1745. Fort Augustus blown up by the forces of the pretender to the crown of England.
1754. Peter Claude Nivelle de la Chausse, an admired French poet, died. Though favored by fortune, he preferred
the honors of literature to all other distinctions, and acquired celebrity by his dramatic pieces, which possess great merit.
1757. John Byng shot at Portsmouth. He served under his father admiral George Byng, and rose to the same rank himself. His attempt to relieve Fort St. Philip in Minorca proving abortive, when blockaded by a French fleet under La Glassionere, and his hesitation in engaging the enemy when a bold attack might perhaps have gained him the victory, excited the clamor of the nation against him, and he was doomed to meet the penalty of cowardice.
1758. General Wade died. In 1715, he commanded against the forces of the pretender to the throne, and remained in Scotland as commander-in-chief after the war was ended. It was during this period that he cut the celebrated military road through the highlands, which facilitated the improvement and civilization of the country more than all the measures resorted to before the reign of George I. It was he who introduced the bill into parliament which disarmed and changed the dress of the highlanders.
1793. Battle of Tirlemont, in which the prince of Saxe Coburg defeated the French under Dumourier, who lost 33 cannon and 3,000 men.
1795. Action off Genoa between the British and French fleets, in which the latter were defeated, with the loss of the Caira, 80 guns, 3,000 men, and the Censeur, 74 guns, 1,000 men.
1799. William Melmoth died. He distinguished himself as the translator of the Epistles of Pliny and Cicero, and was the author of poems, letters and memoirs.
1800. Daines Barrington, an English lawyer, antiquary, and miscellaneous writer, died. He abandoned his offices, which he discharged with great dignity, to devote himself to literary pursuits, which he loved. His writings are numerous.
1803. Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, died. He was born at Quedlinburg, 1724; studied the languages, became familiar with the classic writers, and formed the resolution of writing a great epic poem. In 1745 he studied theology at Jena, where he commenced in solitude the first canto of The Messiah. This work he finished about 1790. It procured him great celebrity in the north of Europe, so that he was received with great respect and veneration wherever he went. His funeral was attended by the principal men of Hamburg, in 126 carriages.