Historical Writings

Death of Modestus of Jerusalem who had become acting Patriarch of Jerusalem and then patriarch in his own right when the Persians captured the city and slaughtered or imprisoned many Christians, including Patriarch Zacharias.

Death of Begga, a daughter of Pepin of Landen, mayor of the palace of Austrasia. Following the death of her husband, she had become a nun, founded seven churches, and built a convent where she was abbess.

Matthew Parker is made Archbishop of Canterbury and supports Reformation under Elizabeth I. Implementing Elizabeth's policies, he will be cruel with Puritans and other dissenters. In an effort to undermine the legitimacy of his apostolic succession and the validity of Anglicanism, Catholics will later assert his consecration was invalid.

Ordination of William Bengo Collyer. At eighteen he had accepted the pulpit of the Presbyterian Church of Peckham, Surrey, which had been declining under Arian teaching. Under Collyer's faithful and articulate preaching, the congregation will increase tenfold, attracting large crowds. Later he will preach at Salter's Hall, another church destroyed by Arian teaching and it, too, will come back to a flourishing state.

Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was first published. The "social conversion" of Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve may be seen as a literary symbol (based on the events of the first Christmas night) of the human potential released through spiritual conversion.

William Borden (Borden of Yale) boards a ship for Africa to work as a missionary among Muslims. The rich young man will die in Egypt before his work can begin.

Confiscation of the property of the Russian Orthodox Church and abolition of religious instruction in schools was announced by the Bolshevik government.

The first orphanage founded by the Church of God opened in Cleveland, Tennessee. Its establishment was the result of the vision and efforts of Church of God pioneer, A.J. Tomlinson.

Birth of Kurt Kaiser, contemporary American Christian songwriter and composer. His abiding works include: "Oh, How He Loves You and Me," "Pass It On" and "Master Designer."

German theologian and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter from prison: 'The consciousness of being borne up by a spiritual tradition that goes back for centuries gives one a feeling of confidence and security in the face of all passing strains and stresses.'

Czechoslovakian bishops declare that their nation's November 1st 1949 law regarding religion is in contradiction to the law of God.

Death in Asyut, Egypt, of Lillian Trasher, an Assemblies of God missionary, known as the "Mother of the Nile" for her development of a large orphanage complex in Egypt which also accepted widows and blind people.

The Moravian Church in Southwest Tanzania officially starts with its first synod at Utengule, at which delegates elect Tulinawo Luhomano Msinjili as their first provincial chairman.

Speaking to an international symposium, Pope John Paul II expresses regret "for the cruel death inflicted on Jan Hus," commending Hus's "moral courage in the face of adversity and death."