1837 - Mt. Holyoke Seminary first opened in Massachusetts. Founded by Mary Lyon, 39, it was the first college in the U.S. established specifically for the education of women.
1889 - Birth of Oswald J. Smith, Canadian clergyman. Founder of the People's Church of Toronto, Smith also authored a number of books and composed more than 1,200 hymns, including "The Song of the Soul Set Free."
1904 - Emile Combs introduced a bill for the separation of Church and State in France. The bill passed in December 1905, thereby ending the Concordat of 1801 and allowing complete liberty of conscience.
1951 - American Presbyterian missionary Francis Schaeffer wrote in a letter: 'The higher the mountains, the more understandable is the glory of Him who made them and who holds them in His hand.'
1952 - English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.... When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.'
© 1987-2010, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from
Almanac of the Christian Church
