1854. The first rail road opened in Brazil, the emperor and empress being present at the inauguration.
1854. James Montgomery, the poet and journalist, of Sheffield, died, aged 82.
1855. Henry Rowley Bishop, a noted English music composer, died, aged 68. He was the most distinguished representative of the English school of composition, and was knighted in 1842.
1857. W. B. Buchanan, an American poet, died, aged 63. He was long a correspondent of the National Intelligencer and other papers, residing in Virginia.
MAY.
MAY 1.
305. Diocletian, the Roman emperor, abdicated the throne in the presence of the soldiery and a multitude of people, at Nicomedia, in the 21st year of his reign. When afterwards solicited by a friend to resume the purple, he calmly replied, that if he could show the cabbages which he had planted at Salona with his own hands, he should no longer be urged to relinquish the enjoyment of happiness for the pursuit of power.
475. Henghist, the Saxon, caused 300 English noblemen to be murdered.