303 On a voyage preaching the gospel, Saint Fermin of Pamplona was beheaded in Amiens, France.

1392 Sergius of Radonezh, Abbot of the Holy Trinity, died (b. Bartolomei Kirillovich, ca. 1320).

1396 Ottoman Emperor Bayezid I defeats a Christian army at the Battle of Nicopolis.

1534 Pope Clement VII died (b. Giulio de’ Medici, 26 May 1478).

1555 The Religious Peace of Augsburg was signed in Augsburg by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1500–1558) and the princes of the Schmalkaldic League.

1588 Tilemann Heshusius (Hesshus), evangelical theologian, died (b. 3 November 1527). [German Wikipedia article]

1602 Caspar Peucer, German reformer, died (b. 6 January 1525).

1626 Lancelot Andrewes (b. 1555), Anglican church leader, died.

1635 Johann Gottfried Olearius, hymnist, was born at Halle (d. 21 May 1711). [Bautz Kirchenlexikon entry]

1643 The Solemn League and Covenant drawn up by the Scottish General Assembly in London at Westminster Abbey, guaranteeing Presbyterians equal rights with the Anglicans, was submitted to the English Parliament.

1727 Jacques Abbadie, exponent of rationalistic-apologetic Calvinism, died (b. 1654).

1765 A charter was granted to the “United Swedish Lutheran Churches” on the Delaware River.

1782 The first complete English Bible known to be published in America was issued.

1789 The U.S. Constitution was amended by Congress to prohibit any establishment of a state religion or interference with the freedom in the exercise of religion.

1827 Emma Frances Bevan, hymn translator, was born at Oxford (d. 13 February 1909, Cannes, France).

1836 Luther Rice, missionary to India, died (b. 25 March 1783, Northborough, Massachusetts).

1866 Cleland Boyd McAfee, American Presbyterian clergyman and scholar, was born (d. 4 February 1944).

1869 Rudolf Otto, German Lutheran theologian, was born in Hanover, Germany (d. 6 March 1937).

1872 Peter Cartwright (b. 1 September 1785), early American Methodist circuit rider, died.

1876 David Frederick Bittle, president of Roanoke College (Lutheran), died (b. January 1811).

1893 Publisher Louis Lange (b. 1829) died in Saint Louis. He was the publisher of both Die Abendschule and Die Rundschau.

1924 Charles Cowman (b. 1867), founder of the Oriental Missionary Society, died.

1932 Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist noted especially for his recordings of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, was born (d. 4 October 1982).

1920 John Nathan Kildahl, seminary professor and president of Saint Olaf College, died (b. 4 January 1857, in Beitsteden, Norway).

1996 The last of the Magdalene Asylums was closed in Ireland. Magdalene Asylums were homes for “fallen” women, most of them operated by different orders of the Roman Catholic Church. It has been estimated that around 30,000 women were admitted during the 150-year history of these institutions, often against their will.