JULY 24.
634. Abubekir, father-in-law of Mohammed, the Arabian prophet, died. He was elected caliph, and supported with energy the fabric already erected by the founder of the new religion. He subdued the disaffected tribes at home, and turned his arms successfully against foreign invaders.
1313. Ralph de Baldock, bishop of London, died. He wrote a history of British affairs, now lost, and was a virtuous and charitable prelate, and a man of learning and judgment.
1322. Bruce, after ravaging the western marches in England during 24 days, returned home with his wagons filled with plunder.
1411. Battle between the Gaelic and Lowland Scottish factions, led by the earl of Mar, and Donald of the Isles. This battle was of the highest importance, since it decided the superiority of the more civilized regions of Scotland over those inhabited by the Celtic tribes, who remained almost as savage as their forefathers, the Dulriads.
1520. Henry Stephens, a celebrated French printer, the founder of the family of that name, died at Lyons.
1527. Francisco Alvarez, a Spanish traveler, returned from an expedition to Africa. He accompanied an embassy from the king of Portugal to David, king of Abyssinia, in 1515. The expedition met with many obstacles, and did not arrive till 1520. He published an account of his travels at Lisbon, 1540, a work of great fidelity and merit.
1567. Queen Mary, a prisoner in Lochleven castle, subscribed the instrument by which she resigned the Scottish crown in favor of her son, James VI, afterwards king of England.
1590. Stephen Tabourot (sieur des accords), a French writer, died.
1595. Andrew de Brancas de Villars, a French general, murdered. He espoused the interests of the league against Henry IV, but afterwards abandoned it, was taken prisoner and despatched.
1595. Charles de Loraine d'Aumale, a French nobleman, broken on the wheel at Paris, in effigy. After the assassination of the duke of Guise, he became the head of the league against the Calvinists, and secretly aimed at the throne. He even took possession of Paris, sent the members of the parliament to the Bastile, and compelled the king to fly. But meeting with reverses, he joined the Spaniards, was
outlawed, and the parliament being unable to take him, executed their sentence upon his effigy. He resided principally in Flanders, till his death, which took place at Brussels, 1631, at the age of 77.
1609. The expedition under Somers, (see [June 2],) overtaken by a tremendous tempest. The admiral ship was severed from the rest "by the tail of a mighty hurricane," but at length after having drank to one another, "as taking their last leaves, intending to commit themselves to the mercy of the sea, most luckily the ship was driven and jammed between two rocks."
1712. Battle of Denain; the French under Villars defeated the allies under Albemarle, who was taken, together with four German princes, and many other prisoners.
1722. The wearing of broadswords prohibited in Edinburgh.
1744. Alphonso de Vignoles, a French protestant, died. He retired to Prussia on the revocation of the edict of Nantes, where he was patronized by the king, and wrote several learned works.
1755. Elisha Williams, president of Yale college, died; esteemed for his learning and great moral worth.
1756. George Vertue, an English engraver and antiquary, died.
1758. John Dyer, an English poet, died. In 1727 he published the poem of Grongar Hill, and soon after he went to Italy to delineate the antiquities of that country, under the title of the Ruins of Rome, a poem which places him high on the scale of merit as a writer.
1759. Battle of Niagara. The English under sir William Johnson defeated the French and Indians with great slaughter, and took fort Niagara. The loss of this fortress effectually cut off all communication between Canada and Louisiana.
1768. Nathaniel Lardner, an eminent English divine, died. His literary labors, which have been published in 11 vols., were translated into various languages abroad, and procured him great distinction at home.
1779. An expedition fitted out by Massachusetts to take a British post at Penobscot, totally defeated by the unexpected arrival of the British fleet. The troops were dispersed in all directions, and found their way home with difficulty; 19 vessels were taken or destroyed, and 24 transports burnt.
1797. Unsuccessful attack of the British upon Santa Cruz, Teneriffe. Lord Nelson lost his right arm.
1804. Adolphus Charles Adam, afterwards a distinguished musical performer, born at Paris.
1813. An attempt made by several United States officers to blow up the British ship Plantagenet, in Lynnhaven bay, with a torpedo. It exploded without effecting their purpose, though so near the vessel as to injure it.
1817. About mid-day, after a loud detonation, the lake Canterno, or Porciano, in Italy, totally disappeared. A large opening was discovered in the bottom, through which the waters were supposed to have escaped into the sinuosities of the neighboring mountains.
1822. Ernest Theodore William Hoffman, a Prussian novelist, died. He possessed much imagination and talent, but was an irregular and unhappy man.
1830. The thermometer at noon in Boston stood at 95°, at sundown at 50°, and fires were made.
1833. Lisbon surrendered to the army of don Pedro, under the duke of Terceira.
1848. An intended insurrection at Cuba; the government becoming apprised of it, general Lopez, the head conspirator, escaped to the United States.
1849. John L. Lawrence died, aged about 67. He was one of the secretaries who assisted at the treaty of Ghent; well known in the councils and commerce of the state, and at the time of his death comptroller of the city of New York.
1853. Hezekiah C. Seymour, engineer in chief of the state of New York, died at Piermont, aged 42. His name is prominently associated with the New York and Erie rail road, and with the Ontario, Huron, and lake Simcoe rail road in Canada.
1854. Henry King, a British general, died, aged 77. He had been a soldier for sixty years, serving in the West Indies, Egypt, Walcheren, and the Peninsula. In Egypt he lost a leg, but that did not prevent him from subsequently taking part in the war.
1854. The American fishing vessel Ellen Morrill, was captured by the British cruisers, and carried into the port of Bathurst, causing much excitement among the fishermen.
1855. Violent and repeated shocks of an earthquake destroyed the Swiss villages of St. Nicholas and Viege, during this and the preceding day.