MAY 23.
1270 B. C. Larcher places the chronology of the fall of Troy upon this day.
63 B. C. Jerusalem taken by Pompey on the 23d day of the Hebrew month Sivan, in the consulate of Cicero, a day that was then observed as a fast, in remembrance of the defection and idolatry of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin.
37 B. C. Jerusalem fell into the hands of Herod, in the consulate of Agrippa; it being one of those septenniary periods called sabbatic years.
683. Leo II, pope, died; an able and resolute pontiff; established the kiss of peace at the mass, and the use of holy water.
1125. Henry V of Germany died; leaving an odious character.
1430. The town of Compiegne in France was besieged by the combined forces of England and Burgundy, and defended by Joan of Arc.
1455. Battle of St. Albans (first of the roses), between the Lancastrians under Henry VI, and the Yorkists. The former were defeated with the loss of 3 earls, 49 barons and about 5,000 men killed, and the king himself was wounded in the neck and taken prisoner. Loss of the other party 500.
1498. Geronimo Savanarola, an Italian monk, burnt. His influence was so great at Florence, that for several years he guided the state as its sovereign; but when he attacked the corruptions of the church of Rome and the infamous conduct of pope Alexander VI, neither his purity nor his popularity could save him from destruction.
1533. Cranmer pronounced sentence of divorce between Henry VIII and Catharine of Arragon.
1609. The company of South Virginia not realizing the expected profit from its colony, obtained from king James a new charter, with more ample privileges. Their territory extended 400 miles on the Atlantic
coast, and "from the Atlantic westward to the South sea."
1610. The English wrecked on the island of Bermudas (see [July 24]), having built two small vessels and paid the seams with lime and tortoise oil, arrived in them at the settlement of Jamestown; they found the inhabitants reduced from 500 to 60, by famine; and seeing no other means of preserving them than by abandoning the country, they took them all on board, with the intention of returning to England. At this juncture lord Delaware arrived with three ships, 150 men, and plenty of provisions, and settled the colony.
1679. It was discovered that 27 members of the English parliament had been pensioners on the government.
1692. Third action off La Hogue, between the British and French fleets; 6 ships of the latter burnt.
1701. William Kidd with others executed at Execution dock, London, for piracy. In America every reminiscence of Kidd has yet an air of romance.
1706. Battle of Ramilles, in Belgium, between the French under Villeroy, and the allies under the duke of Marlborough, in which the latter were signally victorious. The armies contained about 60,000 men each; the loss of the French was 15,000, that of the allies 4,000.
1720. The French Mississippi scheme, projected by John Law, dissolved, like those bright floating circles which amuse and vex the hopes of children of a lesser growth.
1752. Wm. Bradford, a noted American printer, died, aged 94. He established the first printing office in Philadelphia, and also in New York. He was government printer more than fifty years, and is said to have walked over a great part of the city of New York on the day he died.
1764. Francis Algarotti died; an Italian, eminent as a connoisseur and critic in every branch of belles-lettres, and an author of repute.
1783. James Otis, an American patriot and statesman, killed by lightning. He was one of the most zealous and active promoters of the revolution.
1785. William Woollet, a celebrated English historical and landscape engraver, died. The death of general Wolfe from West's painting is probably his best.
1786. Mauritius Augustus Benyowsky, an extraordinary Hungarian adventurer, killed on the island of Madagascar in an action with the French.
1783. South Carolina adopted the federal constitution, recommending amendments, being the 8th state in succession; votes 149 to 73.
1793. Battle of Famars; the French defeated by the allies, consisting of Austrians, Prussians, British, Hanoverians, Hessians and Dutch.
1794. Cecile Regnault attempted to assassinate Robespierre and Collot d'Herbois.
1798. The rebellion of the united Irishmen commenced.
1798. Lady Edward Fitzgerald, the celebrated Pamela, daughter of the duke of Orleans, ordered to quit the kingdom.
1808. Riots among the English weavers on account of wages.
1812. Louis Dutens, a French miscellaneous writer, died.
1815. G. Henry Ernest Muehlenburgh, an American Lutheran divine, died. He was a man of extensive science, particularly eminent as a botanist.
1816. Massacre of the Christians by the Turks at Bona in Algiers.
1836. Edward Livingston, an eminent American jurist, died. He was a native of New York, and after holding various offices, removed to New Orleans, where on the invasion of Louisiana by the British, he offered his services to general Jackson, and acted as aid. He was afterwards secretary of state at Washington and minister to France, in which offices he manifested distinguished ability.
1841. Samuel Dale, an eminent pioneer in the settlement of the southwest, died in Lauderdale county, Mississippi. He was remarkable for his courage and bodily strength, and distinguished for his contests with the Indians, and as an officer in the last war with England.
1848. Freedom of the negroes proclaimed at St. Pierre, Martinique; an insurrection followed, and several houses and 32 persons were burnt.
1850. Grinnell's ships of discovery sailed from New York in search of sir John Franklin.
1851. Richard Lalor Sheil, a British statesman and dramatist, died at Florence, aged 59. He was minister of queen Victoria at the court of Tuscany.
1855. The state of siege and blockade of the island of Cuba was withdrawn.