Today in HisStory – July 19

After setting Rome on fire, Nero blamed Christians and enacted the first state sponsored persecution. Many were martyred during this time including Apostles Peter and Paul. (64 AD)

Circus Maximus in Rome caught fire during the Great Fire of Rome. (64 AD)

Martin of Mayence was burned as a heretic because he belonged to a sect known as Friends of God. He refused to observe the days and hours of prayer and worship, regarded all Christians as priests, maintained outward works have no merit before God, and preached that the Lord Jesus suffered more in bearing the judgment of God than in enduring the pain of the cross. (1393)

38 Jews were burned at stake in Berlin, Prussia. (1510)

Peasants’ War began in Germany’s Black Forest. (1524)

15-year-old Lady Jane Grey was deposed as England’s Queen by Mary Tudor after only 9 days. (1553)

Astronomer Johannes Kepler had an epiphany and developed his theory of the geometrical basis of the universe. (1595)

The Society for Propagating the Gospel in New England was founded for the purpose of converting American Indians to Christian faith. (1649)

Five Massachusetts women were hanged for witchcraft in Salem Massachusetts. 20 people in all were hanged. (1692)

Rosetta Stone was found. (1799)

Brunel’s steamship, the SS Great Britain, was launched. It became the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull or screw propeller and the largest vessel afloat in the world. (1843)

Fire in New York City destroyed 1,000 homes and killed many. (1845)

First US women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. (1848)

US Civil War: Battle of Buffington’s Island at Saint George Creek, Ohio took place after  Brigideer General John Hunt Morgan crossed into Ohio from West Virginia. Morgan’s Raid was the largest Ohio battle during the war.  (1863)

Tennessee was the first to ratify 14th Amendment to the US constitution, guaranteeing civil rights. (1866)

US Congress passed the third Reconstruction Act over President Andrew Johnson’s veto. (1867)

Doc Holliday killed for the first time after a man shot up his New Mexico saloon. (1879)

US President Arthur proclaimed the power to impose a quarantine on immigrants. (1884)

Under pressure from the Japanese, the Emperor of Korea abdicated in favor of his son. His son was figurehead. (1907)

A meteorite of estimated 190 kg mass exploded over Holbrook in Navajo County, Arizona. Approximately 16,000 pieces of debris rained down on the town. (1912)

Billboard published the earliest known Last Week’s 10 Best Sellers among Popular Songs. Malinda’s Wedding Day was number one. (1913)

WW1: German armies retreated across the Marne River in France. (1918)

Richard E. Byrd, Laurence McKinley Gould, and their polar expedition team returned to the United States following the first exploration of the interior of Antarctica. (1930)

WW2: Hitler ordered Great Britain to surrender. (1940)

WW2: British PM Winston Churchill launched his “V for Victory” campaign. (1941)

WW2: BBC World Service began playing the letter V for victory in Morse Code. It is …- the opening of Beethoven’s 5th symphony. (1941)

WW2: First US Army flying school for black cadets was dedicated in Tuskegee, Alabama. (1941)

George Washington Carver, famous agriculturalist, met with Henry Ford to start project to make plastic out of soybeans. (1942)

Apollo 11 orbited the moon. (1969)

World Health Organization put the world’s Ebola death toll at 11,284. (2015)

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Today in HisStory – July 18

Great Fire of Rome began under the Emperor Nero. Historians believe Nero started the fire. Nero blamed the Christians and used it to launch a great persecution. (64 AD)

Pope’s authority was declared void in England by King Henry VIII. (1536)

American Revolutionary War: Boston Gazette published Liberty Song, America’s first patriotic song. (1768)

Author Jane Austin died at age 41. (1817)

US Civil War: US President Lincoln asked for 500,000 volunteers for military service. (1864)

The Pope was declared infallible. (1870)

The Ballot Act introduced secret ballot elections in Great Britain. Previously votes were made openly. (1872)

The Signal Corps was first established. It was the first US army air service. (1914)

