Historical Writings

Count Belisarius of Byzantium, reputedly a Christian, enters Rome, where he will make a magnificent defense of the ancient city against the Goths. During his career, he will receive little support from the suspicious emperor Justinian, but when he is put on trial on what appear to be trumped up charges of corruption, Justinian will pardon him.

Deacon Robert Cushman preaches the first recorded sermon on American soil and the first printed there.

Christian journalist Noah Webster publishes the first issue of American Minerva, the first daily newspaper in New York City.

Scottish missionary explorer David Livingstone, 27, set sail on his first journey to Africa. (He had been accepted to serve under the London Missionary Society two years earlier.)

Birth of G. Campbell Morgan, English congregational clergyman and Bible expositor. Morgan authored more than 60 Bible commentaries and books of sermons many still be in print.

The Society of Biblical Archaeology was founded in London "for the investigation of the archaeology, history, arts, and chronology of ancient and modern...biblical lands...."

Stanley Smith and C. T. Studd, two of the Cambridge Seven (young men who had renounced fame and fortune to serve with the China Inland Mission), speak at Edinburgh University. The meeting, which they had feared would be a flop, proves a time of great power.

William Henry Sheppard, an African-American missionary to Africa, writes to supporters at home, promising to prove that he merits the trust they have placed in him. Finding little success as a missionary, he explores the Congo and exposes Belgian atrocities.

An Act for the Separation of Church and State became law in France, rescinding Napoleon's Concordat of 1801. The new law guaranteed freedom of conscience, but also severed all religious groups from any further economic support by the national government.

The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Argentina expels from its ranks Irish missionary James Stewart and some other associates who had adopted Pentecostal practices.

(or November 5) Martyrdom of Orthodox priest Sergius Mechiev who rejected the atheistic and anti-ecclesiastical proclamations of the Soviet government and had to live for years in hiding. He is shot within prison walls.

(or the 10th) Death in California of faith healer Lilian Barbara Yeomans.

Maoist Communists burn a group of Christians to death in a seminary at Xiwanzi, China.

"Marshall Efron's Illustrated, Simplified and Painless Sunday School" first aired over CBS television. This religious series was broadcast on Sunday mornings until August 1977.

The Sorbonne, one of the most prestigious universities in France, awards missionary-linguist Kenneth Pike an honorary degree.