29 calculations by Dr. Oswald Gerhart, emerl- 43 The Roman Emperor, Claudius, husband of their leaders was Peter the Hermit, a preacher. 1191 Teutonic Order, Military Knights, established in the Holy Land to take care of the sick and wounded in the Third Crusade. On their return to Germany they subdued and Christianized by Papal authority the people of Prussia. 1206 Genghis Khan, founder of Mogul (Tartar) 1215 King John of England granted Magna Carta 64 Burning of Rome; first persecution of Chris- 1233 70 Jerusalem destroyed by Titus. 79 Pompeii and Herculaneum destroyed by eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. 313 Constantine converted to Christianity: baptized in 337, on his deathbed; Christianity discarded by his successor, Julian, in 361, but restored by Jovian in 363. The The Inquisition established in Spain by Pope Gregory IX: revived there in 1480, when 185,000 Jews filed, leaving in Spain 50,000 Jews who had become baptized as Roman Catholics; inquisition suppressed by Napoleon in Spain in 1808; restored in 1814: the Holy Office abolished in 1834. Inquisition soon after its establishment. included sorcery (witchcraft) within its jurisdiction and classed it with heresy. 1259-92 Reign of Mongol Emperor, Kublai Khan, at Pekin China. 1282 "Sicilian Vespers," massacre of thousands of French Mch. 30, at Palermo, Italy. 1295 First regular English Parliament, composed of the clergy, barons, and knights, presided over by the King, Edward 1. Outbreak of the "Black Death" plague in Europe. 1348 323 Council Nicaea; Nicene creed formulated. 570 Mohammed born, at Mecca; fled to Medina 624-32 Saracen conquest of Arabia; of Persia. 632-651; of Syria, 634-637; of Egypt, 640- 930 Vikings established first Parliament in Ice- 940 Library of Alexandria, Egypt (700,000 volumes or rolls), burned by order of Caliph Omar. For 6 months they were fed as fuel to the public baths. Birth of Richard Whittington, who died in 1381 Wat Tyler's rebellion, England. 1481 982 Erik (The Red) Thorvaldson, father of Lief Ericson (Eriksson) is said to have dis- 1484 covered the east coast of Greenland. 1000 Lief Ericson, of Iceland, sailed with his Norse men to what is supposed to have been the New England coast. 1014 Brian Boru (Boroimhe), Irish King and his troops defeated the Danish invaders, at Clontarf. He and his son and grandson 1492 were slain in battle. 1020 Jews banished from England by Canute; they 1066 Battle of Hastings, conquest of England by The African slave trade was begun, by Portu- 1492 Indian voyage, he left 40 of his men to 1568 Ivan IV, the Terrible, Czar of Russia, orfound the colony of Navidad, maybe on the north coast of Haiti. When he returned there in Dec., 1493, there was no sign of the colony and all the Spaniards were gone. Jews expelled from Spain. Banishment of Mohammedans began in 1499, that of Moors (900,000) in 1508. The Jews previously had been expelled in the 7th Century. 1497 John Cabot discovered or explored east coast 1572 of Canada. June 24. His son Sebastian accompanied him on the second voyage, in 1498. ganized a band of secret police (Oprichniki) and "purged" his country of those who had plotted to kill his son. Hundreds were tried and executed as traitors. Finally the Oprichniki were "purged," and their chiefs, Basmaner and Skurator, were killed, as traitors. Ivan proposed to Queen Elizabeth of England. but she declined his offer. St. Bartholomew Day massacre of Huguenots (Protestants) at Paris, France, Aug. 24, following the marriage of Henry of Navarre and Margaret of Valois. Armed conflicts between the Huguenots under Bourbon nobles, and the Catholics, under the Guise family, ended for a time with the signing. April 13, 1598, at Nantes, of a royal edict, giving religious toleration to the Huguenots. But hostilities were renewed in 1624, and in 1685 the edict of Nantes was revoked by Louis XIV. The Code Napoleon restored Protestant rights, religious and civil. 