Astronaut and US Senator John Glenn was born. He was the first man to orbit the Earth. (1921)

WW2: Adolf Hitler published Mein Kampf. The original title was Four and a Half Years of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice. (1925)

British seized the Exodus 1947 Ship carrying Jewish immigrants, many of them Holocaust survivors, to Palestine because of improper visas and incomplete paperwork. The immigrants were returned to France and detained in internment camps. (1947)

Teresa of Avila, born in 1515, was declared first woman doctor by the church. (1970)

21 people were killed and 19 were injured in a massacre in a McDonalds restaurant in San Ysidro, California. It ended with the shooting of its perpetrator, James Oliver Huberty. (1984)

Kim Jong-un was officially appointed Supreme Leader of North Korea and given the rank of Marshal in the Korean People’s Army. (2012)

Detroit, Michigan filed for bankruptcy becoming the largest US municipal bankruptcy at $18.5 Billion. (2013)

Today in HisStory – July 17

12 Carthage Christians were the first to be martyred in North Africa. This was also the first recorded incident of Christians in Africa. (180 AD)

Charles VII of France was crowned at Rheims, largely as a result of the inspiring efforts of Joan of Arc. (1429)

English secret service discovered Anthony Babington’s murder plot against England’s Queen Elizabeth I. (1585)

Sir Walter Raleigh was arrested by forces of King James. (1603)

Several Protestant ministers met at Lüneburg to discuss the formation of an evangelical league of defense against the Catholic League. (1686)

Catherine II became Tsarina of Russia after the murder of Peter III. She was also known as Catherine the Great. (1762)

American Revolutionary War: First military hospital was approved. (1775)

Richard Allen organized Philadelphia’s Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. (1794)

French Revolution: Members of the French National Guard opened fire on a crowd of radical Jacobins at the Champ de Mars, Paris killing as many as 50 people. (1795)

Spain ceded Florida to the US. (1821)

Indian convert Radhu Das was baptized after abandoning his high caste, his idolatry, and his self-righteous acts. (1831)

Harvard Observatory took the first photograph of a star – Vega. (1850)

US Congress authorized paper money. (1861)

First US dental school, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, was established. (1867)

Spanish American War: Spaniards surrendered to US at Santiago Cuba. (1898)

Israeli army captured Nazareth. (1948)

Salvation Army evangelist Evangeline Cory Booth died. She was known as “white angel of the slums”. (1950)

Grand Opening of Disneyland took place. (1955)

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Eastern Ukraine by a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. (2014)

Today in HisStory – July 16

The Muslim Era began when Muhammad began his flight from Mecca to Medina. (622 AD)

Three Roman legates fracture relations between Western and Eastern Christian churches by placing invalid Papal Bull of Excommunication on altar of Hagia Sophia during liturgy. (1054)

Kissing was banned in England to stop germs from spreading. (1439)

Martin Luther and theologist John Eck publicly debated at Pleissenburg Castle in Liepzig. Luther denied the divine right of the Pope. (1519)

Anne Askew, a staunch Protestant, was burned for denying the doctrine of transubstantiation after weeks of being questioned and racked. (1546)

First banknotes in Europe were issued by Bank of Stockholm. (1661)

Patriot and future US President John Adams graduated Harvard. (1755)

Father Junipero Serra founded Mission San Diego. It was the first mission in California. (1769)

US Congress declared the city of Washington in the District of Columbia is the permanent capital of the United States. (1790)

US Public Health Service formed, and the US Marine Hospital was authorized. (1798)

La Paz, Bolivia declared its independence from the Spanish Crown. It was first independent government in Spanish America. (1809)

New York Yacht Club held its first regatta. (1845)

US Civil War: First Battle of Bull Run took place. It was the first major battle of the war and was also called the Manassas Campaign. (1861)

US Civil War: David Farragut was promoted as the first Rear Admiral in the US Navy. (1862)

