JUNE 12.
456 B. C. Herodotus recited his celebrated History at Athens, during the Olympic games, in his 29th year, on the 12 Hecatombæon. He had traveled with his work from Caria. Thucydides was then a boy; Æschylus died in that year; Cimon was recalled from exile, and the Athenians completed their long walls.
455. Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus, emperor of Rome, murdered by the soldiery, after a reign of 15 months. He was of humble birth, but rose by his merits to the most eminent posts of the state, and was raised to the imperial dignity on the death of Gordian. He made salutary laws and reformed abuses.
1099. The army of crusaders who had encamped before Jerusalem, made a furious attack on this city, and amid a storm of arrows and fire balls, burst the first barrier, and strove to surmount the walls by escalade. The want of proper instruments rendered the assault abortive, and the followers of the cross were driven back with shame and slaughter to their camp. This defeat was followed by suffering and privations, from the scarcity of provisions and water.
1211. Battle of Tolosa, in Spain, between the Christians and Moors. Mohammed Abu Abdallah, at the head of a powerful army, one of the five divisions of which, according to the Arabic and Spanish historians, amounted to 160,000 men, made a descent from Africa, with the design of conquering the whole Spanish peninsula. Such was the terror which this vast armament inspired among the Christians, that Innocent III, proclaimed a crusade, and several bishops went from town to town to rouse the Christian princes. The kings of Castile, Arragon and Navarre, with a numerous body of foreign volunteers, advanced to stop the progress of the Moslems. The two armies met in Las Navas de Tolosa, between Castile and Andalusia. The result of the engagement was so complete a victory over the Africans, that Mohammed had a narrow escape, and left no less than 170,000 men in the field; the rest fled for safety.
1268. Bilbars, the sultan of Syria, took possession of Antioch. The Latin principality was extinguished, and the whole existence of the Franks was now confined to the city of Ptolemais.
1402. Battle of Melienydd, in Radnorshire, Wales, in which Owen Glendour, the last of the native Welsh princes, defeated and captured sir Edmund Mortimer.
1418. Massacre at Paris, at night, by the direction, if not under the eye of John, duke of Burgundy, called the fearless. In the course of three days, 3500 persons were sacrificed.
1488. James III, king of Scotland, killed. He put his brother John to death, and attempted the life of his other brother, Alexander; he escaped, however, and levied war against the tyrant, who had rendered himself odious by his cruelties. James was defeated in battle, and put to death in a mill, by the daggers of his own subjects.
1565. Adrian Turnebus, a French critic, died. Great encomiums have been passed upon his genius and learning, as well as the amiability of his private character.
1630. John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts, arrived at Salem, with the charter of the colony. He settled at Shawmut, which was finally determined upon for the metropolis, and named Boston.
1647. Thomas Farnaby, an English grammarian, died. His works display great erudition.
1660. William Oughtred, an English divine and mathematician, died. He was disturbed in his retirement by the partisans of Cromwell, and escaped sequestration only by the interference of influential friends. His works were small, but of great value to subsequent mathematicians.
1665. The city of New York incorporated by governor Nichols; a mayor, 5 aldermen and a sheriff were appointed. Prior to this, it had been governed by a schout, burgomasters and schepens.
1672. The French under Louis XIV, crossed the Rhine. The prince de Conde was wounded for the first and only time during all his campaigns; but the young duke de Longueville was killed.
1672. The government of England issued a proclamation to restrain the spread of false news and licentious talking of matters of state and government.
1676. Attack on Hadley by the Indians, to the number of 700, who were resolved on a grand effort to carry this post. The attack was commenced at day-light, with great spirit; they gained possession of a house, and fired a barn; but were in a short time driven back with loss. The attack was renewed on other points, the enemy appearing to be determined on carrying the place; but the discharge of a piece of ordnance cooled their ardor, and they drew off; and on assistance coming from Northampton, the foe was driven into the woods, with a loss of two or three of the English. It is supposed to have been on this occasion that general Goffe, one of the judges of Charles I, who was at that time concealed with the minister at Hadley, made his appearance in so mysterious a manner. At a moment when the people were in the greatest consternation, there appeared a man of venerable aspect, differing from them in his apparel, who assumed the command, put them in order for defence, and by advice and example animated them throughout the attack. When the scene was over, on looking about for the stranger, he had disappeared, and was seen no more—leaving the inhabitants to form the strangest conjectures.