1579 Sir Francis Drake went ashore in Marin County, California, and nailed a metal plate to a post, claiming that region for Queen Elizabeth of England. He named it Nova Albion. The plate was found in June, 1936 Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, Feb. 8. Her secretary, Rizzio, had been assassinated in March, 1566. 1587 1513 Ponce de Leon landed in Florida, April 8, at 1530 Reading of the Augsburg Confession, em- 1531-35 Marquis Francisco Pizarro conquered Peru. 1534 Act of Supremacy makes the King head of the Church of England; ends Papal power there. Virginia Dare, first child of English parents in Colony of Virginia, born at Roanoke Island, Aug. 18, seven days after Sir Walter Raleigh's colonists arrived there from overseas. His first party settled there in 1584 and disappeared. Spanish Armada defeated, July 21-29,, by a British fleet, which sent flaming ships into the midst of the enemy's craft. The Armada consisted of 132 armed craft with 33,000 men (21,855 soldiers), including 150 monks and the Vicar of the Inquisition, sent by Phillip II. Only 50 ships and 10,000 men returned to Spain. 1598 First attempt at colonization, in Acadia; Marquis de la Roche lands 60 convicts on Sable Island. 1603 1605 15. Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, of Falmouth, England (the first known white man to set foot on New England, landed at South Dartmouth, near New Bedford, Mass. May Crowns of England and Scotland joined, Mch. 24, under James VI of Scotland, who became James I, and on Oct. 24, 1604, was proclaimed "King of Great Britain, France. and Ireland"; legislative union on May 1, 1707. Gunpowder plot by Guy Faux (or Fawkes) to blow up British Parliament discovered. Nov. 4. 1607 Jamestown, Va., settled. May 13 (the first permanent English settlement in America), under Capt. John Smith, with 105 Cavaliers in 3 ships. At Jamestown, on July 30, 1619, they convened the first representative assembly in America. They had landed at Cape Henry on April 26, 1607. Society of Jesus (Jesuits) formed, Aug. 15. It 1535 First English Bible translated and issued by Henry Hudson, in "Half Moon," went up Hudson River, Sept. 11; discovered Manhattan Island, Sept. 4. Samuel Champlain of France, advancing from the north, discovered Lake Champlain, July 4. 1610 Thomas West (Baron Delawarr) Governor of Virginia, sailed into Delaware Bay, but did not colonize in what is now Delaware. 1614 Captain Hunt, who accompanied Capt. John Smith on a tour of the New England coast, kidnapped 27 Indians and carried them to Malaga for sale as slaves. 1536-39 Monasteries closed in England. 1540 Francisco Coronado of Salamanca, Spain, who had gone to Mexico in 1535, organized there an expedition and, 1540-42, explored what is now Arizona and New Mexico in search of the "Seven Cities of Cibola" (Zuni Pueblos?) and rumored stores of gold 1618 Thirty Years War began in Germany (Boand silver. 1541 Executions of so-called witches began in hemia) between Catholics and Protestants: ended in 1648 with the Peace of Westphallia, Alsace was given to France, Swiss independence was recognized, and the German states got their religious and political rights, as did Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus. Sir Walter Raleigh beheaded at London, Oct. 29. He had been convicted in 1603 with Lords Cobham and Gray of treason in having plotted to put Arabella Stuart_on the English throne in place of James I. 1546 Persecutions and executions of Protestants began in Scotland after the assassination of the Regent, Cardinal Beaton, at St. Andrews. In 1560 Parliament abolished the 1619 Slavery introduced into American Colonies jurisdiction of the Pope in Scotland, Aug. 24. 1555 Bishops Ridley of London and Latimer of Worcester were burned at the stake at Oxford, Oct. 16: Archbishop Cranmer of Canterbury, Mch. 21, 1556; 277 burned at the stake in Queen Mary's reign. 