Historical Writings

Repose (death) of Saint Michael, first metropolitan of Kiev.

Death of Vladimir, Grand Prince of Rus, whose conversion to Christianity established the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Muslim citizens of Jerusalem surrendered their city to the armies of the FirstCrusade. The Crusaders then proceeded, through misguided religious zeal, to massacrethousands of unarmed men, women and children.

Death of Bonaventura. He was a minister general of the Franciscans and a notable preacher. His writings breathe a warmth of spiritual passion and avoidance of scholastic nit-picking.

Birth of Clement C. Moore, American Episcopal educator. His fame endures today,not as a theologian, but as the author of a completely mythical poem: 'Twas the Night BeforeChristmas' (1823).

Birth of Edward Caswall, English clergyman and hymn translator. Today we stillsing Caswall's English versions of the hymns 'Jesus, The Very Thought of Thee' and 'WhenMorning Gilds the Skies.'

In Rome, the church known as St Paul's Outside the Walls was destroyed by a fire.Its original edifice was erected in AD 324 by the Roman emperor Constantine.

Death of Anne-Marie Javouhey, an extraordinary peasant girl who took the gospel to French territories in Africa and South America.

The first Hawaiian missionaries set sail for the Caroline Islands with a letter of greeting from King Kamehameha III to all the chiefs of the islands of the Pacific urging them to receive the missionaries kindly, renounce idols, and worship the true and living God. Revival had come to Hawaii and its people were eager to share the gospel.

Dorothy L. Sayers is baptized as an infant. She will write the well-known Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, Christian plays, a radio series on the life of Christ called The Man Born to Be King, and works of apologetics.

The First Southern Baptist Church to be constituted in the state of Wyoming wasformed in Casper by a group of families principally related to the oil industry.