JULY 28.
2348 B. C. Noah, the Xisuthrus of Berosus, opened the windows of the ark and sent forth a dove and a raven, 40 days after the appearance of the mountains.
388. Magnus Maximus, emperor of Rome, beheaded. He was a Spaniard, proclaimed emperor by his troops in Britain. On arriving at Aquelia, on his way to Rome, he was defeated by Theodosius I, and beheaded.
450. Theodosius (the younger), emperor of Rome, died. He was successful in war against the Persians, who were defeated near their own dominions; but the Huns compelled him to sue for peace on terms not the most advantageous to the Romans. He was succeeded by his sister Pulcheria, and the empire for the first time submitted to a female reign.
1402. Battle of Angora near Constantinople, between the Tartars under Tamerlane and the Turks under Bajazet. It was an obstinate engagement, and continued three days. The Turks were defeated and Bajazet taken prisoner.
1492. Innocent VIII (John Baptist Cibo), pope, died. He was a Genoese nobleman of Greek descent; employed his influence to reconcile the quarrels of the Christian princes with one another, and left behind him the character of a high minded and benevolent man.
1540. Thomas Cromwell, earl of Essex, beheaded. He rose from the purlieus of a blacksmith's shop to those of the palace; from the pursuit of a humble calling to the dignity of lord chamberlain of England. But he fell a victim to the caprice of Henry VIII.
1541. The diet of Ratisbone closed its sittings.
1592. William Hacket, an English fanatic of the reign of Elizabeth, hung and quartered for blasphemy.
1609. Sir George Somers, governor of
Virginia, with his crew, who were wrecked on the 24th, landed on Bermudas. They found "a huge and curious sort of fish," and having remained there about nine months, and built two cedar barks they quitted the isle of Devils on the 10th May following. (See [May 23].)
1629. John Speed died; an English chronologist, historian and antiquary.
1635. Richard Corbet, an English bishop, died. He also wrote a volume of ingenious poems, which were published under the title of Poetica Stromata.
1667. Abraham Cowley, an eminent English poet, died. Addison observed of him, that no author ever abounded so much in wit, according to Locke's definition of it.
1718. Stephen Baluze, a French writer, died, aged 87. He wrote the lives of the popes of Avignon, and was an indefatigable collector of curious manuscripts, &c.
1750. Conyers Middleton, a celebrated English divine and critical author, died. His writings are numerous, and display profound learning and extensive information.
1750. Thomas Gordon, who in company with John Trenchard, for some time managed the Independent Whig, died at London. His knowledge of the classics was respectable and he translated Tacitus.
1789. The Pittsburg Gazette was printed, the first newspaper west of the Allegany mountains.
1790. The Forth and Clyde canal opened from the British to the Atlantic ocean, in Scotland.
1793. French general Semonville arrested on his route to Constantinople to bribe the divan; 64,000 louis d'ors and a great quantity of jewels were found on him.
1794. Maximilian Isidore Robespierre, the sanguinary demagogue of the French revolution, guillotined, aged 35. He rose from obscurity by his talents, but the demon of destruction seemed to sway his mind and urge him on to the most inhuman deeds that ever disgraced even a political demagogue. Twenty others perished at the same time by the same means.
1802. Joseph Sarti, an Italian music composer, died. He resided at the court of Catharine of Russia, where he was master of the chapel. He composed a Te Deum for the taking of Oczakow, the bass of which was accompanied by cannon of different calibre.
1804. Pompey, a negro man, died at Dover, Delaware, aged 120.
1806. Buenos Ayres taken by the British.
1809. Second battle of Talavera, between the British and Portuguese under Wellington, and the French under Victor, in which the latter were defeated. Loss of the allies 8,167; French supposed to have lost more.
1813. Fourth battle of the Pyrenees; the French under Soult defeated the British under Wellington.
1813. Andoche Junot, duke of Abrantes, died. He entered the army as a volunteer 1791, afterwards distinguished himself under Bonaparte in the Italian and Egyptian campaigns, and commanded in the campaign in Russia.
1817. Vadamme, a celebrated French general, a voluntary exile, arrived at Philadelphia.
1818. Gaspard Monge died at Paris. He was preceptor to Lacroix and other distinguished mathematicians, and was the first to reduce the art of fortifications, &c., to geometrical rules. His Géométrie descriptive is much used.
1820. Joseph Zajonczeck, viceroy of Poland, died. He entered the army at an early age, espoused the cause of freedom, and fought bravely for his country. He afterwards served in the armies of Bonaparte; and was finally appointed by Russia viceroy of Poland.
1833. William Wilberforce, a celebrated philanthropist, died at London, aged 74. He was a member of parliament and the intimate friend of Pitt. He began his efforts for the abolition of the slave trade as early as 1787.
1835. Edward Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, duke of Treviso, killed by the explosion of an infernal machine, intended to assassinate Louis Philippe. He joined the army 1791, and from that time his life was marked by combats, exploits and promotion during a term of nearly 30 years. "He is among a small number of Napoleon's generals, whose reputation for private worth has remained unquestioned through life." It was to him that Napoleon entrusted the hazardous undertaking of blowing up the Kremlin at Moscow.
1836. Nathan Mayer Rothschild, a celebrated London banker, died. He was a Jew, whose financial operations pervaded the whole continent of Europe. His transactions were carried on in conjunction with his brothers in Paris, Vienna, Frankfort and Naples, all of whom possessed colossal fortunes of their own.
1840. John George Lambton, earl of Durham, died, aged 48. He was made governor-general of Canada in 1838, but returned the same year, and published a valuable work on Canada. He was regarded as the leader of the reform movement which agitated the country and his talents and merits were very differently estimated by different parties.
1849. The late king of Sardinia, Charles Albert, died at Lisbon.
1851. Horace Sebastiani, a French marshal, died at Paris, aged 80. He was born in Corsica, and bore a part in most of the great battles during Bonaparte's career. He was in the ministry under Louis Philippe, and ambassador both at Naples and London.
1852. The steam boat Henry Clay, on her passage from Albany to New York, took fire about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, near Yonkers, and was consumed to the water's edge; 56 persons lost their lives, so sudden and rapid was the destruction of the boat. She had been racing with the Armenia.