1713. Frederick I, of Prussia, died. He was elector of Brandenburg, and ambitious of raising his duchy into a kingdom. To accomplish this object, he joined Leopold, emperor of Germany, in a war against several states.
1723. Christopher Wren, the English architect, died, aged 91. He built St. Paul's and fifty other churches and monuments, which had been destroyed by the great fire of 1666.
1724. Pope Innocent XIII died.
1754. Richard Mead, an eminent English physician and patron of learning, died, aged 81. His library sold for about $75,000. His income from his profession was about $25,000 a year.
1761. Joseph Francis Desmahis, a French author of great celebrity, died.
1768. Mangalore, a seaport belonging to Hyder Ally, taken by the British.
1776. Battle of Trenton. The American army under Washington crossed the Delaware in the night during a violent storm of snow and rain, and attacked the British on the north and west parts of the town. A detachment had been ordered to cross the river and secure a bridge to prevent the escape of the enemy; but owing to the extreme difficulty of crossing, this part of the plan failed, and about 500 escaped. British loss 20 killed, 1000 prisoners; American loss 2 killed, 2 frozen, 5 wounded.
1779. The splendid bridge at Puerto Santo, in Spain, fell and killed a great number of persons while the priests were in the act of consecrating it.
1781. Battle near Haw river in North Carolina, between the Americans under Pickens and Lee, and a considerable body of royalists under Col. Pyle. The latter were cut to pieces, without the loss of a man by the former.
1781. The French and Spanish fleets encountered a furious storm off cape Francois in the West-Indies. Several ships sunk or foundered, and about 2200 men perished.