1620 in Aug., when 20 African negroes were landed from a Dutch ship, at Jamestown, Va. Many American Indians captured in warfare in New England were sold into slavery in the West Indies. Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Dec. 21. They were English, but some had dwelt 1620 Governor Berkeley, he raised a force of farmers who, like him, had been oppressed by taxes. He burned Jamestown, but died suddenly: 23 of his followers were executed. Indian Chief, King Philip (Metasomet), a son of Massasoit, hunted down and killed, Aug. 12, at Mt. Hope, R. I., by whites under Capt. Benj. Church. That ended one of the flercest wars in New England colonial times. It was Massasoit who had welcomed the Pilgrims of the Mayflower. 1688 William of Orange Stadholder of Holland, invaded England with 13.000 men on 600 transports escorted by 50 warships. He was the husband of the eldest daughter of James II. 1691 The first post office in the United States was organized under a royal patent granted to Thomas Neale. since 1608 in Holland. The latter party 1676 went from Holland to Southampton on the "Speedwell," where that vessel was abandoned, and most of them came to America on the "Mayflower." The compact signed in Provincetown Harbor before landing bore 41 names; the entire company aboard numbered 101 persons. The captain was Christopher Jones, of Harwich, England. The Pilgrims on the "Mayflower" were bound for New York when they left Holland, but landed at Plymouth by mistake. Priscilla Molines, a French woman, daughter of Guillaume Molines, was one of those on the Mayflower. By her marriage to John Alden, she became an ancestor of John Adams, second President, and John Quincy Adams. 1624 The ship "New Netherland" arrived at what is now N. Y. City in May, let 8 men off to take possession, and went up the Hudson to Albany. In 1626 (May 4) Peter Minuit arrived at N. Y. City from Holland, and on May 6 he bought the island from the Indians. As early as 1613, Dutch traders had built a few huts at the Battery, to trade with the Indians; Fort Nassau was built in 1615. 1635 April 23-The first naval battle by white men in America was fought on the Little Pocomoke River, Eastern Shore of Maryland. between Claiborne's pinnace Long Tail and Governor Calvert's two pinnaces, the St. Margaret and the St. Helen. In 1643 Calvert was driven from the province by William Ingle. 1638 In March. an expedition on two ships, Kalmar Myckel (Key of Kalmar) and Vogel Grip (Bird Griffin) which had left Gothenburg, Sweden, in Nov. 1637, under command of Peter Minuit, arrived in Minquas Kill (Christiana River) within the limits of the present city of Wilmington, Delaware. There they built a fort, and left there a colony of 13 soldiers. 1692 "Witchcraft delusion" at Danvers (Salem Village), Mass.; 16 women and 5 men were tried, convicted and hanged between June and Sept. Port Royal, Jamaica, W. I., destroyed by earthquake, in June. 1693 Earthquake and eruption of Mt. Etna, in Sicily, 60,000 killed, Sept. 1694 Thence to 1744 Massachusetts passed statutes offering bounties for the scalps of Indian rebels and enemies. The price for male scalps ran as high as £100, females were less, children 10 years of age £10. In Virginia and Carolina and in the Colony of New Plymouth, Indians could be sold for debt and for stealing. 1701 Capt. William Kidd, American ship-master, and 9 of his men, hanged in London, May 23, for piracy. He had been commissioned by the British Government to capture pirates, but he also seized, or his crew did, an English ship, as well as the Great, Mogul's vessel, the Quedah Merchant, and the East Indian trader craft, Rouparelle, which carried French passes. This angered the British East India Company. 1703 1707 That 1668 Yellow fever made its first recorded appear- 1676 Bacon's Rebellion (March-October) in Vir- Earthquake in Japan. 