Historical Writings

Emperor Theodosius deposes the Arian bishop, Demophilus, with all his clergy from the cathedral in Constantinople, transferring the cathedral church to Gregory of Nazianzus with the words: “This temple God by our hand entrusts to thee as a reward for thy pains.”

Death of Johannes Oecolampadius, a leader in the Swiss Reformation. He had sided with Ulrich Zwingli in the dispute with Martin Luther over the Lord's Supper.

Catholics in Locarno, Switzerland order that all Protestants who will not embrace Catholicism must go into exile.

Death in Edinburgh of John Knox, the most notable of the reformers of Scotland.

In Philadelphia, German-born pastor and hymnwriter Justus Falckner, 31, became the first Lutheran clergyman to be ordained in America.

Birth of Father Junipero Serra, Spanish missionary to western America. From 1769, he established 9 of the first 21 Franciscan missions founded along the Pacific coast, and baptized some 6,000 Indians before his death in 1784.

Ordination of Robert Murray McCheyne to the pastorate of St. Peter's, Dundee. He will become a leader in the ensuing Scottish revival.

Canadian Sulpician missionary Franois Blanchet, 43, first arrived in the Oregon Territory. A native of Quebec, he spent 45 years planting churches in the American Northwest, and is remembered today as the "Apostle of Oregon."

Death in Rome of Abbé Paul Macpherson, rector of the Scotch College in Rome. He had been the first Scot to head the school and had kept it alive during the Napoleonic era when its existence was threatened. He had also spent time in a French prison for trying to rescue Pope Pius VI.

Pope Pius IX flees from Rome in face of the approach of revolutionaries led by Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi. Mildly liberal in outlook before the seizure of Rome, Pius IX thereafter becomes a reactionary.

Friedrich August Crämer arrives in Fort Wayne where he will begin years of work educating Lutherans for ministry.

Death in London of George Croly, a clergyman of the Church of England. He had been a hymnologist, publishing Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship. He also wrote the hymn, "Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart."

In Montgomery, AL, more than 150 delegates from Baptist churches in 11 states met to form the Baptist Foreign Missions Convention of the United States. Liberian missionary William W. Colley was chief organizer, and the Rev. William H. McAlpine was elected the first president.

American Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote in his "Secular Journal": 'Spiritual dryness is an acute experience of longing therefore of love.'

Congo rebels seize American missionary Bill McChesney. He is suffering so seriously with malaria he needs help and his friend Jim Rodgers, a British missionary, leaps into the truck with him. Despite McChesney's illness, the rebels beat him mercilessly the whole way to the prison where they will incarcerate him. Both men are beaten and trampled to death the following morning.