1494. Joan Boughton, a widow, was burned for heresy; said to be the first female martyr of England.
1521. Cortez having constructed 13 brigantines with sails and oars, and transported them on the backs of 8000 Tlascalans, they were launched on this day in the lake of Mexico, with religious ceremonies under a discharge of the artillery and small arms, followed by the singing of Te Deum to the music of military instruments. They were provided with sails and twelve oars each, and a falconet, or small brass cannon. The final success of the enterprise was greatly indebted to these vessels.
1535. Albert Pio, a Spanish ecclesiastic buried with extraordinary pomp at Paris, in the church of the Cordeliers.
1552. The council of Trent was prorogued for two years; it did not assemble again until 1562.
1636. Julius Cæsar, an English statesman under Elizabeth, died. He was a man of great learning and integrity, charitable and benevolent.
1710. Thomas Betterton, an English, tragedian, died. He was a bookbinder previous to going upon the stage; and acquired a high degree of reputation as an actor.
1721. An order of the English council was issued to suppress Hellfire clubs.
1738. Shakspeare's tragedy of Julius Cæsar performed at Drury Lane theatre, for the purpose of raising a fund for the erection of a monument to his memory at Westminster.
1751. Thomas Gibson, an eminent English painter, died.
1752. Francis Oudin, a French Jesuit, died. He was professor of theology at Dijon, and an author.