Historical Writings

[probable date] Emperor Constantine proclaims his mother Helena “Augusta” (the most prestigious honorary title available). Thereafter her image will often appear on imperial coins. Authority for the date: Christian Women in the Patristic World.

Death at Cologne of John Duns Scotus, Scottish-born philosopher who tangled with the great thinkers of his day and advocated the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. His philosophy was so difficult to understand that he was called the "subtle doctor." Authority for the date: Morgan, Robert J. On This Day. Nelson, 1997.

Missionary Marie Gobat describes this as the hardest day of her life. Forced to cross the Egyptian desert with a sick child, she will speak of the journey with tears to the end of her life. Authority for the date: Pitman, E. R. Lady Missionaries in Many Lands. London: Pickering and Inglis, ca. 1900.

Mt. Holyoke Seminary first opened in Massachusetts. Founded by Mary Lyon, 39, it was the first college in the U.S. established specifically for the education of women.

Orange Scott and two other ministers withdraw from the Methodist Episcopal Church, repudiating its compromises on slavery and other issues, and begin publication of The True Wesleyan. Their action will lead the following year to formation of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection. Authority for the date: http://media.wesleyan.org/Orange%20Scott-en.pdf

English archaeologist Austen Henry Layard begins digging at Tigris where he will find the palace of Assurnsirpal II. He will later excavate Nineveh, shedding light and confirmation on disputed biblical accounts. Authority for the date: Ceram, C. W. Gods, Graves and Scholars. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1972.

Huang Guagcai becomes the first Chinese clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church in China. Authority for the date: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity.

James Theodore Holly is ordained the first bishop of Haiti at Grace Church, New York City. This makes him the first African American raised to the office of missionary bishop in the Episcopal Church. Authority for the date: Episcopal Church. Holy Women, Holy Men.

Birth of Oswald J. Smith, Canadian clergyman. Founder of the People's Church of Toronto, Smith also authored a number of books and composed more than 1,200 hymns, including "The Song of the Soul Set Free."

Emile Combs introduced a bill for the separation of Church and State in France. The bill passed in December 1905, thereby ending the Concordat of 1801 and allowing complete liberty of conscience.

Soviets arrest Michael Alexeyevich Golikov, rector of the Resurrection cathedral in Tutayev, Yaroslavl province. They will sentence him to three years imprisonment for "anti-Soviet agitation." Later, he will receive an even longer sentence for attempting to communicate to the West the terrible conditions of the prison camps and will die in a camp before completing that sentence. Authority for the date: Moss, Vladimir. Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of the Urals, Siberia and Central Asia.

American Presbyterian missionary Francis Schaeffer wrote in a letter: 'The higher the mountains, the more understandable is the glory of Him who made them and who holds them in His hand.'

English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.... When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.'

The Grand Mufti of Kashmir, India, has the police arrest Anglican pastor Chandra Manni Khana on various vague religious charges. He had recently baptized seven Muslim converts. Authority for the date: Persecuted: the global assault on Christians.