DECEMBER 3.
69 B. C. The senate published a general thanksgiving in the name of Cicero for preserving the city from the Catalinian conspiracy. It was the first that had ever been decreed to any man in the gown; all other thanksgivings having been appointed for some particular service only.
1553. Pedro de Valdivia, having conquered the greater portion of Chili, and founded the city of Conception, was attacked by the Araucanians, defeated and made prisoner.
1557. The bond or covenant signed at Edinburgh, by the duke of Argyle and others, renouncing the congregation of
Satan, with all the superstitious, abominations and idolatry thereof.
1586. In Verde, in Hanover, there fell large quantities of matter, partly red, partly blackened, accompanied by lightning and thunder, a fiery meteor, which burst with a loud noise. This matter burnt the boards on which it fell.
1610. The new bell of the cathedral church of Lincoln, called Great Tom, placed in the steeple of St. Mary. It is the largest bell in England, being seven feet in diameter at the mouth.
1632. De Vries, on his second voyage, arrived at the Delaware river. He found that the little colony, left here two years before (see [Dec. 12]), had been destroyed by the Indians, and the ground strewed with the skulls and bones of his murdered countrymen.
1647. Buonaventura Cavalieri, an Italian astronomer, died. He was the pupil of Galileo, and enjoyed a remarkable reputation in his day, but has descended to posterity solely through his method of indivisibles, one of the predecessors of the doctrine of fluxions.
1658. John Micrelius, professor of divinity at Stettin, died; a distinguished theological disputant.
1688. The abdication or flight of James II, and revolution in England.
1699. Captain Dampier arrived at the island of Papua or New Guinea, in Australasia, and named its eastern extremity New Britain.
1705. Pedro, king of Portugal, died in the 58th year of his age. Juan IV succeeded.
1758. Daring attempt to assassinate Joseph, king of Portugal. It was for this offence that the Jesuits were expelled the kingdom and their property confiscated—a judgment perhaps unequal to the crime.
1775. The continental flag was displayed for the first time, on board the flag ship of Esek Hopkins, who was commander-in-chief of the first American fleet.
1787. Delaware adopted the federal constitution, being the first state to do so. (7th?)
1798. Coni, the strongest fortification in Italy, was taken by the Austrians.
1800. Battle of Hohenlinden; the Austrians under the archduke John, defeated by the French under Moreau in a severe snow storm, with great slaughter, and night alone saved them from complete destruction. The Austrians lost nearly the whole of their baggage, a great number of cannon and ammunition wagons, 3 generals, and from 10 to 15,000 prisoners.
1809. Intelligence was received at London, that the Ionian isles, the principal of which are Zante, Ithaca and Cerigo, had submitted to the British. They form an independent state under the British government, and contain about 200,000 persons, who carry on a considerable commerce.
1810. The French, under general Decaen, surrendered the isle of Man to the British general, Abercrombie, with 209 pieces of ordnance.
1812. The 29th bulletin of the retreating French army was dated at Molodechno, describing their severe privations.
1814. The mayor of Lyons, in France, published an order forbidding all artists to engrave or paint the likeness of Napoleon Bonaparte.
1815. John Carroll, first catholic bishop in the United States, died, aged 80. He was born in the state of Maryland, and educated in France, where he became a Jesuit. On his return to America he rose from a parish priest to the dignity of archbishop.
1818. Illinois admitted into the union.
1821. Royal dance of torches, at Berlin, on the occasion of the marriage of the prince royal with the princess of Bavaria.
1823. John Baptist Belzoni, one of the most eminent travelers in Egypt, died. He was an Italian, who came to England, where he obtained a subsistence by exhibiting feats of strength and activity at the amphitheatre. He was afterwards engaged in exploring and bringing to light the antiquities of Egypt.
1826. John Flaxman, the celebrated English sculptor, died. His death is differently placed on the 7th and 9th.
1834. Simeon De Witt died, aged 79; surveyor-general of the state of New York. He had filled this office from the time of its establishment to that of his death, 50 years, with the highest satisfaction and ability, and was distinguished for his attainments in astronomy, engineering and physical science.
1838. John Bleecker Van Schaick, a poet of some merit, died at Albany, aged 35.
1839. Frederick VI, king of Denmark, died. He was a benefactor to his country, which is indebted to him for the liberty of the press, emancipation from the last remains of feudal authority, abolition of the slave trade, in which Denmark set the example to the rest of Europe, reforms of the laws, the establishment of schools for general education, the introduction of popular representation, and system, order and economy in the financial affairs of the kingdom.
1839. Pope Gregory XVI issued a bull for abolishing the slave trade; "urgently invoking all Christians of whatever condition, that none henceforth dare subject to
slavery, unjustly persecute or despoil of their goods, Indians, negroes, or other classes of men, or be accessories to others in so doing; and on no account henceforth to exercise that inhuman traffic, by which negroes are reduced to slavery, as if they were not men but automata, or chattels," &c.
1849. William L. Hunter, a Rhode Island diplomat, died, aged 75. He studied medicine in London under his kinsman, John Hunter, but subsequently adopted the law. He was chargé at Brazil more than ten years.
1851. All attempts to oppose the assumption of power by Louis Napoleon were unsuccessful; the few barricades that were erected were soon torn or battered down.
1854. The people of Mexico completed three days' balloting, and decided with great unanimity that the republic should continue to be governed by Santa Anna.