NOVEMBER 8.
532. Pope Boniface II died; his father was a Goth; he was elected to the pontifical office in 530.
1226. Louis VIII (the Lion), king of France, died. He was distinguished for his valor, and waged successful war against the English and other nations. He finally lost the greater part of his army by contagious disease, and perished by it himself.
1231. Abdu-l-lattif, an Arabian physician, historian and traveler, died, aged 69. He wrote upwards of 160 works, of which a history of Egypt is highly esteemed.
1308. John Duns (Duns Scotus), a celebrated theologian, died. He affected to maintain opinions contrary to those of Thomas Aquinas, which produced two parties in the schools, the Thomists and the Scotists.
1512. Amery d'Amboise, a French admiral, died; famous for the naval victory he obtained over the sultan of Egypt, two years before his death.
1517. Francis Ximenes, a Spanish ecclesiastic, died, aged 81. He was eminent as a statesman, warrior and patron of learning, and was at the head of the Spanish government many years. He was the publisher of the Complutensian Polyglott.
1519. The Spaniards under Cortez entered the city of Mexico.
1520. A general massacre of all the nobility of Sweden, except Gustavus Vasa, whose providential escape led to a revolution, and the separation of the union between Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and the deposition of Christian II, by whom the bloody deed was instigated.
1608. The Bodleian library at Oxford, England, first opened to the public.
1674. John Milton, an illustrious English poet, died. He also wrote many political and controversial tracts, and a History of Britain, which occupied him many years.
1690. Belgrade retaken by the Turks.
1777. British attacked Mud fort, now fort Mifflin. It was gallantly defended by a few militia under Col. Smith, who repulsed the enemy.
1781. Lewis Poulle, a French ecclesiastic, died; celebrated for his eloquence, and for his poetry.
1792. The French under Dampierre, took Ath, which contained several large magazines. They also took possession of Nieuwpoort, Ostend and Bruges on the same day. At the same time another army of the French took Tournay, and all Flanders submitted to them.
1793. Mary Jane Philipon Roland, an eminent French lady, guillotined. She was a woman of great information and superior talents. She published her travels in England and Switzerland, was the soul of the republican party, and secretly governed many of the public measures which were proposed in the convention before it fell into the foulest hands.
1799. Bonaparte affected a revolution in Paris, and the councils of Ancients, and Five Hundred, adjourned to St. Cloud.
1805. Battle of Marientzel; the French under Davoust defeated the allies, took 16 cannon and 3,000 prisoners.
1806. Magdeburg, in Lower Saxony, surrendered to the French under Ney. He took 20 generals, 16,000 men, 800 pieces of artillery, 1,000,000 pounds of powder, and a vast bridge equipage, and immense magazines of all kinds.
1808. A Mr. Dowler, of Towcester, England, completed, on a wager, a pedestrian performance of 500 miles in 7 days.
1809. The French attacked, carried and plundered the town of Hostalrick, but were forced to retire by Gen. Quadrado, who retook the plunder.
1809. The functions of the British
minister, Francis James Jackson, ceased by order of President Madison, and he was debarred all intercourse with the American government.
1813. Battle of Tallegada; the Indians defeated by Gen. Jackson.
1814. British ship Leander captured American privateer schooner Gen. Putnam, 8 guns and 57 men; her guns were thrown overboard during this and a former chase.
1828. Thomas Bewick, one of the most celebrated engravers on wood in England, died. Engraving the cuts for the celebrated Dr. Hutton's mensuration first introduced him to notice while yet an apprentice.
1837. Edward Dorr Griffin, an eminent American divine, died; 15 years president of Williams college.
1853. A new planet in the constellation Taurus was discovered by Mr. Hind, an English astronomer. It was the ninth planet discovered by Mr. Hind in the course of seven years, and raised the number of that extraordinary group of worlds between Mars and Jupiter to twenty-seven.