1146 French monastic reformer and theologian Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) preached for the Second Crusade at Vezelay, France.

1492 Ferdinand (1452–1516) and Isabella (1451–1504) sign the Alhambra decree aimed at expelling all Jews from Spain unless they convert to Roman Catholicism.

1499 Pope Pius IV was born as Giovanni Angelo Medici. He was elected pope 25 December 1559, and served until his death 9 December 1565.

1567 Philip of Hesse (b. 13 November 1504), the most eminent of the Protestant princes during the Reformation, died.

1631 John Donne, English divine, metaphysical poet and priest, died (b. 1572).

1675 Pope Benedict XIV was born as Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini. He was elected pope 17 August 1740, and served until his death 3 May 1758.

1703 Johann Christoph Bach, composer, died (b. 6 December 1642).

1732 Franz Joseph Haydn, composer, was born in Rohrau, Austria (d. 31 May 1809).

1770 John Wyeth, American printer and publisher, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 23 January 1858).

1816 Francis Asbury (b. 20 August 1745), pioneer American Methodist bishop, died.

1825 John Marriott, hymnist, died (b. 11 September 1780).

1829 Charles Seymour Robinson, hymnist, was born in Bennington, Vermont (d. 1 February 1899).

1841 Olof Olsson, president of Augustana College and Seminary and a hymn translator, was born in Karlskoga, Vaermland, Sweden (d. 12 May 1900). [Hymntime entry]

1856 In Mexico the property of the clergy was seized by the government. A new program of political and religious reform had begun the year before that included legislation designed to strip the churches of their accumulated wealth.

1860 Lars Esbjörn (1808–1870),pioneer Augustana Synod pastor, resigned from the Synod of Northern Illinois.

1860 Rodney “Gipsy” Smith, popular 19th-century American evangelist, was born (d. 4 August 1947).

1869 Martin Samuel Sommer was born in Blenheim, near Baltimore, Maryland (d. 16 December 1949).

1901 Sir John Stainer, composer, died in Verona, Italy (b. 6 June 1840, London).

1901 The first Lutheran confirmation (eight confirmands) took place at San Pedro, Pelotas, Brazil.

1927 Concordia Historical Institute was incorporated. CHI is the Department for Archives and History for the Missouri Synod.