peasant subjects the same right with his nobles to establish manufactures.
1825. J. D. Barbie-du-Bocage, a French geographer, died. He furnished plans and maps for the most celebrated works of the day, and published an atlas of 54 sheets to illustrate ancient history.
1825. John Thomas Serres, a French artist, died. His sea pieces possess much merit, and he is besides the author of the Little Sea Torch, a guide for coasting pilots.
1831. Insurrection of the slaves in Jamaica, in the course of which about 30,000 blacks were under arms, 4,000 of whom were killed. The amount of property destroyed was estimated at $15,000,000.
1835. Battle of Tampa bay; a company of 110 United States troops under major Dade, attacked by a large party of Seminole Indians, and all but three slain.
1853. A great snow storm commenced, which continued 36 hours, extending over the new England states, and causing great interruption to business and travel.