1811. An earthquake was experienced in the southern states and in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Charleston, Savannah, Pittsburgh and Circleville especially suffered from it.
1825. James Watt, the original publisher of the Montrose, Arbroath and Brechin Review, fell over board in Yarmouth Roads and was drowned.
1832. Robert C. Sands, an American author and editor, died. He was a man of genius, a scholar, and an elegant writer.
1835. The coldest day on record, from sunrise to sunset. The thermometer ranged from 12° to 16° below zero all day, in the vicinity of Boston. The winter was remarkable for the lowness of its mean temperature, the number of extremely cold days, and the great quantity and long duration of snow.
1835. Great fire in New York, the most destructive that ever took place in this country, by which the entire seat of the greatest commercial transactions of the city, was destroyed. The number of buildings destroyed was 529, including the Merchant's Exchange, valued at $150,000, and the Garden street church $50,000. The total loss was estimated at $17,000,000.
1848. A little after midnight the Park theatre at New York was burned to the ground.
1852. Samuel Lee, canon of Bristol, and the profoundest orientalist of the age, died, aged 69. He rose from the sphere of a carpenter's apprentice.
DECEMBER 17.
546. The Goths under Totilla captured and plundered Rome.
1413. William Gascoigne, a noted English judge, died. His opinions, arguments and decisions occur in the old law reports.