MAY 22.
334 B. C. Battle of the Granicus, in Bythinia, in which Alexander of Macedon defeated the Persians.
337. Constantine (the great), emperor of Rome, died. He was an able general and a sagacious politician; celebrated as the builder of Constantinople on the site of Byzantium, and as the first emperor who embraced Christianity.
1424. James I, of Scotland, crowned 18 years after his accession, since which he had been in captivity.
1498. Vasco de Gama landed at Calicut, the first Indian port visited by a European vessel.
1542. Paul III, summoned the council of Trent; but was compelled to prorogue it, his own ecclesiastics only attending.
1555. John Peter Caraffa elected pope, and assumed the title of Paul IV.
1604. The first settlement made on the coast of Guiana, by captain Charles and sir Oliver Leigh.
1611. James I, instituted the order of Baronets, and elevated 75 families to that dignity.
1659. Richard Cromwell's parliament dissolved by commission under the great seal, at the instance of Desborough.