Boxer Rebellion: A report appeared in London that all foreigners in Peking, China had been massacred. Although soon exposed as false, the report helped mobilize support for relief for foreigners. (1900)

Naval torpedo launched from an airplane was patented by B A Fiske. (1912)

Russian Revolution: Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family were executed by a firing squad in Siberia. (1918)

WW2: French police arrested 13,152 Jews in Paris. (1942)

WW2: Jews were transported from Holland to an extermination camp. (1942)

WW2: The first atom bomb is successfully tested in Alamogordo, New Mexico. (1945)

WW2: US court martial sentenced 46 members of the SS to death for Battle of Bulge war crimes in Dachau. (1946)

Apollo 11 launched, carrying the first men to land on Moon. (1969)

Ivan Moiseyev, age 20, was martyred by Soviet Union. He was a Russian soldier and was killed for openly professing Christ and leading other soldiers to Christ. (1972)

John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and his sister-in-law Lauren Bessette were killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. The Piper Saratoga aircraft was piloted by Kennedy. (1999)

A Islamic terrorist shot up a US military recruitment centre and a naval reserve training center in Chattanooga. He killed five and injured others. (2015)

Today in HisStory – July 15

Vladimir, Grand Prince of Rus, died. His conversion to Christianity established the Russian Orthodox Church. (1015)

City of Jerusalem was captured and plundered by Christian forces during the First Crusade. (1099)

John Ball, a leader in the Peasants’ Revolt, was hung, drawn and quartered in the presence of King Richard II of England. (1381)

Artist Rembrandt van Rijn was born. (1606)

Royal Society, first scientific society in history, was founded. It was made up largely by Christians wanting to study God’s creation. (1662)

French Revolution: Marseillaise became the French national anthem. (1795)

Rosetta Stone was found in Egypt. (1799)

The first Hawaiian missionaries set sail for the Caroline Islands with a letter of greeting from King Kamehameha III to all the chiefs of the islands of the Pacific urging them to receive the missionaries kindly, renounce idols, and worship the true and living God. Revival had come to Hawaii and its people were eager to share the gospel. (1852)

US Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered service duty for the Confederate Army. (1863)

US Civil War: Troop train loaded with Confederate prisoners collided with a coal train killing 65 and injuring 109. (1864)

Margarine was patented by Hippolye Méga-Mouriès for use by French Navy. (1869)

US Civil War: Georgia became the last Confederate state to be readmitted to US. (1870)

The Bandai volcano erupted on the Japanese island of Honshu, killing hundreds and burying many nearby villages in ash. (1888)

WW1: The head of German propaganda in the US, Dr Heinrich Albert, lost his briefcase on a subway in New York City. An examination of its content revealed an extensive network of German espionage and subversion across the US. (1915)

WW1: Germans began the Second Battle of the Marne, their final offensive push of the war before their defeat. (1918)

During the Massacre in Vienna, 89 protesters were killed by the Austrian police. (1927)

Physicist Donald Kerst became the first person to accelerate electrons using electromagnetic induction. They reached energies of 2.3 MeV when his betatron device for particle acceleration became operational. (1940)

18 Nobel laureates signed the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons. It was later co-signed by 34 more laureates. (1955)

Today in HisStory – July 14

Bishop Bonner had Robert Miles, Stephen Cotton, John Slade, Robert Dynes, William Pikes, and Stephen Wight burned at the stake in Essex for praying and reading the Bible. (1558)

The first annual conference of the Methodist Church in America convened at St.George’s Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (1773)

French Revolution: Parisian revolutionaries and mutinous troops stormed and dismantled the Bastille starting the revolution. In France, this day is commemorated as Bastille Day. (1789)

Native American Evangelist Samson Occom died. (1792)

US Sedition Act prohibited “false, scandalous, and malicious” writing against the government. (1798)

First direct US federal tax on states’ dwellings, land, and slaves was enacted. (1798)

Denmark Vesey and Peter Poyas led a slave revolt in South Carolina. (1822)

