Bernard of Clairvaux, Hymn Writer and Theologian

14 Caesar Augustus, emperor at time of Christ’s birth, died (b. 23 September 63 B.C.).

1099 Three years after setting out, the First Crusade armies defeated the Fatimids at the Battle of Ascalon, a historic Palestinian city on the Mediterranean.

1531 Thomas Bilney, English Protestant preacher, was burned at the stake (b. ca. 1495).

1662 Blaise Pascal, scientist, polemicist and Christian apologist, died at age thirty-nine after an extended illness (b. 19 June 1623).

1692 Five citizens of Salem, Massachusetts, were hanged for witchcraft.

1783 William Hammond, hymnist, died in London (b. 6 January 1719, Battle, Sussex, England).

1835 William Nast (1807–1899), founder of German Methodism, was appointed a missionary to Germans in Ohio.

1843 C. I. Scofield, dispensationalist creator of the Scofield Reference Bible, was born in Lenawee County, near Clinton, Michigan (d. 24 July 1921).

1849 Gotthold Heinrich Löber, Lutheran Saxon pioneer who helped form the Missouri Synod, died (b. 5 January 1797, Kahla, Saxe-Altenburg).

1856 James M. Black, chorister of sacred music, was born in South Hill, New York (d. 21 December 1938).

1883 Howard A. Walter, Congregational missionary and pastor, was born in New Britain, Connecticut (d. 1 November 1918, Lahore, India).

1886 The Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) was organized by Richard G. Spurling (ca. 1812–1886), a Baptist minister in Monroe County, Tennessee.

1923 The First Lutheran World Convention meeting opened at Eisenach, Germany (through 24 August).

1929 A. S. (Arthur Samuel) Peake (b. 24 November 1865), English Bible scholar, died. [Bautz Kirchenlexikon entry]

1977 Gotthold Moritz Viehweg died at Round Rock, Texas (b. 13 October 1891, Planitz, Saxony, Germany). He came to America and attended Concordia College (Milwaukee) and later graduated from Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis) in 1914. He served congregations at Wellfleet, Nebraska; Winfield, Kansas; and Arapahoe, Nebraska, before becoming a professor at Concordia College (Austin, Texas), where he served from 1928 to 1964.

2001 Ground was broken on the Watertown, Wisconsin, campus of Bethesda Lutheran Communities to commence a $46 million renovation project to update the facilities and create a more independent environment for the people with developmental disabilities who live and receive training on campus.