1453 - Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Christianity from A.D. 324, fell to the Turks. The city afterward became the capital of the Ottoman Empire and was renamed Istanbul. Its conquest marked the end of the Middle Ages.
1698 - Construction began on Old Swedes (Holy Trinity) Church in Wilmington, Delaware. The structure has been used continuously as a place of Christian worship ever since.
1774 - Pioneer American Methodist bishop Francis Asbury wrote in his journal: 'Lord, keep me from all the superfluity of dress, and from preaching empty stuff to please the ear, instead of changing the heart.'
1837 - Birth of Charles W. Fry, the English musician who, along with his three sons, formed the first Salvation Army brass band. Fry also authored the hymn, "Lily of the Valley."
1944 - German Lutheran theologian and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter: 'We are to find God in what we know, not in what we don't know; God wants us to realize His presence, not in unsolved problems, but in those that are solved.'
© 1987-2010, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from Almanac of the Christian Church