200,000 killed, Feb. 2. In Maryland an Act was passed "to prevent Union of England and Scotland. Slave insurrection in N. Y. City, April 6; quickly suppressed; 6 negroes killed themselves; 21 others were executed. 1713 Peace of Utrecht, April 11, among Great Britain, France and the allies. It ended the wars of Queen Anne, secured the Protestant succession in England, and separated France from Spain. In England the Company of Merchants got exclusive trading rights in South America, for which it agreed to wipe out the war debt. The capital was increased to £10,000,000. Not much trading was done. Meantime thousands of investors had paid ten times the par value of shares. Then the crash This was the South Sea Bubble. Triple Alliance of England, Holland and France against Spain, Jan. 1720 Mississippi Scheme bursts. John Law, a Scot who had fled from England after he killed a man in a duel, and who had formed in France a colonial trading company, got the government to give the company control of currency and finance. Shares were sold at 15 times par value. Then there was a run on the bank, and the whole scheme blew up, ruining the investors. Law fled to Italy. 1717 1735 1741 came. (Some say 1722) Last legal trial in Scotland for witchcraft. The victim, an old woman of Dornoch, was tried, convicted and was stuffed into a pitch barrel in June and burned to death. Her daughter also was convicted, but escaped from prison. Freedom of the press in the United States established by the acquittal, by a jury, at N. Y. City, of John Peter Zenger, of a charge of libel for having criticized the administration of Gov. Cosby. The trial be. gan on Aug. 4. He died in 1746. His Weekly Journal was continued for 3 years by his wife and son. 1746 Battle of Culloden (Drumossie Moor) near 1775 Inverness, where the English defeated the Scots, April 16, under Prince Charles. Stuart Pretender, who died at Rome, 1788. 1747 Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, Scottish Jacobite, supporter of the Pretender, executed at London, for treason, April 9; last person beheaded by legal process in England. 1754-63 French and Indian War in America. On May 28, 1754, Washington led a company of Virginia militia and defeated the French near Brownsville, Pa.; his first fight. The contest was between the British and the French for possession of the Ohio country, from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River. The British claimed title from the Iroquois Indians. The French claimed their own discovery and settlement. 1755 Earthquake in Portugal, 50,000 killed at Lisbon, Nov. 1. 1756 At Calcutta, India, June 19, a dungeonthe Black Hole-was filled with 146 British prisoners, of whom only 23 survived suffocation. 1763 New France, including Wisconsin, ceded by the British to become New Quebec. 1765 Stamp Act enacted by Parliament, March 22, N. Y., R. I., Del., Mass., Conn., N. J., Pa., Md. and S. C. held Stamp Act Congress at N. Y. City and issued a Declaration of Rights. Oct. 7. 1769 Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I) born Aug. 15 on the Island of Corsica, in the Mediterranean; died in exile, May 5, 1821, on the Island of St. Helena, where inspection of his body revealed a deep bayonet wound received in the siege of Toulon. 1770 Boston Massacre, March 5, three killed, 8 wounded by British regular troops. 1772 First partition of Poland; second, 1793; third, 1795. Before the first partition the eastern Polish boundary ran along Dnieper and Berezina Rivers. Most of the country was divided among Russia, Austria, and Prussia. 1773 Society of Jesus (Jesuits) abolished by Pope Clement XIV, July 21; expelled from France in 1764, from Spain in 1767; restored as a Society on Aug. 7, 1814, by Pope Pius VII; thereafter expelled from various European countries, and from Italy in 1873. Tea destroyed in Boston Harbor, Dec. 16. To help the East India Company, the British Government had arranged for its tea to be shipped, with an import duty of threepence at the American ports. The cry "No taxation without representation" was raised, and the tea arriving at Boston was dumped overboard by men disguised as Indians. 