1747. Alain Rene Lesage, the French novelist and dramatic writer, died.
1747. Great tumults in Boston, on account of the British commodore, Knowles, having ordered several inhabitants of that city to be impressed there.
1768. Thos. Pelham Holles, duke of Newcastle, died in his 76th year. He played a bustling if not a brilliant part in the political movements of his day.
177-. Bruce, the traveler, in passing the Taranta mountain, in Abyssinia, encountered an extraordinary phenomenon. The mountain tops were hid in the clouds, and loud thunder was heard. The river scarcely ran at the time of passing it, when suddenly a noise was heard in the mountain above, louder than the loudest thunder. His guides flew to the baggage, and removed it to the top of a green hill, which was no sooner done than the river was seen coming down in a stream about the height of a man, and the breadth of the whole bed it used to occupy. An antelope, surprised by the torrent, was driven to the station where they stood.
1775. Americans, under colonel Easton, took at the point of Sorel river, Canada, 11 British vessels with stores.
1782. Edward Drinker, a quaker of Philadelphia, died, aged 103. He had been the subject of seven crowned heads, and lived to see a village become a great city.
1793. Battle of Sarbruck; the Prussians defeated by the French under Pichegru.
1794. N. Dugomier, a French revolutionary general, killed at the battle of St. Sebastian, in which his army was victorious over the Spaniards. His name was inscribed in the Pantheon.
1794. James Bentham, an English prelate and historian, died. He also directed his attention to the introduction of turnpike roads, against the popular prejudice, and to the rendering of unfruitful into valuable fields by drainage.
1795. Alexander Abercromby died; a Scottish jurist, and a cooperator with Mackenzie in establishing the Mirror and Lounger, to which he contributed.