Orthodox Movement to reform Church of England began. (1833)

Fire in New York City destroyed 1,000 homes and killed many. (1845)

Ice made by refrigeration was demonstrated publicly for the first time. (1850)

First Methodist convert in China was baptized. (1857)

Gold was discovered in Helena, Montana. (1864)

English mountaineer Edward Whymper led the first expedition to climb the Matterhorn. (1865)

Alvin J Fellows patented the tape measure. (1868)

The United States Congress granted Mary Todd Lincoln, widow of US President Abraham Lincoln, a life pension in the amount of $3,000 a year. (1870)

Henry McCarty, aka Billy the Kid, was shot to death by Sheriff Pat Garret. (1881)

WW1: Quentin Roosevelt, a pilot in the United States Air Service and the fourth son of former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, was shot down and killed by a German Fokker plane over the Marne River in France. (1918)

WW2: NSDAP, known as Nazis, became the only political party in Germany. (1933)

WW2: Germany began mandatory sterilization of those with hereditary illness. (1933)

Babe Ruth hit his 700th career home run. New York Times erroneously declared Ruth’s 700 Home Run record would stand for all time. Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run breaking the record 40 years later. (1934)

WW2: 6,000 Lithuanian Jews were exterminated at Viszalsyan Camp. (1941)

WW2: Riots against Jews took place in Amsterdam. (1942)

WW2: Battleship USS South Dakota was the first US ship to bombard Japan. (1945)

Common Sense Book of Baby & Child Care by Dr. Spock was published. (1946)

The United States $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills were officially withdrawn from circulation. (1969)

Mario Brothers was first released by Nintendo in Japan as an arcade game about an Italian-American plumber. (1983)

386BSD was released by Lynne Jolitz and William Jolitz. This started the open source operating system revolution. Linus Torvalds release of Linux soon followed. (1992)

MP3 format was first demonstrated. (1995)

Church of England voted in favor of allowing women to become bishops. (2014)

Harper Lee’s second novel, Go Set A Watchman, went on sale in 70 countries. It was an early 1957 version of To Kill A Mocking Bird. (2015)

Today in HisStory – July 13

Julius Caesar was born. (100 BC)

Rabbi Shelomoh ben Isaac Rashi, leading Jewish Bible scholar, died. (1105)

William I of Scotland, key rebel in Revolt of 1173-1174, was captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England. (1174)

Conrad Weiser died. He was a Lutheran peacemaker and negotiator who had learned the Mohawk language and customs in order to communicate and make treaties with them. (1760)

US Congress established the Northwest Territory as a slave free territory. (1787)

Adoniram Judson, first American foreign missionary, arrived in Burma. (1812)

American geographer Henry Schoolcraft discovered the source of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca in Minnesota. (1832)

Queen Victoria was the first monarch to live in Buckingham Palace. (1837)

US Civil War: Anti-draft mobs lynched blacks in New York City. Around 1,000 died. (1863)

US Civil War: Morgan launched Morgan’s raid into Ohio. It was the only skirmish north of the Ohio River during the war. (1863)

Horace Greeley reputedly advised his readers to “Go west young man.” (1865)

Oscar J Dunn, a former slave, was installed as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana. (1868)

WW1: Great Britain and Japan renewed their alliance of 1902 for another four years. This was the reason Japan joined the Allies. (1911)

Vision of Virgin Mary appeared to children of Fatima, Portugal. (1917)

Hollywood Sign was officially dedicated. (1923)

American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews discovered the first recognized dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia. (1923)

Michigan and Wisconsin set state high temperature records during a Eastern US heat wave. (1936)

Frank Sinatra made recording debut. (1939)

WW2: 5,000 Jews of Rovno Polish Ukraine were executed by Nazis. (1942)

WW2: SS shot and killed 1,500 Jews in Josefov, Poland. (1942)

WW2: Greatest tank battle in history ended with Russia’s defeat. Almost 6,000 tanks took part. 2,900 were lost by Germany. (1943)

