1689. Six captains with 400 men in New York, and a company of 70 men from East Chester, joined Leisler in holding the fort at New York for the prince of Orange.
1694. The duke of Savoy, at the instance of England and Holland decreed the free exercise of their religion to the Vaudois.
1732. Edmund Calamy died; an eminent English divine among the non-conformists.
1740. Jethro Tull died; celebrated as the first Englishman who bestowed particular attention on agriculture, and endeavored to reduce it to a science.
1759. Admiral Rodney bombarded Havre de Grace, France, 52 hours without intermission.
1769. Transit of Venus over the sun's disc. Capt. Cook sailed from England to Otaheite with scientific men, to take an observation there. As it had never been seen but twice before by any inhabitant of our planet, and could never be seen again by any person then living, it caused considerable excitement among the scientific in Europe. It was also observed by our countryman David Rittenhouse, at Philadelphia.
1770. The city of Port-au-prince, St. Domingo, destroyed by an earthquake.
1776. During the celebration of a wedding at Mantua, the floor of the house gave way, and 66 persons were killed, among whom was the bride.
1780. Thomas Hutchinson, a governor of Massachusetts, died. He published a valuable history of the colony from 1628 to 1749, and a third volume has been compiled from his manuscripts, extending it to 1774.
1788. Lord Mansfield, of England, resigned his chief justiceship of the king's bench, a station he had occupied with distinguished reputation for 32 years.