MAY 15.
164 B. C. The Jews, upon the 15th Sivan, celebrate a feast for the victory of Judas Maccabæus over the people of Bethsan, or Scythopolis.
67. Vespasian invested Jotopata, in Galilee, defended by Josephus, the historian, a very interesting siege as it respects the latter.
392. Valentinian, emperor of Rome, strangled at Vienne, in Milan, by order of Arbogastes, his rebellious general.
1213. King John, oppressed with guilt and despair, resigned the kingdoms of England and Ireland to the pope, to be held of him and of the Roman church in fee, by the annual rent of 1,000 marks.
1464. Battle of Hexham, on the banks of the Dilswater, and defeat of the Lancastrians under the duke of Somerset, by Edward IV. The fate of the royal family after this defeat was extremely singular and distressing.
1494. Columbus discovered a great number of small islands in the West Indies, which he called the Queen's Garden. These were in his opinion the 5,000 islands which Marco Polo and Mandeville described as the boundary of India.
1548. The emperor Charles V laid before the diet of Augsburg a rule of faith, which he compelled them to acquiesce in, notwithstanding that it was disapproved by both protestants and papists.
1567. Marriage of Mary, queen of Scots, and the earl of Bothwell.
1571. Moscow burnt by the Tartars, who had surrounded the city, and set it on fire at all points. The entire city was burnt down, and upwards of 200,000 of the inhabitants perished in the flames.