MAY 25.
535 B. C. The foundations of the second temple at Jerusalem, laid by the children of the captivity, by permission of Cyrus, on the twenty-fifth of Sivan.
67 B. C. Titus Vespasian took the city of Joppa, in Galilee, by assault, on the 25th of the month Dæsius.
337. Constantine the Great died, having divided the empire among his children and nephews.
709. Aldhem, an English divine, died; said to have been the first Englishman who cultivated poetry.
1261. Alexander IV, pope, died. He bestowed the crown of Sicily on Edmund, son of the king of England, and attempted to unite the Greek and Latin churches.
1315. Edward Bruce invaded Ireland with 6000 men. "He fought many battles and gained them all," and was for a brief period king of the country.
1427. Alexander, lord of the isles, performed penance of submission to king James in his shirt and drawers, before the congregation of Holyrood church.
1510. Georges d'Amboise a French cardinal and statesman, died; a great benefactor to France.
1622. Petrus Plancius, who with others contributed so much to the discovery of New Netherland and other countries, died at Amsterdam.
1625. William Barlowe, died; celebrated as the discoverer of the nature and properties of the loadstone.
1630. Eight Englishmen left by mischance in Greenland by their ship, were found on this day by their countrymen, having by good economy and wise expedients, succeeded in passing the winter without loss of life. (See [Jan. 14, 1634], and [Ap. 16, 1634].)
1681. Don Pedro de la Barca, a noble Spanish dramatist, died; who together with Lope de Vega, gave law to and polished the Spanish theatre. His works comprise 10 vols. quarto.
1743. James Antony Arlaud, a celebrated Swiss painter, died.
1760. Insurrection of the negroes in Jamaica. The loss to the island, in human flesh and blood, was $500,000.
1775. Sir Guy Johnson, called an Indian council at Guy Park, where the Mohawks alone attended; his object being to provide against a rumored attack upon his person by the revolutionists.
1775. Generals Howe, Clinton and Burgoyne, arrived at Boston.
1776. Congress resolved to engage the services of the Indians.
1778. About 500 British and Hessians from Rhode Island destroyed at Kickmut river, 70 boats and other property; burnt the church and several dwellings at Warren, and a church and 22 houses at Bristol.
1780. Two regiments of Washington's troops mutinied; but were persuaded to return to their duty.
1798. Charles James Fox, had his name stricken by the king from the list of privy councillors, for giving as a toast at the meeting of the Whig club, "The sovereignty of the people."
1798. Asmus Jacob Carstens, a distinguished German artist, died. He was the son of a miller, and raised himself to eminence by his great talent and genius as a painter.
1798. A party of United Irishmen defeated near Dublin with great slaughter; many of those taken were executed.
1802. George Fordyce, died; an eminent Scottish physician and writer on medicine and chemistry.
1803. Bonaparte constituted all Englishmen between 18 and 60 years of age, found in the French territory, prisoners of war, and ordered the capture of British vessels.
1805. William Paley died; a learned English divine and writer on ethics. His Evidences of Christianity is one of the ablest defences of the Christian religion that has ever appeared.
1812. Edmund Malone, an Irish attorney, died. He is celebrated as the editor of Shakspeare, and published several biographies.
1818. David Mitchell, a major-general in the war of the American revolution, died, aged 77. He was the friend of Logan, the Indian, and had fought the Indians in 27 battles.
1830. The French expedition against Algiers sailed from Toulon, consisting of 34,160 men, under the command of General Bourmont, and succeeded in reducing that barbarous kingdom to a French province.
1840. Singular phenomenon in lake Erie, at Toledo; the water rising to the height of four feet above its ordinary level in the space of a few hours, without any apparent cause. The water and the weather were calm and still, and no unusual commotion was observable, as the bay gradually rose nearly a foot higher than ever before known.
1843. One hundredth anniversary of the Am. Philosophical Society, founded by Franklin at Philadelphia. It is the oldest scientific association this side of the Atlantic.