1778. French admiral count d'Estaing, arrived from America at St. Lucia and attacked unsuccessfully the British fleet and batteries in the bay of Grand Cul de Sac, in which he sustained great loss.
1782. William Francis Berthier, a French Jesuit, died; known as the conductor for many years of the Journal de Travaux, royal librarian and preceptor of Lewis XVI.
1782. American ship Commerce, 16 guns, Capt. Truxton, engaged a British brig of 18 guns and a schooner of 14 guns; he was obliged to make off on the appearance of two other British vessels. He saved his convoy, and they all arrived at St. Thomas in safety, a few hours after the action.
1794. Carrier, Pinard and Grand Maison guillotined at Paris. The former was noted for his refined cruelty to the numerous victims which power placed in his hands. On the fall of the mountain party he was consigned to punishment, which he well merited.
1810. Sarah Trimmer, an English authoress, died. She is well known by her various works designed for the use of children.
1814. Meeting of the Hartford convention, which consisted of 26 members from the new England states, to consult upon the exigencies of the times, and the defenceless condition of the coast.
1831. Hannah Adams, an American authoress, died. She was a native of Massachusetts, a woman of great excellence and purity of character, and a writer of very fair reputation. Her monument is to be seen in the Mount Auburn cemetery, near Boston.
1834. Andrew Frank, a colored man, died at Johnston, R. I., aged 104.
1836. The United States post office, the patent office and the Washington city post office, together with the contents of the two latter, destroyed by fire. In the patent office were 7,000 models of patents, out of 10,000 which had been granted by congress; 163 large folio volumes of records; 26 port folios containing 9,000 drawings, many of them beautifully executed and valuable.
1837. John Cox died, aged 85. He was a captain in the naval service of Virginia in the early part of the revolutionary war, and was one of the most efficient and distinguished patriots during the contest.