Historical Writings

Birth of Jean Charlier de Gerson, French theologian. During the papal schism of 1378-1414, Gerson attended the councils of Pisa (1409) and Constance (1414-18). He spent his last years in a monastery at Lyons teaching children, composing hymns and writing books on Christian mysticism.

Sir John Oldcastle, a Lollard leader, is suspended from a gallows in London and roasted to death for his Wycliffian religious views.

Death in Ubeda, Spain, of John of the Cross, a Carmelite mystic and poet, best-known for The Spiritual Canticle and The Dark Night.

Lady Deborah Moody and and others are summoned before the Quarterly Court of Salem for their opposition to infant baptism. Rather than change her opinion, she will move to the New Netherlands (New York) where she will be influential in introducing Baptist teachings.

Oliver Cromwell determines that Jews will be allowed back into England centuries after their expulsion.

Death of Henry Aldrich, dean of Christ Church, Oxford. A church of England clergyman, his talent shone in many directions, including architecture (he designed All Saints Church, Oxford), music (he set English words to the music of famed Italian composers and wrote many church anthems), and philosophy (his introduction to logic went through many editions).

Death in London of influential Anglican Archbishop Thomas Tenison, who had been one of the founders of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

Birth of Frances Ridley Havergal, English devotional writer. In frail health most of her life, Miss Havergal was nevertheless a fruitful writer, and authored such hymns as "Take My Life and Let It Be," "Who is on the Lord's Side?" and "I Gave My Life for Thee."

Near midnight, the bells of St. Paul's Cathedral toll the death at Windsor Castle of Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria. A Lutheran, Albert had striven to restore the moral tone of the British monarchy, and had introduced reforms into England to improve science, technology, education, military organization, and the lot of the working classes.

Death in Battle Creek, Michigan, at age thirty-four, of Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, an African-American educator and founder of South Carolina's Denmark Industrial School (later renamed Voorhees Industrial School and now Voorhees College). She had suffered great opposition for her efforts to educate African-Americans, and will be honored in the Episcopal Church calendar.

"Toc H" (the British alphabetic letter abbreviation for "Talbot House") was chartered. A Christian fellowship which originated in 1915 in Belgium under Anglican chaplain P.T.B. Clayton, M.C., its various branches minister through a variety of Christian social services.

Lutheran theologian and author Walter Maier starts the radio station KFUO, “The Gospel Voice,” at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.

Death in Battle Creek, Michigan, of John Harvey Kellogg, who had been a doctor at a sanitarium in Battle Creek and a prominent figure among the early Seventh-day Adventists. His theories and experiments led him to develop prepackaged health foods and cereals, which were well received, and led to the formation of the breakfast-cereal industry.

Catholic religious leader, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, 60, was quoted in "Look" magazine on this date as stating that 'an atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support.'

The modern nation of Israel formally annexed the Golan Heights, which had been captured from Syria during the 1967 War.

Twelve Croatian and Bosnian Christians in Algeria are murdered by Muslims in the Tamezguida region.

David Olawale Olaniyi retires from the full-time pastoral ministry. He had been a notable Baptist evangelist, pastor, educator, and church planter in Nigeria.