1620 HT: Dan Graves One of the most significant chapters in American history opened on this day, September 6, 1620. After failed attempts to sail from England, leaving behind her sister ship Speedwell, the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth for the New World. Aboard were 101 passengers. By today’s standards the ship was little bigger than a yacht. Ninety feet long and…
1633 HT: Dan Graves On this day, 4 September 1633, the ship Griffin sailed into Boston harbor. Aboard, three prominent Puritan ministers had stowed away to escape the watchful eyes of government agents seeking to arrest them. With persecution against non-conformists (those who did not accept the Church of England) raging in Britain, they had fled to escape…
1658 Death of Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England. A Puritan, he had made a strong profession of faith early in life. 1740 HT: Dan Graves John Craig was born in Ireland. His parents sent him to be educated for the Presbyterian ministry in Edinburgh (Scotland). Craig, however, wanted to be a doctor. He pretended…
1942 HT: Dan Graves Martyrs’ Day is observed on different days in different countries and in some countries not at all. Often the “martyrs” commemorated are political or military heroes, the sort of deaths we in America remember on Memorial Day. Several martyrs remembered in Papua New Guinea died for Christ. Beside a road against…
The middle-aged American Indian who rose to speak knew that the eternal happiness of his tribe depended on his faithful witness. He chose words to persuade them. “You all know me,” he said and his listeners nodded in agreement. Oakerhater (O-kuh-ha-tah) had led a fierce corps of Cheyenne fighters against the United States Army in…
1759 HT: Dan Graves THE GREAT AWAKENING swept America in the 18th century and Native Americans were not immune to its influence. Samson Occom described its effect on him: “There was a great stir of religion in these parts of the world both amongst the Indians as well as the English, and about this time…
1683 John Dick, a Scotsman who is a fugitive for his Covenanter faith under King Charles II’s administration, is captured and brought before the committee of public affairs. Although Dick manages to escape, he will be recaptured a few months later and hanged. 1686 HT: Christianity.com “I am old, ready to be gone, and desire…
1953 HT: Dan Graves ON THIS DAY, 28 August 1953, Campus Crusade for Christ was incorporated in Los Angeles. The founders of the organization were Bill and Vonette Bright. The concept behind their campus ministry was to “win the campus today and change the world tomorrow.” Today, Campus Crusade for Christ is known as just “Cru.”…
1565 HT: Dan Graves AFTER HE LEFT the Catholic Church, Pierre Viret’s first great success was to convert his home village to the views of the Protestant Reformers. Orde, Switzerland was divided between Catholics and reformers. In 1531, in the midst of this crisis, Viret returned from school in Paris and swung the town to…
1846 HT: Dan Graves IN JUNE, 1845, the Birmingham (England) Music Festival commissioned an oratorio from Felix Mendelssohn. At thirty-six-years old, Mendelssohn was a world-famous composer with most of his best-known works behind him. A child prodigy, he had written a well-received Octet at sixteen and his beloved Overture to Midsummer Night’s Dream at seventeen. (He would later write incidental music to the entire Shakespearean play.) Mendelssohn had already…