Historical Writings

Death of Mark the Gospel writer while imprisoned in Alexandria in the eighth year of Nero, according to Vetus martyrologium romanum (an old Roman collation of martyr accounts).

Pope Leo III is attacked, his eyes stabbed, and his tongue torn. He recovers and later crowns Charlemagne as emperor.

Death of Ratherius of Verona, a learned but abrasive man who had been deposed from one church position after another, often by his underlings, because of his controversial positions and inability to handle people.

The ineffectual Council of Basel ends.

Death of Sylvester of Obnorsk, a Russian Orthodox hermit who had lived off roots and bark. Eventually he had established a monastery.

The Augsburg Confession was read publicly at the Diet of Worms. Written principally by Philip Melanchthon, the document comprised the first official summary of the Lutheran faith.

John Calvin, reformer of Geneva, dictates his last will and testament to notary Peter Chenalat.

Death from a fever in the convent of St. Onofrio of Italian poet Torquato Tasso. Ironically, he was supposed to receive a laurel from the pope on this day in recognition of his epic poems, among which Jerusalem Delivered had been the most acclaimed.

Death at Epworth, England, of Samuel Wesley, curate, author, and father of Methodist revival leaders John and Charles Wesley.

Birth of John Keble, English clergyman and poet. Credited with having founded the Oxford Movement in 1833, Keble also authored the hymn, "Sun of My Soul, Thou Savior Dear" (1820).

Death of William Cowper, 69, English poet. A lifelong victim of depression, Cowper nevertheless left a great spiritual literary legacy, including three enduring hymns: "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," "Oh, For a Closer Walk with God" and "There is a Fountain."

Consecration of Jean-Pierre Augustin Marcellin Verot as the first Roman Catholic bishop of Florida. He will become known as "the rebel bishop" for his support of the South during the American Civil War.

Consecration of J. B. Lightfoot as Bishop of Durham. A renowned English New Testament scholar, he had left Cambridge and a life of scholarship to devote the remaining ten years of his life to church administration.

Death at Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, of Anzentia Igene Perry Chapman. A member of the Free Methodist Church, she wrote a number of hymns, including, "Thou Shalt Rest at Eve," and "We'll Never Say Goodbye."

Death in Ghana, of Christian Abraham Ackah, at the age of about twenty-eight. He had been a major player in establishing Seventh Day Adventist work in Ghana, opening schools and churches.

Ordination of Paul Sasaki as a priest in the Anglican Church in Japan. He will become bishop of Nippon Sei Ko Kei (an independent church organization within the Anglican Communion), and suffer imprisonment for his refusal to bring Nippon Sei Ko Kei under the authority of a government-ordered church coalition.

The Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America was organized in Detroit, partly in response to the insurgence of Communism in Eastern Europe. Previously, its parishes were under jurisdiction of the Patriarchate in Bucharest, Hungary.

Captured in 1967, the Sinai Peninsula was returned by Israel to Egypt, as part of the 1979 Camp David Accord.