1474. The first book printed in England finished by Caxton as appears by the following entry: "The Game and Playe of the Chesse; translated out of the French and emprynted by William Caxton. Fynished the last day of Marche, the yer of our Lord God a thousand four hundred and lxxiiij."
1547. Francis I of France died. He was the rival and opponent of Charles V of Germany, with whom he was involved in war during almost his whole reign, with various success, and to whom he was once a prisoner, with his two sons. He was a patron of literature and the arts.
1605. An expedition fitted out by the earl of Southampton and Lord Arundel, under the command of George Weymouth, sailed from the Downs with a view to the discovery of a north-west passage to India, the passion for which was now in its full vigor.
1621. Philip III of Spain died. He ascended the throne of his father at the age of 20. The war with Holland, which had revolted, was continued with great spirit, and the siege of Ostend maintained three years, at great expense, and the loss of 80,000 men before it was reduced. He imprudently banished the Moors from his kingdom, and thus deprived himself of a million of peaceable and useful artists; a loss which the country has never recovered from.
1631. John Donne, an English poet and divine, died. He embraced protestantism at an early age, which together with his shining talents, procured him favors and emoluments. Dryden styles him "the greatest wit, though not the greatest poet, of the nation," and his eloquence as a divine is also attested to.
1654. Cockfighting prohibited in England by the parliament (called an act of the usurpation).
1656. James Usher, archbishop of Armagh, died, aged 76. He was advanced by James I and Charles I, and courted by Cromwell.
1665. The English authorities issued an order to imprison George Fox, the founder of the sect called Quakers, for his sermons against the awful crime of building meeting houses with steeples.
1698. Peter Joseph d'Orleans, a French Jesuit, died. He professed belles-lettres, and wrote several valuable histories and biographies.
1713. Peace of Utrecht concluded, which placed England at the head of the European states, and humbled the ambition of France.