680 Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam  Hussein ibn Ali (626680), the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (ca. 570632), was decapitated by forces under Caliph Yazid I (645683). This is commemorated by Shia Muslims as the  Day of Ashurah.

732 Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, leader of the Franks Charles Martel (686741) and his men defeated a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe.

1502 The University of Wittenberg, Germany, opened and classes began. Today it is known as Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg.

1520 Martin Luther received the papal bull Exsurge Domine.

1560 Jacobus Arminius (Jakob Hermanss) was born in Oudewater, Netherlands (d. 19 October 1609).

1575 Battle of Dormans: Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise (15501588) defeated the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay (15491623) among others.

1747 John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury, died (b. ca. 1674).

1780 John Abercrombie, Scottish physician and writer on metaphysics, was born at Aberdeen (d. 14 November 1844).

1813 Giuseppe Verdi, composer of operatic music, was born (d. 27 January 1901).

1825 Dmytry Bortnianski, composer, died in Saint Petersburg, Russia (b. 28 October 1751).

1838 Theodor Zahn, German Lutheran theologian, patristic scholar (study of early church fathers) and New Testament exegete, was born in Mors, Rhenish Prussia (d. 5 March 1933).

1841 William A. Ogden, American sacred music writer, was born in Franklin County, Ohio (d. 14 October 1897).

1851 W. Robertson Nicoll, Scottish theologian and editor, was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland (d. 4 May 1923).

1869 Albertus Christiaan Kruyt, missionary to the Celebes, was born (19 January 1949).

1892 Walter A. Klausing, president of the Lutheran Deaconess Association, was born at Wren, Ohio (d. 2 July 1955, Fort Wayne, Indiana). He graduated from Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis) in 1915 and was an assistant professor at Concordia College (Fort Wayne) from 1915 to 1917. He then served as pastor  in Whitley County, Indiana, from 1917 to 1922 and at Concordia Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, from 1922 until his death. He was also president of the Fort Wayne Lutheran Missionary Association and the Fort Wayne Pastoral Conference and a member of the board of directors of Lutheran Social Service, Lutheran Hospital and Concordia College.

1894 Otto Emanuel Sohn was born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 15 April 1969).

1895 John Gottlieb Morris, Lutheran theologian and president of the General Synod, died (b. 14 November 1803).

1898 Claudia Hernamann, hymn translator, died (b. 19 October 1838).

1901 Lorenzo Snow, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died (b. 3 April 1814).

1903 Kurt Heinrich Sprengeler, pioneer pastor in Canada and Minnesota, died (b. 25 June 1819, Bosslingen, Hannover). After immigration to the U.S. he prepared for the ministry at the Missouri Synod’s seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and completed his studies in 1861. He first served a congregation in Middleton, Canada, then took a call to Immanuel Lutheran Church in Carver County, Minnesota. His ministry was spent serving several congregations in Minnesota and organizing several others as he traveled throughout the state.

1917 Johannes Thorbjoernsen Ylvisaker, professor and author, died (b. 24 April 1845).

1920 Ludvig Olsen Fossum, Mid-East Lutheran missionary, died (b. 5 June 1879).

1927 Andrew Baepler, professor at Saint Paul’s College (Concordia, Missouri), died (b. 28 July 1850).

1930 Louis Fitzgerald Benson, hymnist, died in Philadelphia (b. 22 July 1855).

1958 George Bennard (b. 4 February 1873), American Methodist evangelist and hymnist, died.

1983 Albert H. Schwermann, founding president of Concordia College (Edmonton, Alberta), died (b. 13 June 1891).

1989 Emma Hoppe of Fairview Park, Ohio, former president of the Lutheran Womens Missionary League, died in Ohio. She was 98. She was international president of the LWML from 1959 to 1963. During her term the league became an officially recognized auxiliary of the Missouri Synod in 1962.

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