MAY 16.
1277. John XXI, pope, killed by the fall of a building. He was a Portuguese, and wrote on philosophy, medicine, &c.
1525. Thomas Munzer, a Saxon divine, executed. In conjunction with Stork, he pulled down all the images in the churches which Luther had left standing, and finally at the head of 40,000 men, commenced leveler of all ranks and distinctions, as usurpations on the rights of mankind. He was at length defeated in battle, when 7,000 of his followers were slain and himself captured.
1568. Mary, queen of Scots, crossed the frith of Solway, the irremeable stream, and landed in England.
1681. Female dancers first introduced on the Parisian stage, in a court opera, called Le Triumphe de l'Amour.
1691. Leisler and Milbourne hung as the cause of the Schenectady massacre.
1710. Thomas Smith died; a learned English writer on the manners and religion of the Turks, &c.
1725. Paul de Rapin de Thoyras, an eminent French historical writer, died. He served in the English army, and devoted 17 years to a History of England, which was published in 10 vols. quarto.
1747. M. Buffon, the celebrated naturalist, communicated to the Academy of sciences the results of some experiments on burning glasses, asserting the account of Archimedes burning the Roman ships at Syracuse, were neither absurd nor false.
1770. Louis XVI of France espoused Maria Antoinette, archduchess of Austria. A violent tempest on that day was regarded as an omen of future misfortunes.
1776. The French navigator, De Pages, passed the 81st degree of north latitude, in an attempt to reach the pole.
1776. John Hoadley, an English poet and dramatic writer, died. He was the son of bishop Hoadley, took orders and was loaded with preferments.
1782. Daniel Charles Solander, a celebrated Swedish naturalist, died. He was the pupil of Linnæus; visited England, and went with Cook on his voyage round the world.
1793. Edmund C. Genet, the French minister, arrived at Philadelphia. He was received with much enthusiasm by the citizens. (See [July 14].)
1795. The Batavian republic formed, by the aid of the French, in imitation of France; being governed by a legislature and a directory of five.
1796. Earthquake in Syria; Lataka, the ancient Laodicea, was laid in ruins, and more than 3,000 persons buried under the fallen mass. The village of Gibel was totally destroyed, and many houses in Tripoli were tumbled down.
1801. Battle of Heliopolis; the French under Belliard defeated by the Turks under the grand vizier.
1806. Blockade of the Elbe and of Brest, a coast of 1000 miles, with no place invested by land, and before many of the ports no blockading ships.
1809. The rear guard of the French army attacked at Salamonde in Portugal, and compelled to retreat before superior forces, with the loss of their artillery and baggage; having lost about 8,000 men, 2,000 of whom were slaughtered by the Portuguese. The army was a fortnight without clothing, shoes, provisions, &c., excepting those procured by marauding, and they must all have been destroyed but for the great military talents of Soult.
1811. Battle of Albuera, in Spain; the allies defeated by the French under Soult; about 20,000 men fell in this battle.
1811. Action between the United States frigate President, Rogers, and British ship Little-Belt, which was captured.
1813. Battle of Mignano, Italy, and defeat of the French.
1828. William Congreve, a British officer, died; inventor of the Congreve rocket, a hydro-pneumatic canal lock, and a new method of manufacturing gun powder, &c.
1830. The bill to remove the civil disabilities of the Jews rejected in the British parliament by a vote of 288 to 165.
1830. Great eruption of mount Ætna; seven new craters were formed, and eight villages were destroyed, to which the lava had never before extended.
1835. Felicia Dorothea Hemans, a celebrated English poetess, died. Her poems were extremely popular during her lifetime, and have been published in 2 vols.
1838. New York state banks resumed specie payment.
1841. A constitution of the republic of Yucatan decreed by the legislature and published at Merida, the capital; Yucatan having declared its absolute independence of the republic of Mexico.
1842. Count de Las Casas, author of the Memoirs of Napoleon, died near Paris.
1849. The city of Bologna capitulated to the Austrians after a conflict of eight days.
1850. William Hendricks, for some time governor of Indiana, died at Madison, aged 67.
1854. Tornadoes occurred in Alabama, Missouri and Illinois, accompanied with extensive damage to property.
1855. General Canrobert resigned the command of the French troops in the Crimea, and was succeeded by general Pelissier.