1634. Of seven sailors left by the Dutch on the coast of Greenland, for the purpose of establishing a wintering place, the first one died. These sailors were amply supplied with every article of clothing, provisions and utensils thought necessary or useful in such a situation. A journal was
kept by them, by which it appears that on the ninth October they began to make a constant fire to sit by; and soon after it was remarked that they experienced a considerable change in their bodies, with giddiness in their heads. At the time of the death of this man, they were all disabled but one person. This poor wretch continued the journal till the last day of April, when they were praying for a speedy release from their miseries. On the return of their countrymen in the spring, they were all found dead. (See [Jan. 14th] for a similar event.)
1639. William Kieft having become governor of New Netherland, took the affidavit of sundry persons to the effect that under the administration of his predecessor the public interests had been neglected, and the fortifications allowed to go to decay.
1644. William Brewster, one of the leading members of the Plymouth colony, died. He possessed a large property in England, which he lost in escaping from ecclesiastical tyranny, and supported himself in Holland by teaching a school.
1662. Three of the judges who condemned Charles I, namely Miles Corbet, John Ohey and John Barstead, were arrested in Holland, and sent to England for execution.
1681. The province of New Jersey offered for sale, at about $25,000. An original letter is still in existence, from the earl of Bath to lord Norbury, since sold by auction as a curious manuscript, containing a proposal for the sale, in which it is represented as "a country almost as large as England, belonging to the late George Carteret."
1689. Aphara Behn (alias Astrea) an English authoress, died. At Surinam, where her family resided, she became acquainted with the African prince Oroonooko, on whose story she founded a novel, which Southey has dramatized. Her works consist of novels, poems and 17 plays.
1743. Cornelius Van Bynkershoek, an eminent Dutch lawyer, died. He published several law works, which display great talents and research, and is characterized as "one of the most learned among modern civilians."
1746. Battle of Culloden, which terminated the Scottish rebellion. The forces of the pretender were defeated, with the loss of 1,200 slain, by the English under the duke of Cumberland, second son of George II, and the pretender himself compelled to flee to France.
1781. Naval action in the harbor of St. Jago, Cape de Verde, between the British fleet under Johnstone, and the French under admiral Suffrein, in which the latter were compelled to retire with considerable loss.