1632 John Owen graduates BA from Oxford University. He becomes one of the leading non-conformist preachers of his day and the author of many theological works. A Calvinist, he will strongly oppose Arminian views. 1923 Mildred Cable and the Chinese Trio leave Hwo Chow to set out for Central Asia, uncertain what and where the…
597 Death of Columba of Iona, influential Irish missionary to England. He had founded several monasteries which served as centers of faith and learning. 1790 HT: Dan Graves Robert Robinson, born September 27th, 1735, and died June 9th, 1790, was an English Dissident, prominent Baptist, and thinker who made a lifelong examination of the history…
1721 HT: Dan Graves On the west coast of Greenland, in the tundra zone about one hundred and fifty miles south of the arctic circle, a new colony was being built. Europeans had established a presence in Greenland as early as 980 under Eric the Red. Severe winters and the problems of maintaining trade caused…
1768 HT: Dan Graves If you imagine a boy so enthusiastic for learning that he devoured any writing he could lay his hands on, you have a picture of young Joshua Marshman. Joshua was born on this day, April 20, 1768, at Westbury Leigh in Wiltshire, England. Until the age of twenty-six he worked as…
1791 HT: Dan Graves ONE OF THE MOST CURIOUS STORIES to come out of colonial-era America was that of John Marrant, a free African American. He may have been the first African American ordained as a pastor. Born in New York in 1755, he was four years old when his father died and his mother…
1950 HT: Dan Graves IN DECEMBER 1941 Mitsuo Fuchida led the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. When he sent up a green flare, the bombers accompanying him knew it was the moment to attack. When his plane radioed “Tora, Tora, Tora,” the Japanese knew the air attack had achieved complete surprise. For the duration of…
1742 HT: Dan Graves At twelve noon, on this date, April 13, 1742, the world first heard the lovely overture, memorable arias and majestic choruses of the most famous oratorio ever written. There has not been a year since then that George Frederick Handel‘s Messiah has not been performed in concert halls around the world. Usually it appears…
1802 HT: Dan Graves Christmas Evans lived in terror of death from the time he was nine years old until he discovered he could have peace in Christ Jesus. Born into a poor Welsh family, he’d been sent to live with a uncle when his father died. The alcoholic uncle was cruel to the boy, worked…
1592 John Robinson, English Separatist, matriculates at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He will lead the group of Puritans from whom the first New England settlers derive. 1761 Death of English devotional writer William Law. His Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life had greatly influenced George Whitefield and John Wesley. 1933 HT: Dan Graves…
1860 HT: christianity.com During his college years at Leipzig, Germany, Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther faced two crucial events. The first was a spiritual crisis in which, with the help of Martin Stephan, he came to an assurance that God had justified him by his grace. Shortly afterward, Walther nearly died from a lung disease. He had to interrupt his studies for six…