Vietnam War: Hank Blood and five other missionaries in Vietnam were killed by Viet Cong. (1968)

Court martial began in USSR for Valeri Sablin. Sablin led a mutany aboard a Russian missile frigate and was captured and later executed. His story was depicted in the novel and movie,  Hunt for Red October. (1976)

Today in HisStory – July 12

Because of clashes between Christian factions, Roman Emperor Marcian issues a law against brawling in churches and against holding meetings in private houses or in the streets. (451 AD)

Jews were expelled from England by order of King Edward I. (1290)

The Ostrog Bible, the first printed Bible in a Slavic language, was published. (1580)

Britain’s King Charles II ratified the Habeas Corpus Act allowing prisoners the right to be examined. (1679)

Great Awakening Preacher David Brainerd, missionary to Indians, was born again. (1739)

Citizens of Carlisle, Pennsylvania passed a declaration of independence two years before the Continental Congress did. (1774)

French Revolution: The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was adopted, putting the Catholic Church in France under the control of the state. (1790)

Former US Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton died after being shot in a pistol duel by Vice President Aaron Burr the day before. (1804)

Mormon  founder Joseph Smith announced a divine revelation had been given him sanctioning polygamy. (1843)

Three thousand miners met for a revival meeting on Frongoch Hill near Aberystwyth, Wales. It was so hot they prayed for relief, and God sent a mist. This prayer meeting became an annual event. (1859)

US Civil War: Congress authorized the Congressional Medal of Honor. (1862)

Epidemic in New Orleans killed 1,400 people. (1878)

In the French Dreyfus Affair, Alfred Dreyfus was found innocent and exonerated. Dreyfus was a French Jewish artillery officer whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason. became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French history. Many believe the charges were trumped up because Dreyfus was Jewish. (1906)

16th Amendment, income tax amendment, was approved. (1909)

Civil war appeared imminent when 150,000 Ulstermen gathered and resolved to resist Irish Home Rule by force of arms. The British Liberals had promised the Irish nationalists Home Rule. (1913)

Babe Ruth set a record of 137 career home runs. (1921)

Congress passed the first minimum wage law at 33 cents per hour. (1933)

US Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz Island was abandoned. (1934)

The first church called Jehovah Shammah was established in Madras, India. It soon started more churches across India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, and elsewhere. (1941)

WW2: At the Battle of Prokhorovka, Russians defeated German forces in one of the largest ever tank battles. (1943)

WW2: US government recognized authority of General De Gaulle as the rightful leader of the French. (1944)

Hague Council of Annulment convicted German war criminals W Lages, FH Van de Funten, and F Fischer to death. (1950)

Mob tried to keep black family from moving into all-white Cicero, Illinois. (1951)

Major League Baseball Players Association was founded (1954)

US President Eisenhower put forward a plan for an interstate highway system. (1954)

US Surgeon General Leroy Burney connected smoking with lung cancer. (1957)

US President Dwight Eisenhower became the first US president to fly in helicopter. (1957)

Today in HisStory – July 11

Clement VII excommunicated Henry VIII for divorcing Catherine of Aragon and marrying Anne Boleyn. (1533)

Ann Austin and Mary Fisher became the first Quakers to immigrate to the American colonies. (1656)

Mathematical calculations suggested it was on this day that Pluto moved from the ninth to the eighth most distant planet from the Sun. This wouldn’t happen again until 1979. (1735)

US Marine Corps was established by an act of Congress. (1798)

US Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounded former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel. (1804)

War of 1812: US invaded Canada on the Detroit frontier. (1812)

US Civil War: Confederate forces led by General J Early began an invasion of Washington, D.C. (1864)

Although they both applied for patents at virtually the same time, the US Patent Office decided J W Swan, rather than Thomas Edison, invented the electric light carbon for the incandescent lamp first. However Swan’s light was low resistance, had a short life span, and wasn’t as practical as Edison’s bulb. (1892)

