Historical Writings

The Dominicans arrive in Paris for the first time and go straight to the center of the city to begin their mission work.

Dr. Pedro Moya de Contreras arrives in Mexico where he will implement the Inquisition.

Death of Lutheran hymnwriter Kaspar Bienemann whose Christian poems include "Lord, as Thou Wilt, Deal Thou with Me."

Death of Bassian of Tiksnensk, an ascetic hermit of the Russian Orthodox Church who sought to mortify his flesh by wearing heavy chains, refusing all visitors except his spiritual guide, and half-starving himself. He will come to be regarded as a saint.

Oliver Cromwell has the doors of the House of Parliament locked and surrounded by soldiers, and directs its members to meet him in the Painted Chamber where he speaks to them in serious tones about the perils with which their policy menaces the State, and requires them to sign an engagement "to be true and faithful to the Lord Protector and the Commonwealth." Those who refuse (nearly one hundred, some for religious reasons) are excluded from the House.

Death of Samuel Willard, a colonial clergyman in Massachusetts, who strenuously opposed the Salem witch trials.

The first service is held in the unfinished Augustus Lutheran Church of Trappe, Pennsylvania, an event which will later be seen as a historic moment in Lutheran history in America.

Pioneer Methodist bishop Francis Asbury, 26, on his maiden voyage to America, wrote in his journal: 'Whither am I going? To the New World. What to do? To gain honor? No, if I know my own heart. To get money? No, I am going to live to God, and to bring others to do so.'

By resolution, the U.S. Congress officially endorses Robert Aitken's publication of an English-language Bible, the first in America.

Barton Stone and others form the Springfield (Ohio) Presbytery, having withdrawn from the Kentucky Synod because it censured them. Stone had recently been a key figure in the Cane Ridge revival in Kentucky, and will be a leader in the Stone-Campbell movement that births the Churches of Christ, Disciples of Christ, and other denominations. However, he had rejected the traditional Christian view of the Trinity and Presbyterian views of election, predestination, and retrobation.

Death of John Henry Hobart, Episcopal bishop of the New York diocese. Energetic in extending the church, he established branches in almost every major city of New York state, sent missionaries to the Oneida Indians, founded General Theological Seminary, and revived another college that will later be renamed Hobart College in his honor.

Birth of Francis E. Clark, American Congregationalist clergyman. In 1881, at age 29, Clark organized the world's first church "youth fellowship" in Portland, Maine. Clark's original name for this Christian group concept was "The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor."

Christians in Bicester, England, commence a daily prayer meeting that will result in revival.

Fei Qihao, after escaping Boxer revolutionaries in China, arrives at San Francisco, intending to study at Oberlin College in Ohio, but is denied entry into the United States on technicalities. He will eventually reach Oberlin and return to China to work with its YMCA. He also will serve in prominent government positions.

The Bible-distributing mission agency known as the Pocket Testament League was incorporated in Birmingham, England. (The U.S. branch of this outreach is headquartered in Lititz, PA.)

When traditional Methodist missionaries will not allow Nellie Laidlaw (a.k.a. Sister Elena) to speak “in the Spirit”, Chileans side with her and form their own church, which soon becomes the first large Pentecostal movement in South America. Within seventy years, it will have one million converts. This date will be remembered as Reformation Day in Chile.

The House of Bishops of the U.S. Protestant Episcopal Church voted 36-27 to delete the word "obey" from the vows of their denomination's official marriage service.

Dedication of the Peace Lutheran Church in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

Poland's Communist government abrogates its concordat with the Roman Catholic church.

In Canada, a two-day church convention closed in Winnipeg, Ontario. At this assembly the Lutheran Church of Canada (LCC) was organized.

Death of Rose M. Horton, who had worked as a missionary and Bible translator in Kenya for Africa Inland Mission and was largely responsible for getting the entire Bible translated into the Kambla language. She had been nicknamed "Happy" by the Africans.

Unknown assailants behead Christian pastor Yesu Dasu in Karimnagar, India.