1854. Odessa was bombarded by the allied fleets, and in ten hours a large part of the city was laid in ruins.
APRIL 23.
997. Adalbert, the apostle of Prussia, murdered. He was archbishop of Prague, preached the gospel among the Bohemians, and afterwards among the Poles, where he was killed.
1016. Ethelred II, king of England, died. To deliver himself from the heavy tribute which he paid the Danes, called Danegelt, he caused them to be put to death; whereupon England was invaded by Sweyn, and Ethelred obliged to fly to Normandy, where he remained till Sweyn's death.
1349. The order of the Garter instituted by Edward III.
1408. The heroic earl of Warwick, Richard Beauchamp, on his way to the Holy Land, is challenged at Verona by Pandulph Malet, whose shoulder the English knight cleaved with his battleaxe.
1500. Brazil discovered by Pedro Alvarez Cabral, a Portuguese adventurer; who immediately sent home a ship with the intelligence, and the king took possession of it. But as the pope had given all the western infidels to the Spaniards, it is probable a great deal of trouble would have arisen out of the case, had not the two monarchs been kinsmen and friends.
1547. Battle of Mulhausen, in which the emperor Charles V defeated the Saxons, who lost 1200 killed, and the elector was wounded and taken prisoner.
1557. Peter Danes, professor of Greek at Paris, died. He was a prelate of great eloquence and extensive learning.
1616. William Shakspeare, the English dramatist, died, aged 52. His history is shrouded in obscurity; but the success of his dramas, with the sobriety and moderation of his views, enabled him to retire early with a competence. The writings of this great poet of nature are found in the libraries of the greatest foes of the drama. This is also the anniversary of his birthday, 1564.