MAY 13.
432. B. C. Meton, the Athenian astronomer, began his famous lunar cycle of 19 years (then marked by successive letters in gold, which are now called the golden numbers), with the new moon nearest to the summer solstice falling upon the 16th of Scirophion.
48 B. C. Pompey, in passing through the Archipelago, stopt at Mitylene to receive his wife, the exemplary Cornelia, and there conversed with Cratippus, the philosopher, on the nature of providence.
1213. King John received Pandulph, the pope's legate, in whose presence he subscribed an instrument by which the sentences of interdict, excommunication and deposition were revoked, conditionally that he reversed all his former acts of oppression.
1520. Massacre of the Mexicans by Alvarado, during the absence of Cortez. This happened on the great festival of their god Huitzilopochtli, in the month Toxcatl, the emperor being then a prisoner of the Spaniards in his palace, and the principal nobles gathered there for the dance, when the Spaniards fell upon them with the utmost fury. The victims were unable to defend themselves or escape by flight, and the slaughter was terrible. An insurrection immediately followed, and the quarters of the Spaniards were assaulted with such determined energy that they were compelled to hasten the return of Cortez, and led to the disaster of the 1st July (q. v.)
1539. A bill brought into the English parliament vesting in the crown all the
property of the monastic institutions. This was followed by the fall of 644 monasteries, 90 colleges, 2,374 chantries, and 110 hospitals. The revenue of these establishments amounted to £161,000.
1568. Battle of Langside hill, Mary queen of Scots defeated by the regent Murray, and fled to England.
1607. Jamestown, Virginia, settled. Three small ships, with 105 persons intended to form a settlement, under Sir Christopher Newport, took possession of a peninsula in Powhatan river, and gave it the name of Jamestown. Though they had to strive against appalling difficulties, and were several times on the verge of losing or abandoning the enterprise, they were ultimately established, mainly through the great exertions and talents of Capt. John Smith, one of the most remarkable persons connected with the early history of the country, and indeed one of the most remarkable of an age prolific of memorable men. Jamestown was for a long time the capital of the state, but has sunk into ruin, and is almost desolate. Two or three old houses, the ruins of an old steeple, a churchyard, and faint marks of the rude fortifications, are the only memorials of its former importance.
1614. Marguard Freher died. His books on law, criticism and history are numerous and respectable.
1619. John Van Oldenbarneveldt, a Dutch statesman, beheaded. Zeal for his country led him to oppose the arbitrary measures of the stadtholder, for which he was accused of treason and condemned at the age of 72. (See [April 14].)
1625. Charles I issued a proclamation for "settling the plantation of Virginia." The colony was reduced under the immediate direction of the crown, and the commission to the new governor and council was accompanied with arbitrary instructions. "The commerce of the colony was restrained, and the persons of the colonists enslaved."
1649. William Chappel, bishop of Cork, died. His works have been translated into English. To him is ascribed, among others, the authorship of the Whole Duty of Man.
1704. Louis Bourdaloue died; esteemed the best preacher that France ever produced.
1728. Counsellor Hagen, formerly secretary to the famous baron Gortz, shot himself through the head. He left a letter to king George II, and a paper stating "I am quite weary of eating and drinking, of shunning my creditors, weary of being burthensome to my friends, weary of being vexatious to my enemies, and lastly tired with myself."
1734. James Thornhill, an eminent English historical painter, died.
1736. The foundation of the Ratcliffe library laid at Oxford, England.
1781. Roger Byrne, the Irish giant, was buried. He weighed with his coffin 578 lbs., and died of no other disease than suffocation occasioned by a superabundance of fat, which stopped the play of his lungs, and put a period to his life in the 54th year of his age. His height, it is believed, was nearly 8 feet.
1760. A copy of Tendall's testament sold at Oxford for 20 guineas, supposed to be the only copy of that edition unburned by Tonstall. This book occasioned some prelates to say that they must root out printing or printing would root out them.
1783. Society of Cincinnati established; originated by Gen. Knox, and composed exclusively of officers who had served in the regular army during the revolutionary war.
1790. Action in the port of Revel, between the Swedish fleet of 23 ships and 18 frigates, and the Russian fleet of 11 sail and 5 frigates, protected by several batteries and fortifications. A furious storm raged at the time, which destroyed two Swedish ships.
1799. Bartholomew Mercier, abbot of St. Leger, died; a learned French author and a worthy man, whom the revolution reduced to poverty and wretchedness.
1806. Broome county in the state of New York erected.
1814. Madam Murat surrendered the fleet and arsenal at Naples, and Ferdinand returned to his capital.
1814. British cannonaded and bombarded the town of Charlotte at the mouth of Genesee river. It was successfully defended by Gen. Peter B. Porter, with 150 volunteers and 350 militia.
1816. Treaty between the United States and the Sac Indians of Rock river.
1825. Charles Whitworth, an English earl, died; employed by the government as ambassador to different courts of Europe—a man of much private worth and unquestioned talent.
1832. George Leopold Cuvier, the French naturalist, died. His grand work, the Animal Kingdom, forms an imperishable monument of his genius.
1835. Elizabeth Cook, widow of Capt. James Cook, the circumnavigator, died near London, aged 94. She survived her husband 55 years, and was highly esteemed for her virtues.
1835. John Nash, the architect of Regent street, Buckingham palace, &c., London, died.
1836. Sir Charles Wilkins, an eminent oriental scholar, died.
1838. Zachary Macauley, a distinguished philanthropist, died at London, aged 70. He edited the Christian Observer from 1802 to 1816, with ability, and for more than 40 years dedicated his eminent talents and active energies in conjunction with other distinguished men to the abolition of African slave trade.
1839. Joseph Fresch, archbishop of Lyons, died. He was the uncle of Bonaparte, and after the fall of the emperor resided at Rome in the enjoyment of immense wealth, and one of the first picture galleries in that city.
1841. The American Bible Society celebrated its 25th anniversary at New York. The whole amount of receipts during the year preceding, was $118,860·41; the number of Bibles and testaments published and circulated through the efforts of the society since its organization, three millions.
1849. A revolution at Carlsruhe, and the grand duke of Baden fled.
1852. George Dolland, an English astronomer and optician, died, aged 78. His father and grandfather followed the same pursuits. He is the author of the Atmospheric Recorder.