1573. Drake the navigator was conducted by the Symerons to a tree notched with steps, which served them for a watch tower, and from the summit of which he had a view of the two oceans, one of which no English vessel had ever yet navigated.
1650. Rene Descartes, a celebrated French philosopher and mathematician, died, aged 54. His superior intellect early manifested itself. He embraced the military profession, and served in various countries, the better to make observations and form satisfactory conclusions on scientific subjects. He finally settled in Holland, where during the last 20 years of his life, the greater part of his works were written. It is said of him that he extended the limits of geometry as far beyond the place where he found them, as Sir Isaac Newton did after him.
1659. Francis Osborne died; an English writer of great abilities.
1733. John Perry, a celebrated English engineer, died. He was patronized by czar Peter of Russia, of which country he wrote a history.
1761. A usurer fined at Guildhall, London, £300 for having exacted six guineas to discount £100 for six weeks.
1763. Peter Carlet de Mariveaux, a French romancer, died. The great characteristic of his works, is to convey a useful moral under the veil of wit and sentiment.
1763. William Shenstone died, aged 50. His father was a gentleman farmer, who cultivated a moderate estate, called the Leasowes, which were rendered celebrated by the taste of the son. Having finished his studies, and come into possession of the paternal property, he gave himself up to rural embellishments and the cultivation of poetry. He wrote for fame, which was not awarded him by his cotemporaries and he died broken hearted. "He was a lamp that spent its oil in blazing." His principal poem is The Schoolmistress.
1771. Jean de Beaurain died; a French negotiator and geographer. He was made geographer to Louis XV at the age of 25.
1771. John Burton, a learned English divine, died, leaving some ingenious writings, collected under the title of Opuscula Miscellanea.
1780. The British under Sir Henry Clinton landed in St. John's Island, about 30 miles from Charleston, S. C.