1693. Earthquake of Sicily, which swallowed up Catania and 1800 citizens.
1746. Robert Blair, a Scottish clergyman and poet, died. The only production of his, which we possess, is The Grave, a poem, striking and vigorous.
1749. John James Heidegger died at London. He was born in Switzerland, and came to England, where by his taste and judgment in operatic amusements, he was appointed to the management of the opera house and the masquerades. He was the ugliest featured man in the kingdom, but good-humored, benevolent and charitable.
1756. A mummy disinterred near Auvergne in France.
1762. Samuel Davies, an American divine, died, aged 36. He labored some years as a presbyterian pastor in Virginia, where the act of uniformity was enforced with great rigor, and was the founder of the first presbytery in that state. His sermons have passed through many editions on both sides of the Atlantic.
1774. Charles Marie de la Condamine died. He was possessed of a daring spirit, which led him to enter the army. But the restoration of peace cut off his hopes of promotion, and he traveled in Turkey and Asia. On his return to Paris, the academy were making arrangements to send a deputation to the equator for scientific purposes. The very desire of being connected with so perilous an undertaking made him an astronomer. The fatigues and hardships which he encountered in South-America, were heightened by the discord and jealousy which arose among his companions. He died while undergoing an operation for the removal of a malady contracted in Peru. He bore an excellent character, and left many valuable works.
1779. John Hamilton Mortimer, an eminent English historical painter, died.
1783. Cessation of hostilities with Great Britain, and final conclusion of the seven years' war of the revolution, which freed the American colonies from the claims of the mother country, and gave a new nation to the world.
1787. Jacob Wismer died, aged 103. He was a German by birth, came to America in Queen Anne's reign, and settled in Pennsylvania; here he married his third wife, with whom he lived 67 years, and left 170 descendants.
1790. Louis XVI took the oath to maintain the new constitution.