JULY 2.
928. John X, pope of Rome, suffocated in prison. Better fitted for heading an army than governing the church, he was victorious over the Turks in battle.
936. Henry I (the fowler), of Germany, died. He was successful in his wars, strengthened his empire, and promoted harmony and union among the German princes.
1296. John Baliol subscribed his abdication at Kincardin. For three years he had the tower of London and a circuit round the walls for twenty miles for his possession; and in 1299 was permitted to retire into Normandy, where he died forgotten six years afterwards.
1491. Madeira, an island in the Atlantic, covered with wood (whence its name), discovered by John Gonzales Zarco, in the service of Portugal. It was the next year colonized, and planted with the Cyprian vine and sugar cane of Sicily.
1492. Adolphus, emperor of Germany, killed. He was a poor count, elected partly through intrigue, and his reign was a series of intrigues to maintain himself in
power. The throne was finally given to Albert of Austria, and when the two emperors met in battle, they fought hand to hand, and Adolphus was killed by the lance of his rival. His abilities were inadequate to his station.
1566. Michael Nostrodamus died; an able French physician and celebrated astrologer.
1609. Hudson on his first voyage, after various vicissitudes, through storm and ice, loss of foremast and sails, arrived off the banks of Newfoundland, and refreshed his men by a heavy catch of cod.
1644. Battle of Marston Moor; the parliament army under Cromwell and Fairfax, defeated the royalists under prince Rupert, who lost the whole of his artillery and left the northern counties in the hands of the confederates.
1692. Adrian de Valois (or Valesius) died; a learned French historian and critic.
1704. Battle of Donauworth, in Bavaria; the French and Bavarians defeated by the duke of Marlborough. Loss about 6,000 on each side.
1730. Laurence Corsini was elected pope by the conclave, after it had sat four months. He took the name of Clement XII.
1740. Thomas Baker, a learned and ingenious English antiquary, died. He wrote with great purity of style.
1741. Thomas Morecroft died; the person who figures in the Spectator as Will Wimble.
1775. Washington arrived at Cambridge, and took command of the American army, then consisting of 14,500 men.
1776. The memorable resolution, declaring the North American colonies independent, passed by congress, without one dissenting colony. It was proclaimed on the 4th, and hence that day is celebrated, instead of this, which is, perhaps, better entitled to the honor.
1778. A fanatic calling herself queen Beck, assaulted king George III as he was alighting from his carriage.
1778. Jean Jacques Rousseau died at Paris. He was the son of a watchmaker at Geneva, and strayed to Paris while young, where he became one of the most celebrated authors of the day. His works are collected in 33 vols.
1782. Dionysius Diderot, a noted French philosopher, died. He was the son of a cutler, educated by the Jesuits. Rejecting the ecclesiastical profession for literature, he became an author, and conceived the stupendous design of the Dictionnaire Encyclopédique, on which he labored 20 years. He was a Jacobin, and contributed his full share to the revolution.
1800. Bill for the union of Great Britain and Ireland signed by order of the king, George III.
1802. Colonel Barre, so noted in the British parliament as an opponent to the American war, died. He had been blind for many years.
1805. Patrick Russell, a British physician, died at London; author of a valuable treatise on the plague, and several estimable works on natural history.
1807. Jefferson issued his proclamation forbidding all intercourse with British ships of war, and ordering all those within the American waters to withdraw therefrom. (See [June 22].)
1812. American embargo expired by its own limitation. On the same day the frigate Essex, captain Porter, sailed from New York on a cruise against the British, on which occasion he hoisted a white flag, bearing the motto, "Free trade and sailor's rights."
1812. Peter Gansevoort, a distinguished American officer, died at Albany, aged 63.
1816. Benjamin Thompson died; formerly a timber merchant, translator of the German Theatre, and author of several other productions. His death was caused by extreme sensitiveness at the manner in which his play of Oberon's Oath was received. It was hissed on the first representation, at which he was extremely dejected; at its second representation it was received with universal applause, which elated him so much that he died of the excitement.
1830. Battle near Milliduse between the Turks and Russians. The Turks were defeated with considerable loss, and their general, Hadki pasha, taken prisoner.
1840. The port of Canton, in China, blockaded by the British under commodore Bremer.
1849. The city of Rome surrendered to the French.
1851. Caroline Amelia Halsted, an English authoress, died. Of three or four works which she published the principal one is a Life of Richard III, in 2 volumes, octavo.
1851. William Berry, an English author, died at Bristol, aged 77; author of various works on genealogy and heraldry.
1853. The Russian troops under prince Gortschakoff crossed the Pruth and invaded Turkey.
1853. A controversy having arisen between the consuls of Austria and America at Smyrna about Martin Koszta, an Austrian refugee, captain Ingraham of the American sloop of war St. Louis, hearing of a design to convey him to Trieste, demanded the surrender of Koszta before 4 o'clock,
and brought his guns to bear on the Austrian brig. An engagement was prevented by the compromise that Koszta be delivered to the French consul at Smyrna for safe keeping.
1855. The legislature of Kansas met at Pawnee and organized; Thomas Johnson, president of the council, and John H. Stringfellow, speaker of the house.
1855. Thomas Weaver, an eminent English geologist, died at Pimlico, aged 82.
1855. Charles Elkins, a British admiral of the red, died, aged 87. He published a review of the naval battles from 1744 to 1814.
1856. Rowland Stephenson, for many years a London banker, and also a member of parliament, died at Bristol, Pa., aged 83. He had resided in this country about thirty years.