First ever automobile race was from Paris to Bordeaux. The winner travelled 1,178 km in 48 hours, 48 minutes. (1895)

Charlotte Cooper beat Hélène Prévost to become the first female Olympic tennis champion and the first individual female Olympic champion in any sport. (1900)

US President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Aid Road Act, a national policy of federal aid for highways. (1916)

The Hollywood Bowl opened. (1922)

Chariot’s of Fire Eric Liddell, who refused to run on Sundays, won the Olympics. (1924)

US President Franklin Roosevelt announced he would run for a fourth term. He was the only US president to run or serve more than two terms. (1944)

First air bombing of Jerusalem took place. (1948)

Congress authorized all US currency to say “In God We Trust.” (1955)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was first published by J. B. Lippincott & Co. (1960)

US Medal of Freedom was awarded posthumously to Rev Martin Luther King Jr. (1977)

US Skylab entered the atmosphere over Australia and disintegrated. (1979)

US Government ordered air bags or seat belts would be required in cars by 1989. (1984)

Mike Tyson hired Donald Trump as an advisor. (1988)

Neptune completed its first orbit since its discovery on September 23, 1846. (2011)

Today in HisStory – July 10

First Dutch settlers arrived from New Jersey to colonize Manhattan Island. (1610)

First American log cabin was built at Fort Christina at Wilmington, Delaware. (1639)

Bridget Bishop became the first person hanged for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts. (1692)

Mrs. Clements of England marketed the first paste-style mustard. (1720)

Benjamin Franklin flew a kite during a thunderstorm. (1752)

New York passed the first effective law regulating the practice of medicine. (1760)

American Revolutionary War: British customs officials seized John Hancock’s ship, The Liberty, on the suspicion that Hancock had illegally unloaded cargo without paying duties a month earlier. (1768)

American Revolutionary War: John Adams proposed the organizing of the Continental Army. (1775)

A landslide dam on the Dadu River, caused by an earthquake ten days earlier, collapsed. It killed 100,000 in the Sichuan province of China. (1786)

Washington superseded Philadelphia as the US capital. (1793)

First public zoo opened in Paris. (1793)

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church formed in Philadelphia. (1794)

French Revolution: Regime began the Revolutionary Tribunal. In the next 49 days, over 1,300 were executed during the reign of terror. (1794)

First Barbary War: Tripoli declared war on the US for refusing tribute. (1801)

First Barbary War: Yussif Karamanli signed a treaty ending hostilities with the United States. (1805)

Joseph Tarkington joined the Methodist Church. He would become a Methodist circuit rider and the grandfather of the novelist Booth Tarkington. (1821)

Chicago Tribune began publishing. (1847)

The first class of the United States Naval Academy students graduated. (1854)

Spanish American War: US Marines landed in Cuba. (1898)

Chinese soldiers and revolutionaries known as Boxers surrounded the home of the Orthodox priest Fr. Mitrophan about ten at night, having burned his church a week and a half earlier. They tortured Mitrophan and the Christians assembled at his house, primarily women and children. Finally Boxers punctured his chest and he died under a date tree. (1900)

Great Arab Revolt began against ruling Ottoman Turks. (1916)

Babe Ruth became all time Home Run champ. (1921)

John Dillinger robbed his first bank in New Carlisle, Ohio. (1933)

Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in Akron, Ohio at Stan Hewett Hall as a Christian organization. (1935)

WW2: Italy declared war on France and Great Britain. (1940)

WW2: Franklin D. Roosevelt  became the first US president to visit a foreign country during wartime. (1943)

The East German Communist government announced its attack on churches was over. It had tried repeatedly to force youth to renounce the Lutheran Junge Gemeinde, young people’s organizations, but hundreds had bravely remained in the church groups. (1953)

US Equal Pay Act was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy. (1963)

United States Senate broke a 75-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The bill was passed. (1964)

Apple Computer shipped its first Apple II computers. (1977)