1707 The first Lutheran church in India was dedicated.

1792 All houses of worship were closed in France.

1792 Edward Irving, Presbyterian pastor who turned to Pentecostalism, was born in Annan, Scotland (d. 7 December 1834).

1821 William C. Blair, the first Sunday school missionary of the United States, began his work.

1830 Matthias Richards, son-in-law of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg who served as a member of the U.S. Congress, died (b. near Pottstown, New Hanover Township, Montgomery County, Pa., 26 February 1758).

1841 James Chalmers, missionary to New Guinea, was born in Ardishaig, Scotland (d. 8 April 1901).

1859 Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney (commonly known as Saint John Vianney and referred to as the “Curé d’Ars,” or curate of Ars) died (b. Dardilly, near Lyons, France, 8 May 1786).

1872 Ernst Gerhard Wilhelm Keyl, one of the pastors who came to Missouri with the Saxon immigrants under Martin Stephan, died (b. 22 May 1804, Leipzig).

1874 The Chautauqua Lake Sunday School Assembly opened (met through August 18). It was the beginning of the Chautauquamovement (traveling educational shows).

1879 Pope Leo XIII (1810–1903) urged the study of true philosophy, especially Thomism, in his bull Aeterni Patris. He said that there was no conflict between science and truth.

1884 Sigmund O. P. Mowinckel, Bible scholar, was born at Kjerringoy, Norway (d. 1965).

1892 English medical missionary Sir Wilfred T. Grenfell (1865–1940) first arrived in Labrador, Newfoundland.

1898 Östen Hanson, who helped organize the Norwegian Lutheran mission to China, died (b. 8 July 1836, Telemarken, Norway).

1931 Alvin L. Barry, 11th president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, was born in Woodbine, Iowa (d. 23 March 2001).