Historical Writings

Argimirus, an old monk, is executed by Muslims in Cordova, Spain, after someone betrays him to the authorities.

Repose (death) of Xenophon of Robeika who had been a student of St. Barlaam of Khutyn and igumen (abbot) of the Khutyn monastery in Russia. While head of Khutyn, he had founded the Trinity Monastery on the banks of the Robeika River near Novgorod.

Birth of Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish painter. His most famous canvasses include 'Descent from the Cross' and 'Erection of the Cross.'

A proclamation in Scotland allows all to serve God in their own way, in any house, but restrictions will be added four months later.

Quaker abolitionist Anthony Benezet opens a school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for African Americans. Five years later he will form the first abolitionist society in North America.

Birth of Eliza E. Hewitt, American Presbyterian church worker and devotional author. Four of her hymns still endure: 'Will There Be Any Stars?', 'More About Jesus I Would Know,' 'When We All Get to Heaven' and 'Sunshine in the Soul.'

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union presents massive rolls of signatures, sewn onto cloth, to a constitutional convention in Albany, New York, requesting an amendment to the constitution providing for the prohibition of the liquor traffic and another for the full enfranchisement of women. Although the delegates are impressed, neither petition is acted on.

Birth of Lester Roloff, American evangelist. In his later years he founded the 'City of Refuge,' a work specializing in reforming children who came from broken homes.

Catholic worshipers in Krasnik, Poland, find their altar in the woods stripped of its ornaments, the site roped off, and the roof removed by government officials. The believers march on city hall and hundreds of movie-goers join them. The protest turns violent and the rioters wreck the interiors of Communist Party buildings. Troops must be called in to disperse the mob with water cannons and tear gas.

The Lutheran Church in America (LCA) was formed with the merger of four Lutheran synods: the United Lutheran Church in America, the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, the American Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The U.S. Supreme Court declared that state underwriting of nonreligious instruction in parochial schools was unconstitutional.

Archbishop Dominic Tang Yiming of Canton, a Jesuit, dies of pneumonia in Stamford, Connecticut, while in exile from China after spending twenty-two years in a Chinese Communist prison for his faith.

Death of Bruce Kennedy in Cashmere, Washington, when his Cessna 182 crashes. A Christian, he had been instrumental in expanding the role of Missionary Aviation Fellowship as well as building Alaska Airlines into an international carrier.