MAY 27.
346 B. C. Philip of Macedon took possession of Phocis upon the 27th Scirophorion, and the towers were soon after dismantled, which terminated the ten years' war.
1199. Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, made lord chancellor in consideration of his services in crowning king John.
1257. Richard, brother to Henry III, crowned at Aix la Chapelle, king of the Romans.
1520. Cortez, with 250 men, without horses, or any other arms than pikes, swords, shields and daggers, attacked the well appointed expedition under Narvaez, sent against him by the governor of Cuba, consisting of about 1400 men, which was defeated and gained over to his party. Thus the almost dispirited adventurer suddenly found himself again at the head of a more numerous army than ever, consisting of nearly 2000 Spanish troops, about a hundred horses and 18 vessels, and a great sufficiency of ammunition.
1538. Anthony Fitzherbert, an able English judge, died; author of several works on the law.
1541. Margaret, countess of Salisbury, beheaded in the tower, at the age of 70. She was the mother of the celebrated cardinal Pole, and the last of the royal line of Plantagenet.
1564. John Calvin, the great reformer, died. He was a man of eminent talents, solid judgment and extensive learning. His great rigor, however, procured him many enemies; indeed it ill became a reformer to defend, as he did, the burning of heretics.
1600. Matins of Moscow, so called from the time of the day when prince Demetrius and all his Polish adherents were massacred at 6 in the morning.
1602. The colony accompanying Gosnold fixed upon a place of settlement, on the western part of Elizabeth island in Narraganset bay. On a rocky islet in the centre of a fresh water pond two miles in circuit they commenced erecting a fort and store house. (See [June 18].)
1610. Francis Ravaillac, the fanatic who assassinated Henri Quatre, (see [May 14],) was executed by being drawn and quartered by four horses.
1647. Peter Stuyvesant, a man of learning and a soldier, the last Dutch governor of New York, arrived at New Amsterdam, and superseded Kieft.
1648. Vincent Voiture, an elegant French writer, died. He wrote verses with elegance in French, Spanish and Italian, and was a polisher of his native language in a barbarous age.
1679. English act of habeas corpus passed; the act suspending it was repealed, probably forever, 1818.
1681. "The sweet singers" of the city of Edinburgh renounced the printed Bible at the Canon gate tolbooth, and all unchaste thoughts, words and actions, and burned all story books, ballads, romances, &c.
1694. The French under marshal de Noailles defeated the Spaniards near the river Ter, and took Gerona.
1702. Dominic Bouhours, a French Jesuit, died; celebrated as a learned writer and critic.
1703. St. Petersburg founded by Peter the great. Its present population is about one-third that of London.
1721. The Weekly Journal or Saturday's Post of this date adjudged to contain libelous matter against the government of England.
1723. George I assented to the bill for the banishment of bishop Atterbury, whose great virtues are now remembered.
1725. Charles de la Rue, a French Jesuit, died; distinguished as an orator and poet and a professor of belles-lettres.
1728. Charles Leopold, duke of Mecklenburgh, deposed by the emperor of Germany.
1775. Battle at Noddle's island, near Boston; the British defeated by the Americans under Putnam and Warren, who had but 3 men wounded. British loss 200, together with an armed schooner and some stores.
1776. Arnold with about 900 Americans captured the British post at the Cedars without any resistance, and retook 500 American prisoners.
1777. Button Gwinnett, one of the signers, died of a wound received in a duel.
1779. Thos. Nugent, a distinguished lexicographer, died. His French and English dictionary has much merit.
1781. Lord Cornwallis, with a vastly superior force, compelled the marquis La Fayette to evacuate Richmond.
1794. Battle of Kaiserslautern, in which the Prussian general Mollendorf surprised the French camp, killed 1000, and took 2000 prisoners, and 20 cannon.
1798. Battle of Oulart Hill; the United Irishmen under father Murphy defeated the English, and massacred all but five. Same day, a large body of Irishmen defeated at Kilthomas hill, 150 killed, and 100 cabins and 2 chapels burnt.
1799. Addison's library sold by auction in London on this and the three following days, 70 years after his death, when it brought about $2,000.
1811. Richard Penn, one of the proprietors, and governor of Pennsylvania before the revolution, died in England.
1811. Henry Dundas, lord Melville, a distinguished British statesman, died.
1813. The American army landed in Canada under cover of the fire from Chauncey's fleet, and carried fort George by assault. The vanguard landed first, consisting of Forsyth's riflemen, and the Albany and Baltimore volunteers, under Col. Scott.
1817. A Tunisian corsair of 12 guns, with two prizes, under Oz Maney, were captured near Dover, England, by two British revenue cutters.
1832. St. Jean d'Acre in Palestine taken from the Turks by the pasha of Egypt.
1840. Great freshet in the Savannah river; the city of Augusta and town of Hamburgh entirely submerged; the water rising 35 feet above low water mark. The destruction of property was very great.
1840. Baron Paganini, the most celebrated violinist the world ever produced, died at Nice, in Italy, aged 57, leaving a large fortune. (See [June 27, 1819].)
1848. The princess Sophia, 12th child of George III of England, died, aged 71; an amiable and benevolent lady.
1850. The temple of Nauvoo, erected by the Mormons, finished in 1845, partially burnt in October 1848, having but its four walls left—all its timber works having been consumed by the flames—was destroyed by a hurricane.