1459 Bernhard Adelmann von Adelmannsfelden was born (d. 16 December 1523). He was a humanist and friend of Reuchlin, Erasmus and Martin Luther. [German Wikipedia article]

1525 Thomas Müntzer, German radical reformer, was executed (b. ca. 1489/91, Stolberg, Saxony).

1530 A harsh message from Charles V (1500–1558) was sent to John the Constant, elector of Saxony (1468–1532), banning evangelical preaching.

1564 John Calvin, French Protestant reformer of Geneva, Switzerland, died (b. 10 July 1509).

1595 Philip Neri, founder of the Oratorians, died (b. 21 July 1515).

1661 Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, 8th Earl of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, (b. 1607), was beheaded. He was the de facto head of government in Scotland during most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. He was the most influential figure in the Covenanter movement that fought for the Presbyterian religion and what they saw as Scottish interests during the English Civil War of the 1640s and 1650s.

1668 The first Baptists were exiled from Massachusetts.

1799 George Washington Doane, American Episcopal clergyman and hymnist, was born in Trenton, New Jersey (d. 27 April 1859).

1814 Charles W. Everest, American Episcopal clergyman and hymnist, was born at East Windsor, Connecticut (d. 11 January 1877).

1814 Pope Pius VII (1740–1823) returned to Rome. He had crowned Napoleon, but the Frenchman had repaid him by seizing the papal lands. Pius excommunicated those involved, for which he was imprisoned and afterward barred from returning to Rome until this date.

1819 Social reformer, abolitionist and writer Julia Ward Howe was born in New York (d. 17 October 1910). Her most famous work was “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

1821 Henry Williams Baker, hymn author, translator and composer was born in London (d. 12 February 1877).

1822 Maxwell J. Blacker, an Anglican priest and hymn translator, was born (d. 11 June 1888).

1897 The first Missouri Synod missionary residence in India was dedicated in Ambur.

1898 John Henry Philip (Johann Heinrich Philip) Graebner died (b. 7 July 1819). He emigrated to America in 1847 with a company of Franconians and established the colony at Frankentrost, Michigan.

1902 Peter Marshall, American Presbyterian U.S. Senate Chaplain, was born in Coatbridge, Scotland (d. 26 January 1949).

1912 Philip Fry was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He graduated from Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis) in 1937 and served as a pastor in Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan, Chipman and Lamont, Alberta; Springside, Saskatoon, Warman and Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and Beatrice, Nebraska. He was also president of the Manitoba and Saskatchewan District, vice-president of the Southern Nebraska District and vice-president of the Lutheran Church-Canada.

1927 Frederick H. Brunn, president of the Northern Illinois District of the Missouri Synod, died (b. 23 December 1855, Steeden, Nassau, Germany). He was the son of Friedrich Brunn, who provided preliminary training for over eighty pastors of the synod. After receiving the training in his father’s school, he attended Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis) and graduated in 1876. He was pastor in Chicago, Jefferson, Strasburg, Oak Glen and Lansing, Illinois, and served as district president for fourteen years.

1927 Ralph Carmichael, composer of Christian music, was born. Among many popular pieces, Carmichael is the author and composer of “He’s Everything to Me” and “The Savior Is Waiting.”

1933 Joseph S. Cook (b. 4 December 1859), Canadian clergyman and hymnist, died.

1934 Friedrich Theodor Lange, Concordia Publishing House manager, died (b. 26 October 1866).

1948 Luther B. Bridgers (b. 14 February 1884), American Methodist clergyman, author and hymnist, died.