1841. Matthias Denman, an enterprising western pioneer, and in early life one of the first owners of the land on which Cincinnati now stands, died at Springfield, N. J., aged 91.
1851. G. L. P. Spontini died in Italy; a celebrated dramatic composer, in the line of opera.
1857. Dr. Medhurst, English missionary to China, died, aged 71. He was also a noted linguist, and author of a work on China, a Chinese dictionary, and a Japanese and English vocabulary.
JANUARY 25.
275. Lucius Domitius Aurelianus, emperor of Rome, assassinated. He was the son of a peasant; his mother a priestess of the Temple of the Sun. He enlisted as a common soldier, and rose from that humble station to the highest military offices during the reigns of Valerian and Claudius, the latter of whom, on his death bed, recommended Aurelian to the choice of the troops. He delivered Italy from the barbarians, and conquered the famous Zenobia queen of Palmyra. He had planned an expedition against Persia, and was
waiting in Thrace for an opportunity to cross the straits when he fell a victim to a conspiracy.
1327. Edward II of England, then a prisoner in Kenilworth castle, compelled to resign his crown in favor of his son, Edward III.
1533. Henry VIII privately married to Ann Boleyn in a garret at Whitehall.
1640. Robert Burton, an English divine, died. He is known principally by his Anatomy of Melancholy, a rare book, which it is said he wrote to divert his own thoughts from that feeling.
1692. The Indians, accompanied by some French, attacked the town of York in Maine, killed 50 and carried away 100 of the inhabitants, and destroyed the town.