1805. Thomas Butler died; he was a brave officer in the American revolutionary army, but refusing to comply with the general order, to cut the hair close to the head, he was involved in much difficulty with general Wilkeson.
1807. Copenhagen surrendered to the British after a long bombardment, in which six thousand were killed and wounded, and 1,800 houses destroyed.
1811. Peter Simon Pallas, a distinguished writer of Prussia, died. He accompanied empress Catherine's famous expedition to Siberia, for the observation of the transit of Venus, &c. He was subsequently tutor to the grand dukes Alexander (afterwards emperor) and Constantine.
1812. Battle of Borodino; the Russian army consisted of 120,000, and the French had an equal number. There were also 500 cannon employed by each. The slaughter was dreadful; of one of the Russian divisions that mustered 30,000 in the morning, only 8,000 survived. These had fought in close order under a fire of 80 cannon. It is computed that not less than 30,000 Russians, and 50,000 French were killed; and night found either army on the ground they had occupied at day break.
1820. Great solar eclipse in England.
1827. Abo, the capital of Finland, nearly destroyed by fire. Only 800 volumes of the public library escaped destruction, and nearly 100 persons perished.
1831. Warsaw captured by the Russians under Paskiewitch after two days' fighting. Russian loss estimated at 20,000.
1833. Hannah More, a celebrated English authoress, died, aged 88. Her works are very numerous, by which she realized upwards of $140,000.
1836. John Pond, an eminent English astronomer, died. He was named by Dr. Maskelyne as the fittest man to succeed him as astronomer royal, which office he held during 25 years with consumate ability.
1838. William Colfax, an officer of the revolution, died. He was one of the life guards of Washington, and supposed to have been the last survivor of that corps.