1775. Washington arrived at Cambridge, and took command of the American army, then consisting of 14,500 men.
1776. The memorable resolution, declaring the North American colonies independent, passed by congress, without one dissenting colony. It was proclaimed on the 4th, and hence that day is celebrated, instead of this, which is, perhaps, better entitled to the honor.
1778. A fanatic calling herself queen Beck, assaulted king George III as he was alighting from his carriage.
1778. Jean Jacques Rousseau died at Paris. He was the son of a watchmaker at Geneva, and strayed to Paris while young, where he became one of the most celebrated authors of the day. His works are collected in 33 vols.
1782. Dionysius Diderot, a noted French philosopher, died. He was the son of a cutler, educated by the Jesuits. Rejecting the ecclesiastical profession for literature, he became an author, and conceived the stupendous design of the Dictionnaire Encyclopédique, on which he labored 20 years. He was a Jacobin, and contributed his full share to the revolution.
1800. Bill for the union of Great Britain and Ireland signed by order of the king, George III.
1802. Colonel Barre, so noted in the British parliament as an opponent to the American war, died. He had been blind for many years.
1805. Patrick Russell, a British physician, died at London; author of a valuable treatise on the plague, and several estimable works on natural history.
1807. Jefferson issued his proclamation forbidding all intercourse with British ships of war, and ordering all those within the American waters to withdraw therefrom. (See [June 22].)
1812. American embargo expired by its own limitation. On the same day the frigate Essex, captain Porter, sailed from New York on a cruise against the British, on which occasion he hoisted a white flag, bearing the motto, "Free trade and sailor's rights."