Historical Writings

Martin Luther and Cardinal Cajetan meet in Augsburg over the following three days to discuss Luther's 95 Theses. Cajetan tells Luther he must recant unconditionally.

The Half Moon Bluff Baptist Church was organized near Clifton. It was the first Baptist congregation to be constituted in the American territory now comprising the state of Louisiana.

Death of Elizabeth Fry. A Quaker, she was known as a pioneer in prison reform.

The Jesuits are expelled from Spain.

Birth of C. Harold Lowden, American sacred composer. His most enduring hymn tunes today are GENEVA ("God Who Touchest Earth with Beauty") and LIVING ("Living for Jesus a Life That is True").

Carl Strehlow, German missionary to Australia, arrives at Hermannsburg station where he is appointed head of the mission and will translate the Bible into three aboriginal languages.

Death of Edward Raimond Baierlein, Lutheran missionary among the Chippewa Indians near Frankenmuth, Michigan, and and later among the people of Sadras, Cuddalore, and Tranquebar, India. He wrote books about his Michigan work, where he was beloved for treating the Indians as true equals.

A German firing squad executes the British nurse Edith Cavell who had helped allied soldiers escape. At her death she says she has to go deeper to true love.

American missionary and martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'For my generation I must have the oracles of God in fresh terms.'

Simon Kimbangu dies after being imprisoned for years by Belgian authorities in Congo Free State. Baptist-trained, he had preached a Christian gospel of one God, healed the sick, and alarmed colonial administrators.