Events October 15 - While visiting Rome, Edward Gibbon observes a group of barefoot friars singing vespers in the ruined Temple of Jupiter, a sight which inspires him to begin work on a history that will be published as The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. New Books Bywyd a Marwolaeth Theomemphus (Welsh language) - William Williams Pantycelyn The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole The Nun: An Elegy - Edward Jerningham The Surprises of Love - John Cleland Births July 9 : Ann Radcliffe Deaths