Historical Writings

Death of Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims, a man of great energy who had acquired considerable influence over the Frankish kingdom. Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.

(probable date) Martyrdom of Juliana of Viazma. Youri, Duke of Smolensk, had tried to seduce her and when he could not, stabbed her husband during a feast and hacked her to death. She became venerated as a saint by the Orthodox Church because of her virtue. Authority for the date: Dunbar, Agnes Baillie Cuninghame. A Dictionary of Saintly Women.

After a stormy and dangerous voyage and several weeks of reconnoitering in New England, the passengers of the Mayflower land on Plymouth Rock to begin settlement. Because of bad weather, house building will not begin until two days later. Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.

Birth of Johann Christoph Schwedler, German clergyman and author of the hymn, "Ask Ye What Great Thing I Know." Schwedler penned more than 500 hymns during his life, many stressing the joyÂfilled confidence available to every Christian believer.

Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: 'It is necessary that our sharpest trials should sometimes spring from our dearest comforts, else we should be in danger of forgetting ourselves and setting up our rest here.'

Death in London, England, of John Newton, author of the hymn “Amazing Grace.” Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.

Oglethorpe University was chartered in Milledgeville, Georgia under Presbyterian auspices. In 1913 the campus was moved to Atlanta.

Irish Catholic religious Frances Ward, 33, first arrived in the U.S. in Pittsburgh, where she afterward helped establish successive convents of the Sisters of Mercy, both in Chicago and in Loretto, Pennsylvania.

Death in London of John Harris, a preacher, educator, and author. His most famous book was The Great Teacher: Characteristics of Our Lord's Ministry. He evoked hostile reactions with another book, Mammon, or Covetousness the Sin of the Christian Church. His works were more popular in the United States than in his native Britain. Authority for the date: Dictionary of National Biography.

After fighting against spiritual conviction for months, fifteen-year-old Walter Wilson yields to Christ in Kansas City, Missouri, noticing an immediate change in his own attitudes and behavior. The following year, he will begin holding evangelistic street meetings, eventually becoming a medical doctor and lay evangelist. Authority for the date: Gangel, Kennth O. Walter L. Wilson. Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1970.

Death of Frederick Barnabas Van Eyk, a notable Pentecostal preacher in Australia. He had recently divorced his wife and married a younger woman. Bitten by a tse-tse fly, he refused medical treatment, trusting to faith healing, and died. Authority for the date: Burgess, Stanley M., et al. New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. Zondervan, 2002.

The BBC airs the first play in Dorothy Sayers' cycle The Man Born to Be King. Before it goes on air, some Christian groups call it blasphemous because an actor is to speak Christ's lines. However, its reception among Christians will prove generally good. Authority for the date: Dale, Alzina Stone. Maker and Craftsman; the story of Dorothy L. Sayers. Grand Rapids: Eerdsman, 1978.

Death of Wu Weizun, who had followed Christ faithfully in and out of Chinese prison camps at great personal suffering. He was nicknamed "The Chinese Epaphras." Authority for the date: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity.