1143. PETER ABELARD, a learned Frenchman, died. His love and misfortunes have saved his memory from oblivion; and the man whom his own century have admired as a profound divine, is now celebrated as the martyr of love. The letters of Abelard and Heloise are frequently republished, and there is a voluminous life of the lovers by Berington. 1284. ALFONZO X (_the wise_), king of Castile and Leon, died. He was a man of great learning, and was the first king who had the public documents written in Spanish, which he did with a view to polish and enrich the language. His son usurped the throne, and it was with the greatest difficulty that he got it back again, by calling in the troops of the Moors; and the excommunication of the pope. 1480. WILLIAM CAXTON, the first English printer, finished the translation of _Ovid's Metamorphoses_, as we learn from his own memorandum, as follows: "_Ouyde his booke of Metamorphose Translated and fynnysshed by me William Caxton at Westmestre the xxii day of Apryll, the yere of our lord m.iiijc.iiijxx. And the xx yere of the Regne Kynge Edward the fourthe._" This work is not known to have been printed, but there are several fragments of the work preserved in manuscript. 1519. The armament under Cortez arrived on the coast of Chalchiucuechan, a part of the Mexican empire. 1526. Battle of Paniput, in Hindostan, between Ibrahim Lodi, sultan of Delhi, and the Tartar prince Raber. Ibrahim was defeated and killed, which decided the conquest of Hindostan by the Tartars. 1545. The mines of Potosi opened. They were discovered by an Indian peasant, while hunting. A shrub which he had laid hold of to support himself, was torn up by the roots, and disclosed to the hunter a rich mass of silver. The population of the city increased so rapidly that in 1611, a little more than half a century afterwards, there were 160,000 inhabitants, but in 1826 they had decreased to 12,000. There are at present less than 100 mines worked, and these conducted with great ignorance and disadvantage. 1671. ANTHONY GODEAU, a French divine, died. He was one of the first and brightest ornaments of the academy of belles-lettres, an active and attentive prelate, and exemplary in every part of his conduct. He wrote a valuable _Ecclesiastical History_, 3 vols. folio. 1679. The council of 30 constituted by Charles II. They consisted of 15 whigs and 15 tories--chosen by their property to balance the commons, the former valued at £300,000, that of the latter at £400,000. 1696. Brigadier AMBROSE ROCKWOOD with two others, convicted at Tyburn for high treason and executed on the 29th. They were the first prisoners having the benefit of council, &c. 1718. PHILIP DE LA HIRE, a French mathematician, died, aged 78. He is characterized as a great and good man whose days were employed in study, and his nights frequently in astronomical observations. His scientific pursuits were various, and his works numerous and valuable.