1646 - The Massachusetts Bay Colony passed a law making it a capital offense to deny that the Bible was the Word of God. Any person convicted of the offense was liable to the death penalty.
1740 - Birth of Anglican clergyman Augustus M. Toplady. A highly respected evangelical leader, Toplady authored the hymn "Rock of Ages" two years before his premature death at 38 in 1778.
1898 - The first church to bear the Pentecostal Holiness name was organized at Goldsboro, NC, under the leadership of Methodist evangelist Ambrose Blackman Crumpler, 35.
1936 - Future U.S. Senate Chaplain Rev. Peter Marshall, 34, married Catherine Wood, 22. Following Peter's premature death at age 46, Catherine immortalized his name through her 1951 bestÂselling biography, "A Man Called Peter."
1966 - London's "Evening Standard" newspaper published John Lennon's controversial remark stating that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." The quote touched off a storm of controversy and international protest, resulting in a world-wide boycott of Beatles music.
© 1987-2010, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from
Almanac of the Christian Church
