NOVEMBER 27.
226 B. C. A solemn annual feast instituted at Rome, derived from the barbarians, when two Greeks and two Gauls, one of either sex, were inhumed alive, in the ox-market. It was instituted upon the invasion of the Boian Gauls, in order to fulfill a sybilline prophecy, that those terrible nations should one day be masters of the capitol. At this period the city inrolled 770,000 infantry.
222 B. C. Marcellus carried off the spoils of Viridomarus, which is the last single handed triumph.
8 B. C. Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace), an ancient lyric and satiric poet, died. He became the friend of Augustus, who offered him preferments, but he had the greatness of mind to refuse them all, and lived in retirement and study, free from the noise and hurry of ambition.
602. Mauritius Tiberius, emperor of Rome, died. He was a Cappadocian, distinguished himself at the head of the Roman armies, and was made emperor. But though valiant and successful, he was defeated by his own general Phocas, and put to death, together with his five sons.
1520. The Castilian insurgents under De Acuna, consisting of priests and men in holy orders, offered the royalists battle at Rio Seco; but the latter sued for terms, which not being accepted, the royalists struck a blow which turned the scale of fortune in their favor.
1520. Fernando Magalhaens entered the Pacific ocean, through the straits which bear his name. He navigated its waters three months and twenty days without finding an island; but during this course he enjoyed continuous fair weather, with such favorable winds, that he bestowed on the ocean the name of Pacific, which it still bears.
1627. The fall of a luminous stone or meteorolite, weighing 57 pounds, on Mt. Voisin, in Province, under a clear sky, observed by Gassendi.
1630. Great earthquake at Peru.
1666. Battle of Pentland hills, in which the persecuted covenanters were defeated by the king's troops.
1707. Fitz John Winthrop, governor of Connecticut, died. He was distinguished for his knowledge in philosophy and his skill in politics, and took a conspicuous part in the affairs of the colonies, both in peace and war.
1710. The British general Stanhope surprised at Briheuga, and compelled to surrender to the Spaniards with 2,000 men.
1714. Several persons tried for insulting the dissenters and breaking their windows at Bristol. This seemed to be an omen of the dawn of a more liberal day.
1754. Abraham Demoivre, a noted French mathematician, died. His abilities were so highly admired by the Royal society of London that they judged him a fit person to decide the famous contest between Newton and Leibnitz.
1778. General Washington broke up his camp and marched to Middlebrook, to go into winter quarters. The British expedition against Georgia, under colonel Campbell, 2,500 troops, sailed from Sandy Hook on the same day, escorted by a squadron under sir Hyde Parker.
1779. Thomas, lord Lyttleton, a statesman of some merit, died in his 36th year. It is storied of him, that three days previous to his death a ghost admonished him that it would happen.
1781. Sortie from the garrison of
Gibraltar, at 2 P. M., under Gen. Ross. They took and destroyed two mortar and three heavy cannon batteries, blew up several Spanish magazines, and returned before daylight with the loss of 4 killed, having destroyed property estimated at three millions.
1788. Thomas Harmer died; an eminent English dissenting divine, and critical writer on Biblical literature.
1792. The national convention of France erected the duchy of Savoy into an 84th department of the French republic.
1807. The royal family of Portugal to avoid being made prisoners by Gen. Junot, who was approaching their capital, embarked at the mouth of the Tagus for Brazil.
1811. Gaspar Melchior de Jovellanos died; one of the most distinguished Spaniards of modern times, both as a statesman and a writer. The wretched state of the Spanish book trade does not allow a complete collection of his works to appear.
1812. Battle of Berezina; the Russian general Wittgenstein forced the French across the river, who were killed and drowned in great numbers in their flight. It is scarcely possible to calculate the loss of the French on this occasion. Cannon, bayonets, fire and water contributed to their destruction. A vast quantity of booty from Moscow fell into the hands of the Russians.
1812. British frigate Southampton, Capt. Yeo, and her prize the U. S. brig Vixen, totally lost on a reef of rocks 9 miles from the island of Conception. The officers and crews of both vessels were saved.
1812. A detachment of United States troops in ten boats made a successful attack upon the batteries opposite Black Rock, in Canada, spiked the cannon, and returned.
1814. Unsuccessful attack of the British on fort Kalunga, in the East Indies. British loss about 500.
1827. Eruption of the mud volcano of Jokmali, on the Caspian sea. The flames burst forth and blazed up to an extraordinary height for a period of three hours, so as to be seen at the distance of six German miles (31 Eng. ?), after which they scarcely rose three feet above the crater which discharged the mud.
1836. Antoine Charles Horace Vernet died at Paris. He has produced some of the best paintings of the age. That of the battle of Fontenoy is much admired.
1838. The castle of San Juan de Ulloa at Vera Cruz, Mexico, taken by a French naval force. The castle was reputed a very strong one, but was taken after a bombardment of 5 hours. The French lost 4 men killed; loss of the Mexicans upwards of 400.
1843. Susan Johnston, widow of the late John Johnston, Esq., of Ireland, died at Sault St. Marie. She was daughter of Wabojeeg, chief of the Chippewa nation.
1850. Hardin Bigelow, mayor of Sacramento, died of cholera. He had distinguished himself by his vigor and bravery in quelling the squatter riots in Sacramento, and in enforcing the laws, by which he was wounded, and lost an arm.
1852. Ada Augusta, countess of Lovelace, and daughter of Byron, died, aged 37. Her tastes turned to metaphysics and mathematics.
1855. Robert Bunyan died at Lincoln, England, aged 80; the last male descendant in a direct line from the author of Pilgrim's Progress.
1856. H. Tollens, the great national poet of Holland, died at Ryswick, aged 77. His poetry, remarkable for its ardent patriotism, enjoyed extraordinary popularity among all classes of his countrymen.