JULY 29.
1108. Philip I, king of France, died. He came to the throne at the age of 8 years; was ambitious and unscrupulous in his acts; engaged in war with England and Flanders, and was defeated by both.
1218. Louis Van Loon died; the husband of Ada, the expatriated queen of Holland.
1540. A statute was made confirming the seizures of the abbeys by Henry VIII.
1567. Prince James, less than 14 months old, was crowned king of Scotland at Stirling.
1578. Sebastian, king of Portugal, killed. He was unfortunate in his wars, and lost his life at Tangiers, in battle with the Moors. Camoens dedicated his Lusiad to this king, but he had the stupidity to treat the intended honor with contempt.
1603. Bartholomew Gilbert, in search of the lost English colony, having landed in a bay about the 40th degree of latitude, in a boat with four men, was attacked by the natives and every one killed. The rest of the crew immediately weighed anchor and returned to England.
1653. Admiral Van Tromp killed and his fleet destroyed by the English fleet under Monk and Blake.
1644. Urban VIII (Maffeo Barberini), pope, died. He was an excellent poet, and was called the Attic Bee.
1653. Gabriel Naudæus, a learned French author, died. He was patronized by Richelieu and Mazarin, and Christina of Sweden.
1654. Thomas Gataker, an English divine, died, aged 80. He was one of the most noted men of the age; who united to extensive erudition, great moderation and benevolence.
1678. Andrew Marvell, an English poet, politician and critic, died (Penny Cyclopedia says August 16th). He supported the civil and religious liberties of his country, against the encroachments of the court, by his writings and parliamentary interest; and though poor, declined the bribes of the king.
1693. Battle of Neerwinden (or Landon), in Belgium; the allies under William III, defeated by the French, with the loss of 60 cannon, 9 mortars and about 7,000 men. The king had his clothes penetrated by three bullets.
1714. Martin Poli, an Italian chemist, died at Paris. It is said that he communicated to the king some powerful agent of destruction for military use; but the king, at the same time that he commended and rewarded his ingenuity with a pension and an office, insisted that the secret should die with him.
1747. Dr. Blackwell, a Scotch physician and for some time a corrector of the press to Mr. Wilkins in London, beheaded at Stockholm. Being informed that his head was not properly laid on the block he replied as it was his first experiment no wonder he needed some instruction.
1759. Crown point abandoned by the French on the approach of the British and provincials under general Amherst.
1760. At Lidden near Canterbury in grubbing down an enormous ash tree two human skeletons were found in the centre.
1773. The city of Guatemala laid in ruins by an earthquake and the eruption of a volcano.
1794. Seventy-one members of the municipality of Paris guillotined.
1794. Stanislaus Augustus, king of Poland, compelled by the Prussian, Austrian and Russian coalition to annul the Polish constitution, and deliver the army over to the Russian general Branicki.
1801. William Augustus Ernesti died; a distinguished German scholar and professor of eloquence at Leipsic.
1832. John Anthony Chaptal, a celebrated French chemist, died. He produced numerous valuable works on chemistry and other practical branches of the arts and sciences, was made minister of the interior by Bonaparte, and successively filled many other important situations.
1839. Gaspard Clair François Marie Riche de Prony, peer of France, died, aged 84. He was formerly professor of mechanics in the polytechnic school, an eminent engineer, and author of many scientific works.
1848. The long expected outbreak in Ireland; viscount Hardinge arrived to take command of the troops from England, the whole available force of which was sent over, supposed to be 50,000 in number.
1848. M. Ellett, engineer of the Niagara suspension bridge, drove a two horse carriage over that part of the bridge which was laid down and partly finished.
1853. Jonathan Richmond, one of the pioneers of western New York, died at Aurora, aged 79. For forty years he was actively engaged in aiding the rising fortunes of his sections of the state.
1856. A fire in Boston destroyed a block in North street, where 80 families were burnt out, and 9 lives lost.