1773. Alexis Piron, a French dramatist, died. His first effusions were satires, which procured him so many enemies that even in the latter part of his life he could not get admission into the Academy. He revenged himself by calling them les invalides du bel esprit, and composing his own humorous epitaph:
Ci-git Piron, qui ne fut rien,
Pas même académicien.
1774. Mustapha III, emperor of Turkey, died, and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamet.
1775. Pugatchef, the daring chief of the Tartars, defeated by the Russians, into whose hands he fell and was put to death.
1780. Admiral Rodney of the English fleet arrived with his prizes and transports for the relief of Gibraltar; the garrison was short of provisions.
1782. Grand fete in Paris on the birth of the dauphin.
1793. Louis XVI beheaded at Paris, aged 38. He had reigned 17 years and 7 months, and is now represented as an amiable and benevolent man, anxious to make his subjects happy; who in turn treated him in the vilest manner, and executed him as a tyrant and a traitor. His behavior on many trying occasions vindicated him effectually of timidity, and showed that the unwillingness to shed blood by which he was particularly distinguished, arose from benevolence, and not from pusillanimity. Upon the scaffold he exhibited a firmness that became a noble spirit.
1814. Jacques Bernardin Henry de St. Pierre, a French philosophical writer, died, at his estate near Paris. He is best known as the author of Paul and Virginia, which appeared in 1788, and passed through fifty editions in one year. It has been generally translated in Europe.
1815. Matthias Claudius, a German poet, died. His prose and poetry are said to bear a peculiar stamp of humor, frankness and cordiality, and many of his songs, set to music by the first composers, have become a part of the national melodies. He filled several public offices.