DECEMBER 5.
1056. Macbeth, usurper of the Scottish throne, slain by Macduff, after a reign of 17 years.
1492. Columbus discovered the island of Hispaniola, called by the natives Hayti, or high country, from its mountains; Quesqueya, or the whole, from its dimensions; and Bohio, or house, from its very superior civilization.
1518. John James Trivulci, marshal of France, died. He was banished from Milan, his native country, and entered into the service of Charles VIII, under whom he distinguished himself repeatedly in battle.
1537. An order for the expulsion of all the gypsies from England.
1560. Francis II, of France, died, aged 17, after a reign of 17 months. He had lately married Mary, queen of Scots.
1639. Henry Wotton, an English statesman and poet, died, leaving many writings.
1712. Anne Mary de Tremouille Ursins died at Rome, aged 80. She was a woman of great powers of mind, who as maid of honor to the queen of Spain, possessed so much influence over the court as to give her the direction of the affairs of the nation.
1734. Peter Tillemans died; a distinguished landscape painter of Antwerp, who settled in England and enjoyed there the patronage of the great.
1754. Battle of Leuthen, or Lissa; the Austrians and Saxons under count Daun defeated by the Prussians under Frederick II, with the loss of 6,000 killed, 21,000 taken prisoners, 134 cannon, and 4,000 baggage and ammunition wagons.
1775. The Americans under Gen. Montgomery and Arnold appeared before Quebec.
1784. Phillis Peters, known to the literary world by her miscellaneous writings, died at Boston. She was an African who acquired the English language, and made some progress in Latin.
1784. A violent storm off the coast of England, which destroyed a vast amount of shipping. A British fleet of 150 sail went out of Yarmouth road that morning, and was totally dispersed, all the sails
torn in shreds, and a great many of the ships foundered, their crews in some instances being lost entirely.
1788. Admiral Greig, a Scottish naval commander in the service of Russia, was buried at Revel with great honors.
1792. Johann Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart, a celebrated German musician, died. His works will ever rank with those of the greatest masters.
1793. Armand Guy Simon de Kersaint, a French count, and naval officer of high merit, beheaded at Paris.
1793. John Paul Rabaut de St. Etienne, a French protestant minister, guillotined for his bold and eloquent defence of the king.
1793. Battle of Martigne; the French under Danican defeated by the Vendeans.
1795. John Bewick died; an English engraver on wood, of great excellence; who with his brother carried the art to a state of perfection before unknown.
1806. The French under Murat crossed the Vistula and occupied Praga.
1808. William Hawes, an English physician and philanthropist, died. He was the founder of the Royal humane society, for the recovery of persons apparently dead by drowning, strangulation or suffocation; an institution which has renewed the lives of thousands that would otherwise have perished.
1813. Charles John Maria Denina, an Italian historian, died at Paris; the author of many excellent works.
1815. A foot-ball match at Carterhaugh, Ettrick forest, between the Ettrick men and the men of Yarrow. One party was backed by the earl of Home, the other by sir Walter Scott, sheriff of the forest, who wrote two songs for the occasion.
1819. Frederick Leopold Stolberg, a German writer, died. His works consist of travels, history, poems, dramas and translations.
1835. Thomas Pringle, the first editor of Blackwood's Magazine, and for many years secretary to the London anti-slavery society, died at London.
1837. James Marshman, an eminent and learned baptist missionary, died at Serampore, aged 70. He was the son of a poor English weaver, who having received his education, went to India in 1799. He published a Chinese grammar, and a translation of the entire scriptures.
1838. The French evacuated the city of Vera Cruz. In an engagement between the French and the Mexicans, Santa Anna, who commanded the Mexicans, was wounded so as to oblige an amputation of his leg.
1851. Kossuth, the Hungarian general, arrived at Staten island, and the next day, as the guest of the city of New York, reviewed the troops, which formed a military and civic procession in his honor.
1853. The steamer Humboldt, of the New York and Havre line, run upon a rock in attempting to enter the harbor at Halifax, and was lost.