Historical Writings

Death of eastern emperor Michael II, "the Stammerer." He was an iconoclast but had tried to moderate the rivalry between factions who were for and against icons, even freeing some religious leaders who had been imprisoned for devotion to icons. Weakened by insurrection, he had lost parts of his empire to Muslim attacks.

Reformer William Farel arrives in Geneva where in sixteen months his preaching will convince the city to join the Reformation.

Jacques Cartier reaches a place in Canada which he names Montreal.

Connecticut banishes Quakers, whose liberal theology is seen as a threat.

The funeral of George Whitefield is held at the Old South First Presbyterian Church in Newburyport. Thousands of people are unable to get even to the door of the church.

Benjamin Randall founds a congregation of Freewill Baptists in Woolwich, Maine, baptizing five people. He notes that although there are over three hundred present at the baptism, "there were no more than three that ever before saw baptism administered by immersion."

The Baptist Missionary Society was founded in London, England. This first modern mission society was started by William Carey, then 21, who later became England's first great Protestant missionary to India.

William Carey, John Rylands, and ten other Baptist pastors form the Particular-Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen which will send Carey to India. They pass around Andrew Fuller's snuff box to collect pledges for the mission.

Birth of Allen W. Chatfield, an Anglican vicar in Herefordshire (a west England county bordering on Wales). His best remembered writings include the English translation of the hymn, "Lord Jesus, Think on Me."

Arthur Tappan and his anti-slavery associates are forced to slip away from a chapel on Chatham Street to escape a pro-slavery mob that has been egged on by the press.

Birth of Don Hustad, organist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He accompanied Graham as organist for his worldwide crusades during 1961-67.

Johanna Veenstra, the first missionary of the Christian Reformed Church to go to Nigeria, leaves New York on the Mauretania for England from where she will trans-ship to Lagos. She will have an important role in planting the Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria.

The radio program Lutheran Hour premieres on CBS.

Repose of Hiero-schemamonk Theodosius of Karoulia at Mount Athos. He had been a strict and prayerful ascetic.

A two-day convention opened at which the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania-South Jersey was formed. It was comprised of 9,000 charter members from 52 Southern Baptist churches.

Death of Deborah Adeyemi Ladeji, a Nigerian Baptist. She had converted from her family's idol worship despite persecution and death threats, becoming an influential witness to those who knew her.

Grace Ministries International was incorporated in Grand Rapids, MI. Originating as Bethesda Mission in 1951, GMI engages in church planting in nearly a dozen overseas countries.