1849. A severe and very destructive fire at St. Louis, Missouri.
1850. Gallinas, the noted slave factory on the west of Africa, purchased by the Liberian republic.
1856. Redwood Fisher, an American author, died, aged 73. He began business as a merchant in Philadelphia; subsequently edited a daily paper in New York, and took an active part in public affairs. He published several volumes on political economy, and was much interested in statistics.
MAY 18.
975. Edward (the martyr), murdered by his step-mother. He was the son of king Edgar who enacted laws against excessive drinking, ordaining a size with pins in the cup with penalties on any who should presume to drink deeper than the mark. Hence the phrase drinking deep.
1291. The city of Acre, in Palestine, taken by the Turks; after a siege of 30 days the double wall was forced by the Moslems, the principal tower yielded to their engines, the Mamelukes made a general assault, the city was stormed, and death or slavery was the lot of 60,000 Christians, and the Holy Land was again in the hands of the Turks.
1410. Robert, emperor of Germany, died, just as a powerful combination had been formed to deprive him of the crown.
1539. Ferdinand de Soto, governor of Cuba, sailed for the conquest of Florida with nine vessels, 900 men besides sailors, 213 horses and a herd of swine. He landed on the west coast of the peninsula, with 300 men, and pitched his camp; but about day break the next morning they were attacked by the natives, and obliged to retire.
1565. The Turks under Mustapha, pasha, to the number of 30,000 choice troops, landed on the island of Malta, with a view to extirpate the knights. But the desperate resistance they encountered compelled them to abandon the island with the loss of 25,000 men. Loss of the knights 7,000.
1596. Heemskerk, accompanied by Jan Cornelissen Ryp, with two vessels again attempted the discovery of a northern passage to India. In this voyage he became embayed in ice, and passed the winter in the arctic regions, exposed to the rigors of the climate, and other perils. The ill success of this expedition destroyed all hope with the Dutch of finding a northern passage to China.