OCTOBER 28.
312. Battle of Saxa Rubra, and overthrow of the tyrant Maxentius, by Constantine. The whole race of Maxentius was extirpated, and the prætorian guards abolished at Rome.
900. Alfred (the Great), king of England, died, aged 51, in the 28th year of his reign. To him is ascribed the mode of trial by jury.
1216. The crown and other regalia of England being lost, Henry III was crowned with a plain circle of gold on his temples.
1485. Rodolphus Agricola, a Dutch author, died. He was one of the most learned men of his age.
1541. Great storm accompanied by an earthquake, at Algiers, which destroyed 86 Spanish ships and 15 galleys with their crews, belonging to a powerful fleet fitted out for the reduction of that place by the emperor Charles V. He was compelled to raise the siege and return to his own dominions.
1572. Earl Mar, regent of Scotland, died, and was succeeded by Morton.
1592. Augier Ghislen Busbequius, a celebrated Flemish ambassador, died. He was learned and venerated.
1597. Aldus Manutius, an eminent Venitian printer, died. He was the third of a line of illustrious printers, celebrated for the elegance and correctness of their editions, and in his youth bid fair to excel his predecessors. But he met with reverses, and was compelled to sell the excellent library collected by his ancestors, of 80,000 volumes, to maintain himself. He wrote several learned works.
1646. William Dobson, an English painter, died. He was drawn from obscurity by Vandyke, after which he rose to great celebrity; but becoming addicted to pleasure before he had acquired a fortune, he became involved, and died at the age of 36.
1652. William Mead, an English physician, died, aged 149.
1652. Action between the English fleet under Blake and Penn, and the Dutch fleet under De Witt and De Ruyter. Three ships of the latter were destroyed and one taken.
1670. John Hacket, an English prelate, died; eminent for his learning and exemplary virtues.
1681. Algiers bombarded by the French fleet under admiral Duquesne and Bernard Renaud. It is said that bomb vessels were first used on this occasion, being the invention of Renaud, who had five of them built.
1685. Michael le Tellier, a French statesman, died. He had sufficient influence with the king, Louis XIV, to procure the revocation to the edict of Nantes. He lived to triumph in the cruel measures which followed but a few days.
1687. James Atkins, a learned Scottish bishop, died. He wrote against the presbyterians, but his writings are now almost unknown.
1699. Pope Innocent XII died.
1701. William Penn granted a charter of privileges to Pennsylvania and the counties, now state of Delaware, in which the liberty of conscience was fully recognized.
1703. John Wallis, an eminent English divine and mathematician, died. His works are numerous; and though his theological writings are respectable, yet it is from his mathematical labors that he derives a lasting celebrity.
1704. John Locke, the illustrious English philosopher, died.
1708. George of Denmark, husband of Anne, queen of England, died; "an illustrious instance of conjugal affection among the great."
1710. Ezekiel Spanheim died; an eminent Swiss writer on history and antiquities.
1740. Anna Iwanowna, empress of Russia, died.
1741. Balthazar Gibert, a French writer, died. He was 50 years professor of rhetoric at the college of Mazarin.
1746. Earthquake at Lima, by which that city and the port of Callao were destroyed. The sea first receded, then rushed
upon the shore, carrying everything before it. Of 23 ships in the harbor 19 were sunk, and 4 carried a considerable way up the country, and Callao became a part of the ocean.
1748. Gov. Clinton signed the bill reviving the act to raise £1,800 by lottery, to build a college.
1776. Battle of White Plains. The brunt of this battle was sustained by the troops under McDougal, 600 men, who nobly sustained their post, though deserted by 4 regiments of militia, who fled on the approach of the British light horse. Both armies laid on their arms awaiting another attack.
1788. First court held at Plattsburgh, Clinton county, N. Y.
1791. George Louis Oeder, an eminent German physician and botanist, died.
1792. John Smeaton, an eminent English mechanic and engineer, died; celebrated as the builder of the Eddystone lighthouse.
1793. Hurricane on the island of Cuba; several vessels driven out to sea, and 520 houses in Havana totally destroyed.
1800. Artemas Ward, the first major-general in the American revolutionary army, died. He graduated at Harvard, was subsequently a member of congress, and noted for incorruptible integrity.
1806. Charlotte Smith, an English poetess and novelist, died. She long enjoyed great popularity.
1806. Battle of Prentzlow, in Brandenburg; the Prussian army of 16,000 compelled to surrender to the French under Murat. This was the remnant of the king's guard which escaped from the battle of Jena, and included several princes.
1823. Wassil Wassilijewitsch Capnist, a Russian counselor of state, died. He is better known as a poet and dramatic writer, in which he is entitled to much praise.
1838. The Mormons, comprising about 700 men under arms, with their leaders, surrendered at Far-West, Missouri, to a body of 3,000 militia, under Gen. Atchinson. The whole number captured was 5,000, miserably destitute of the means of subsistence.
1844. The Royal Exchange at London opened in an imposing manner, the queen being present and presiding at the ceremony.
1848. Harrison Gray Otis, a Massachusetts statesman, died, aged 83; having filled with distinguished success the principal political offices in the gift of the people of the state.
1848. Windischgratz, besieging the city of Vienna, entered the suburbs and began an attack; a succession of conflicts ensued, which lasted several days before the city was completely mastered.
1849. David B. Douglas, an eminent civil and military engineer, died at Geneva, N. Y., aged 56. He distinguished himself in the war of 1812, before he was 21 years of age. He was a man of extensive and varied learning.
1851. A meeting of cotton planters was held at Macon, Georgia, to devise ways and means to prevent fluctuations in the price of cotton. Little harmony of views or concord of action was manifested.
1854. A fire at Cleveland, Ohio, consumed property to the amount of $2,000,000.
1854. The Turks in the principalities attacked the Russians, and after a contest of two hours compelled them to cross the Danube and destroy the bridges.