1774 Continental Congress in session; in Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774-Oct. 26, 1774; there again, May 10, 1775-Dec. 12, 1776; in Baltimore, Dec. 20, 1776-Mch. 4, 1777; in Philadelphia, Mch. 4, 1777-Sept. 18, 1777; in Lancaster, Pa., Sept. 27, 1777 (one day); in York, Pa., Sept. 30, 1777-June 27, 1778; at Philadelphia, July 2, 1778-June 21, 1783; Princeton, N. J., June 30, 1783-Nov. 4, 1783; in Annapolis, Md., Nov. 26, 1783-June 3, 1784, at Trenton, N. J., Nov. 1, 1784-Dec. 24, 1784; in New York City, with intervals, Jan. 11. 1785-Mch. 2, 1789. 1775 First blood of the American War of Independence shed-Westminster (Vt.) Massacre, March 13.. The chief battles of the Revolution were 1775-April 19, Concord, Mass.; April 19, Lexington, Mass.; May 10, Ticonderoga, N. Y.; June 17, Bunker Hill, Mass.; Nov. 13, Montreal, Can.: Dec. 31, Quebec, Can. 1776 June 28, Ft. Moultrie, S. C.: Aug. 27, Long Island (Brooklyn-Flushing); Sept. 16, Harlem Heights, N. Y. City: Oct. 28, White Plains, N. Y.; Nov. 16, Ft. Washington, N. Y. City; Nov. 18, Ft. Lee, N. J.; Dec. 26, Trenton, N. J. 1777-Jan. 3, Princeton, N. J.; July 6, Ticonderoga, N. Y.; Aug. 6, Oriskany, N. Y.; Aug. 16, Bennington, Vt.; Sept. 11, Brandywine, Del.; Sept. 19-Oct. 7, Saratoga (Schuylerville), N. Y.; Oct. 4. Germantown, Pa. 1778 June 28, Monmouth, N. J. (a draw); July 3, Wyoming, Pa., massacre: Aug. 29, Quaker Hill, R. I.; Dec. 29, Savannah, Ga. 1779-Oct. 8, Savannah, Ga. Yorktown, Va., where Cornwallis, attacked Paul Revere's midnight ride, Boston to Lex- First British flag hauled down at sea in the Mecklenburg, North Carolina, so-called Declaration of Independence, May 20. The schooner Hannah, under Nicholson Broughton, who had been commissioned an army captain by Gen. Washington, sailed from Beverly, Mass, on Sept 5, and the next day captured a British vessel. The Hannah, owned by Col. John Glover, offcially ranks as the "mother" of the Navy. 1776 In Williamsburg, Va., May 6, the fifth revolutionary convention in Virginia convened and adopted the first constitution of a free and independent state; on May 15 it called on the Continental Congress to declare the Colonies free and independent. Tom Paine published "Common Sense" in Declaration of Independence signed, July 4. The opening naval engagement of the Revolu- - Washington crossed the Delaware River, Dec. 25-26, and defeated the British at Trenton. One account says Washington's troops crossed on the ice. Other accounts report boats and rafts were used. The troops marched 9 miles from McKonkeys (McConkeys) Ferry, now Washington Crossing, N. J., to Trenton. 1777 Stars and Stripes flag adopted by Continental Congress, June 14. 1779 Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, adopted by Continental Congress, Nov. 15; ratified by the 13 States (Feb. 5, 1778-March 1 1781) and announced by the Congress as formally ratified on Mch 1, 1781. Franklin negotiated U. S. treaty with France, recognizing American independence, Feb. 6. In retaliation for the Wyoming Valley massacre of American settlers, in 1778, committed by a force of 800 Seneca Indians and British soldiers, Gen. John Sullivan and his Continental troops, in August, burned the crops and villages in southernmiddle N. Y. State, at Newtown (Elmira) and 40 other places. 1780 Bank of Philadelphia chartered (first in U. S.). March 1. 