1811. First law passed by the New York legislature respecting the Erie canal.
1812. Louisiana became a member of the United States confederacy.
1821. Simon Assemanni, one of the most learned of Maronites in modern times, died at Padua, where he had long been a professor. His explanation of the Arabian antiquities is much esteemed.
1832. Robert Simson died at Montreal, aged 101. He was at the attack on Quebec under Wolfe.
1835. Mr. Clayton, an American æronaut, made an ascension at Cincinnati, which proved an extraordinary affair. The spot at which he came to the earth was on Stevenson's knob, a mountain in Virginia, 3000 feet above the level of the sea, and 350 miles from Cincinnati, which distance he was wafted in 9½ hours.
1835. William Von Humboldt, a distinguished philologist, died, near Berlin, Prussia. He was elder brother of the celebrated traveler of that name, and distinguished as a statesman and a scholar.
1838. John, a negro, drowned at Washington, aged 115.
1854. An explosion on the steam boat Gazelle, at Canemah, Oregon, destroyed the boat and killed 21 persons.
1854. A fire at Salonica, in Greece, destroyed 600 houses and warehouses.
1854. The Ganges canal, a work of vast magnitude, was opened by the lieutenant-governor of Agra, with great ceremony and a display of troops.