The Every Day Book of History and Chronology / Embracing the Anniversaries of Memorable Persons and Events in Every Period and State of the World, from the Creation to the Present Time

by Joel Munsell

SEPTEMBER 7.

70. Jerusalem demolished, and her foundations broke up on this day, Gregorian time. The walls were crossed on Friday, the last day of August, the conquest was completed on the sabbath and the calends of September, and the havoc consumed about six days. There were slain or butchered one million beards. (See [8th Aug.] Gorpeius is a tropical month, beginning 25th Aug.)

1069. The Danes again made a descent on England, and landed at Dover.

1134. Alfonso, king of Arragon, killed in battle.

1493. Frederick IV, of Germany, died. He was a weak, indolent and superstitious monarch, who saw his subjects revolt with indifference, and was afterwards reduced to beg his bread.

1533. Birthday of Elizabeth, afterwards queen of England; daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

1566. Nicholas Zrinyi, a Hungarian Leonidas, killed. He had thrown himself into the castle of Szigeth, with 3,000 men, and was besieged by the Turks. This number was dwindled down to 600 by repeated sallies. The sultan died of rage at his obstinacy, and the grand vizier made a general assault. Zrinyi rushed out at the head of his band, and was killed by three balls; the whole garrison shared his fate. Above 20,000 Turks had been killed during the siege.

1644. Grey Bentivoglio, an Italian cardinal, died. He wrote an account of Flanders, and a history of its civil wars.

1655. Nicholas Abram, a French Jesuit, died; distinguished for his proficiency in the dead languages.

1671. A great training in Boston, says Winthrop's journal, which lasted two days; 1,200 men in the field, not an oath uttered, nor any body drunk during the whole time, though there was much wine and strong beer in town.

1706. Battle of Turin; the French under count Marisin defeated by prince Eugene, with the loss of 2,000 killed, and all their baggage and ammunition, and the military chest.

1736. The door of the Tolbooth, of Edinburgh, burnt, and John Porteus, who had been sentenced to death, but reprieved by the queen, taken out of jail by a mob, and hanged on a lamp post.

1760. Montreal surrendered to the English. By the reduction of this place, Gen. Amherst completed the conquest of Canada, and the subversion of the French empire in North America, which was added to the British possessions.

1772. An unprecedented rain and consequent flood happened in Inverary, Scotland.

1776. George Smith, an eminent English landscape painter and author, died.

1779. John Armstrong, a celebrated Scottish poet, died.

1783. Leonard Euler, a Swiss mathematician, died. He possessed great erudition, and was perfect master of ancient mathematical literature; and had the history of all ages and nations, even to the minutest facts, ever present to his mind.

1784. Ann Lee, known by the appellation of the "elect lady," or mother of Zion, and head of the sect called Shakers, died at Nisqueunia, near Albany, N. Y.

1798. Peter Frederick Suhm, an eminent Danish historian and miscellaneous writer, died. His histories form 16 quarto volumes, and his other works 15 vols.

1799. John Ingenhouz, an eminent Belgian natural philosopher, died in England. His chemical discoveries were applied to medical and agricultural improvements.

1799. Peter Charles le Monnier, a celebrated French astronomer, died. He was one of those who made the journey to the north in 1785, for the admeasurement of the globe.

1805. Thomas Butler died; he was a brave officer in the American revolutionary army, but refusing to comply with the general order, to cut the hair close to the head, he was involved in much difficulty with general Wilkeson.

1807. Copenhagen surrendered to the British after a long bombardment, in which six thousand were killed and wounded, and 1,800 houses destroyed.

1811. Peter Simon Pallas, a distinguished writer of Prussia, died. He accompanied empress Catherine's famous expedition to Siberia, for the observation of the transit of Venus, &c. He was subsequently tutor to the grand dukes Alexander (afterwards emperor) and Constantine.

1812. Battle of Borodino; the Russian army consisted of 120,000, and the French had an equal number. There were also 500 cannon employed by each. The slaughter was dreadful; of one of the Russian divisions that mustered 30,000 in the morning, only 8,000 survived. These had fought in close order under a fire of 80 cannon. It is computed that not less than 30,000 Russians, and 50,000 French were killed; and night found either army on the ground they had occupied at day break.

1820. Great solar eclipse in England.

1827. Abo, the capital of Finland, nearly destroyed by fire. Only 800 volumes of the public library escaped destruction, and nearly 100 persons perished.

1831. Warsaw captured by the Russians under Paskiewitch after two days' fighting. Russian loss estimated at 20,000.

1833. Hannah More, a celebrated English authoress, died, aged 88. Her works are very numerous, by which she realized upwards of $140,000.

1836. John Pond, an eminent English astronomer, died. He was named by Dr. Maskelyne as the fittest man to succeed him as astronomer royal, which office he held during 25 years with consumate ability.

1838. William Colfax, an officer of the revolution, died. He was one of the life guards of Washington, and supposed to have been the last survivor of that corps.

1839. Andrew Halliday died; a Scottish medical and historical writer of merit.

1847. Letters from St. Petersburgh of the 7th Sept. state, that that city has been visited with the most terrific storm of wind and rain ever experienced within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. It rained incessantly for forty-eight hours, whilst the wind blew with intense violence. The result of this visitation was the destruction of above 400 houses. At one period fears were entertained for the safety of the entire city, and some timid and superstitious persons apprehended the end of the world was at hand.

1850. The bill admitting California as a state and Utah as a territory of the United States, passed the house of representatives.

1851. Levi Woodbury, an American statesman, died at Portsmouth, N. H., aged 64.

1855. The first Hebrew temple in the Mississippi valley was consecrated at St. Louis.

1855. Leonard Maelzel, the inventor of several musical and automatic instruments, and who exhibited the famous chess player in this country, died at Vienna, aged 79.