1780-Aug. 16, Camden, S. C.; Oct. 7, 1782 1781-Jan. 17, Cowpens, S. C.; Mch. 15. No-Popery riots in London, England, under lead of Lord George Gordon, May 10: June 2-9. Major Andre captured, Sept. 23; hanged Oct. 2, on a hill in view of the mansion of John De Wint, Tappan, N. Y., where Gen. Washington and staff were quartered. It has been said that the plot to deliver West Point to the British was instigated by Peggy Shippen, American wife of Benedict Arnold, as revealed by "code" letters between her and Maj. Andre. Preliminary peace articles between U. S. and Great Britain, signed in Paris, Nov. 30; definitive treaty signed Sept. 3, 1783; Congress ratified on Jan. 14, 1784. George III of England paid about $6,000,000 to the 1782 1783 Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel for the use of nearly 30,000 Hessian troops in his war with the American Colonies. Of this number 12,500 were killed or they deserted: 17,000 went back to their homes. The Revolution had driven 40.000 loyalists from the United States into Canada. Congress demobilized American Army, Oct. First U. S. Government post office opened in First free hydrogen balloon ascension, in France, by P. de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes, at Paris, Nov. 21, in a Montgolfier, holding 60,000 cu. ft. of gas. The first balloon flight across the Channel, between Dover and Guignes, was made by Blanchard and Jeffries, Jan. 7, 1785. The first balloon voyage in the United States was made by Blanchard, of France, in George Washington's presence, at Philadelphia, landing at Woodbury, N. J., Jan. 9, 1793. First daily paper in the United States, the "Pennsylvania Evening Post and Daily Advertiser," issued in Philadelphia by Benjamin Towne, editor and publisher. 1784 First successful daily paper in the United States, the "Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser," in Philadelphia, Sept. 21, Joan Dunlap and D. C. Claypoole, publishers. The first Sunday paper, the "Sunday Monitor," appeared Dec. 18, 1796, in Baltimore. John Fitch operated his steamboat on Delaware River. In 1785, Dec. 11, James Rumsey's steamboat made a trial trip on the Potomac River near Shepherdstown, Md. 1787 Shays' rebellion in Massachusetts, led by Capt. Daniel Shays; the attempt to seize U. S. Arsenal in Springfield failed Jan. 25. - U. S. Constitution drawn up at a convention of delegates from the States in Philadelphia, May 14; ratified by Convention, Sept. 17. 1788 Warren Hastings, Gov. Gen'l of India, put on trial before the Peers in London, Feb 13; acquitted April 23, 1795. Australia settled by the British, Jan. 26, at Port Jackson. The name of the continent up to 1814 was New Holland. 1789 First U. S. Congress met, N. Y., Mch. 4. 1789-Mch. 3, 1791. The sessions did not actually begin until April 6, 1789. There were 3 sessions. Washington inaugurated President, April 30, in Federal Hall, New York City. The French Revolution began, June 20, when the delegates to the Third Estate (Commons) met in the tennis court and took an oath not to disband until the King had granted France a constitution; Bastile stormed, July 14, and prisoners of state released. France was declared a limited monarchy, under Louis XVI; Mirabeau died April 2, 1791; the King and family arrested June 21, 1791; Revolutionary Tribunal set up on Aug. 19, 1792; National Convention opened Sep. 17, 1792, and a republic was established on Sep. 22: King Louis was tried and condemned and was beheaded on Jan. 21, 1793; the Reign of Terror began May 31, 1793; Charlotte Corday stabbed Marat July 13, 1793; the Queen was beheaded Oct. 16, 1793, Mme. Roland on Nov. 8; Countess du Barry (Jeanne Becu) on Dec. 6, 1793; Danton on April 5, 1794, Robespierre on June 4, 1794; Revolutionary Tribunal abolished on Dec. 15, 1794; Louis XVII died in prison on June 8, 1795; peace was made with Prussia, the great revolution ended. Napoleon was declared First Consul on Nov. 10, 1799, and on Aug. 2 was made Consul for Life. He proclaimed himself Emperor on May 18, 1804, and on Dec. 2 was crowned by the Pope. U. S. Supreme Court created, September. Mutiny on the British ship Bounty, April 28; Capt. William Bligh and 18 sailors set adrift in a launch. They rowed 3,618 miles to Timor, near Java. The Bounty, in com 1789 mand of Fletcher Christian, rebel mate sailed to Tahiti, where some of the mutineers stayed. The ship, with 8 of the crew and 18 Polynesians of whom 12 were women, went to Pitcairn Islands, arriving there in 1790. They burned the vessel after landing the food and tools. 