1655. Edward Winslow died; one of the first settlers of Plymouth colony, Mass., and afterwards its governor. He joined the fleet sent over by Cromwell to attack St. Domingo, the only place of strength which the Spaniards had in Hispaniola, and died at sea, aged 60. His marriage was the first that was celebrated in the colony.
1657. Cromwell refused the title of king of England.
1659. A remnant of the long parliament assembled during the anarchy, and has been termed the rump.
1662. Peter Heylin, an English historian, died. He was an able and indefatigable writer, principally known by his Description of the great World, and History of the Reformation.
1676. Bridgewater, Mass., invaded by the Indian enemy, and 17 buildings laid in ashes.
1703. Vincent Alsop died; a presbyterian clergyman, who attacked Dr. Sherlock with great wit and some seriousness.
1725. Capt. John Lovewell, with a party of 36 men, encouraged by his former success against the Indians (see [Feb. 20]), undertook an expedition against Pigwacket, on Saco river, was ambuscaded, and himself and a great part of his men killed. They made a brave resistance, determined to die rather than yield, and by their well directed fire thinned the number of the savages so that their cries became fainter, and they finally left the field, carrying off their dead.
1729. William King, archbishop of Dublin, died; author of a celebrated treatise on the origin of evil.
1744. Giles Jacob died; an English law writer, biographer, and lexicographer.
1758. Benedict XIV (Prosper Lambertini), pope, died. His character was that of a learned, liberal-minded and benevolent man. His works fill 16 vols. folio.