1683. The Rye house plot discovered. It was headed by Monmouth, Essex, and lord John Russell, and their object seems to have been to oppose the succession of the duke of York. Russell and many others suffered on the scaffold, Essex was found with his throat cut in prison, and Monmouth was in a short time reconciled to the king.
1734. James, duke of Berwick, killed by a cannon shot at the siege of Phillipsburgh, in Germany, while standing between his two sons. No general of his time excelled him in the art of war, except his uncle, the duke of Marlboro'.
1759. William Collins, an English poet, died. He was entirely neglected, and his Odes, which possessed great merit, failed to attract any attention during his life time.
1775. General Gage, issued a proclamation at Boston, offering the king's pardon to all who would lay down their arms and return to their peaceable occupations, excepting Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and at the same time he proclaimed martial law.
1778. Philip Livingston, a signer and a strenuous advocate for the declaration of independence, died. He was a New York merchant, and became a prominent character in that city before the revolution.
1788. Settlement made at Sierra Leone by blacks from England. The town lots were drawn for and apportioned this day.
1794. Couthon reported, and the French convention decreed, the organization of the revolutionary tribunal, consisting of a president, 3 vice-presidents, a public accuser, 4 deputies, 12 judges and 50 jurors.
1796. Battle between the Chinese and Eleuths, in a desert which the Chinese had attempted to penetrate in pursuit of the retreating army. The Tartars under Kaldan, taking advantage of the exhausted state of their enemy, gave them battle; but were defeated and totally routed, with the loss of 2000 killed, and all their women, children, baggage and cattle, taken by the Chinese.
1798. The French troops took possession of the fortifications of Malta, and the fleet anchored in the ports. They found two line of battle ships belonging to the Maltese, a frigate, three galleys, two galliots, and several guard boats; 1500 pieces of artillery, 35,000 stand of small arms, 12,000 barrels of powder, and a large quantity of shot and shell. The order of knights from this day became virtually extinct; from a position of political importance it fell to the level of an obscure association, and such, as far as human foresight goes, it is destined to remain.
1798. The Irish rebels defeated with great slaughter at Ballynahinch by general
Nugent. This quelled the insurrection in the north.
1799. A division of the French army, under Olivier, took Modena, and drove the Austrians beyond the river Po.
1805. American ship Atahualpa, captain Porter, treacherously attacked by the Indians while bartering for skins in Sturgis's cove. Captain Porter and 8 of the crew were killed, and 11 wounded.
1812. Putnam county in New York erected.
1813. Major Chapin and other American prisoners taken at the head of the lake, and sent in boats for Kingston, when arrived near York rose upon the guard, and after a short struggle took the boats and returned to Niagara.
1816. Pierre Francois Charles Augereau, duke of Castiglione and marshal of France, died. He was the son of a fruit merchant, and served as a carabineer in the French army. He first distinguished himself in 1794, after which his career for a number of years was brilliant, and full of honor and glory.
1829. A large body of Turkish cavalry and infantry defeated near Kuganoff, and 600 killed.
1843. Henry R. Cleveland, aged 34, died at St. Louis, Mo. He was an elegant and graceful writer, and the author of the well written life of Henry Hudson, in Sparks' Biography.
1843. Samuel Kidd, professor of oriental and Chinese literature in University college, London, died, aged 42.
1846. More than 6000 persons driven from their houses by a disastrous fire in St. Johns, Newfoundland.
1848. George Pozer, a wealthy merchant of Quebec, died, aged 95.
1848. Insurrection at Prague; the princess of Windichgratz shot by the insurgents.