1791 Anthracite coal discovered, in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. 1792 U. S. Congress established the mint, in Philadelphia, April 2. 1794 Whiskey Insurrection, in Western Pennsylvania, in the summer, in defiance of the Congress Act of 1791 imposing a tax on domestic distilled spirits. Federal troops (militia men) ended the outbreak in September. 1795 Triple Alliance formed by Great Britain, Orangemen, society of, organized in North of Ireland to support Protestant religion. 1796 Vaccination discovered by Jenner. 1797 Earthquake on west coast South America, 41,000 killed at Quito, Feb. 4. 1798 U. S. Frigate, Constellation, launched at Baltimore, Sept. 7; Frigate, Constitution ("Old Ironsides") launched at Boston, Sept. 20; reconditioned in 1930. The Frigate, United States had been launched at Philadelphia on July 10, 1797. The three vessels were designed by Joshua Humphreys, a Quaker of Philadelphia. The Irish rebellion began in May. It cost 150,000 fatalities among the Irish and over 20,000 among the English; suppressed in 1799. 1800 Sixth Congress (2nd session) met (for first time) in Washington, Nov. 17. 1801 Union of Great Britain and Ireland, Jan. 1: first Parliament of United Kingdom. 1802 U. S. Military Academy at West Point established, March 16; opened July 4. 1803 England and France renew war. Robert Emmet convicted of treason: cuted in Dublin, Sept. 19. exe At New Orleans, Commissioner Laussat dissolved the Cabildo and took over the government for France Nov. 30. On Dec. 30, Laussat issued a proclamation transferring Louisiana to the United States. General Wilkinson and William C. C. Claiborne took over Louisiana; representing Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States. The first municipality was established in 1804. 1804 Alexander Hamilton (ex-Secretary of the Treasury) and Vice-President Aaron Burr (former U. S. Senator from N. Y. State) but a native of Newark, N. J., fought a duel, July 11, on the Hudson Palisades. Weehawken, New Jersey. Hamilton, who had fired in the air, was fatally shot by his antagonist. 1811 1805 Battle of Trafalgar; death of Nelson, Oct. 21. 1807 Fulton's first steamboat (Clermont) trip, New York to Albany, Aug. 17. Aaron Burr was arrested in Mississippi on a federal charge of treason and was put on trial in Richmond, Va., May 22, and was acquitted Sept. 1. He was charged with having organized an expedition of about a hundred men, who embarked in flatboats at Blennerhasset Island, on the Ohio River, and made their way to New Orleans, with the purpose of establishing an empire that was to comprise the Louisiana Territory, a large section of the Western States and Mexico, with Burr as Emperor, Earthquakes in bed of Mississippi River, south of mouth of Ohio River, destroyed small towns and created Reelfoot Lake, 14 miles long. The quakes began on Dec. 16. 1812 Second United States war with Great Britain. declared, June 18, by Congress (Senate, 19 to 13; House. 79 to 49); garrison at Ft. Dearborn (Chicago) massacred by Indians, allies of the British, Aug. 15; Detroit surrendered to British, Aug. 16; mass meeting at N. Y. City denounced the war, Aug. 19: frigate Constitution captured the Guerriere, Aug. 19; frigrate, United States, commanded by Stephen Decatur, defeated the British frigate, Macedonian, off the Azores, Oct. 25. The expedition, under Napoleon, to Moscow: city (30,800 houses) burned by the Russians, Sept. 16. The French retreated with great losses. Intense cold, hunger, discontent, insubordination were blamed for the failure of the campaign. Of Napoleon's invading army of half a million men, less than half came from greater France, which |