1795. The royalist expedition against Quiberon, assisted by English munitions and money, terminated disastrously for the royal cause. The Republicans obtained possession of clothing and equipments which had been landed for 40,000 men.
1795. Luxemburgh, in Belgium, under marshal baron de Bender, surrendered to the French under Gen. Hatry.
1798. Battle of Antrim; lord O'Niel killed with a pike.
1805. The Antigua convoy for England, captured and burnt by the combined French and Spanish fleets.
1811. Tremendous hail storm at Alexandria, Virginia.
1826. Joseph von Traunhofer, died; a celebrated German optician.
1831. Sarah Siddons, a celebrated English tragic actress, died. She was the daughter of Roger Kemble, manager of a strolling company, married Siddons in her 18th year, and in 1782, appeared at Drury Lane in the character of Isabella. Her course from that time was a perpetual triumph, and in 1812 she retired to private life with an ample fortune.
1836. Nathan Drake, an English physician, died; also a highly respectable and voluminous author.
1836. John Prince, an American clergyman, died at Salem, Mass., aged 85; distinguished for his talents and literary acquirements, and for his improvements in the air pump.
1840. Frederick William III, king of Prussia, died, aged 70. He is characterized as an honest, just and economical ruler. Destined to take an active part in the great events which followed the French revolution, his reign was distinguished by great vicissitudes of ill fortune and success. He left a fortune of nearly twenty millions of dollars.