1808. Joseph Bonaparte proclaimed king of Spain. "Your princes," said Napoleon, "have ceded to me their rights to the crown of Spain. Your nation is old; my mission is to restore its youth."
1810. Lewis Augustus Philip Affray, first magistrate of Switzerland under Napoleon, died. He was in early life an officer in the Swiss army; and when elevated to civil office, he conducted with the ability, the intelligence and the experience of a thorough statesman.
1812. Bonaparte joined his great army on the Vistula, destined to invade Moscow.
1813. Action off Presque isle, between the United States schooner, Lady of the Lake, lieut. Chauncey, and the British schooner, Lady Murray, laden with provisions and ammunition, for York, Canada, which was captured.
1814. The editors of the Gazette Universal having said something about the constitution of the Cortes, were condemned by their monarch, Ferdinand VII, to the galleys.
1815. Bonaparte attacked the Prussian posts of Sombref, St. Amand and Ligny, under prince Blucher. The contest was very severe, and the Prussian loss very great; they notwithstanding kept their position until after night, when they retreated upon Wavre. Blucher had a horse killed under him, and narrowly escaped with his life. Ligny was taken and retaken several times. At the same time Bonaparte attacked the British troops under Wellington, at Quartre Bras, and compelled him to fall back upon Gemappe. The loss of the allies was very severe.
1818. The village of Bagnes, in Switzerland, overwhelmed by the giving away of an ice barrier.
1818. Irruption of lake Mauvoisin, in the Alps, occasioned by the bursting of its icy mound, by which six hundred millions cubic feet of water were in an instant let loose upon the beautiful valley of the Drana, carrying before its overwhelming torrent every vestige of civilized life which stood within its reach.
1819. An earthquake near Poonah, in the East Indies, swallowed up a large district and more than 2000 persons.
1821. John Ballantyne, the confidential printer of sir Walter Scott's Waverly novels, died at Edinburgh. He also established the Kelso Mail, a respectable provincial paper, yet in existence.