10th November: Today in Christian History

November 10, 316

Bishop Donatus of North Africa stands firm against an edict by Emperor Constantine dispossessing the Donatists of their church buildings. The result will be five years of bloodshed and persecution that will not quell the Donatists.

November 10, 461

Death of Pope Leo I, who negotiated peace with invaders of Italy and rebuilt Rome after it was laid in ruins by Vandals. Future generations will consider him the founder of the medieval papacy.

November 10, 852

Caliph Ja’far al Mutawakkil executes Constantine, King of Georgia, because he refuses to embrace Islam. The Turks hang his body from a high pillar to intimidate other Christian believers.

November 10, 1483

German reformer Martin Luther is born in Eisleben, Germany

10th November, 1766

On this day in Christian History, New Jersey’s governor, William Franklin, signs the charter for Queen’s College, New Brunswick, which will later be renamed Rutgers University.

10th November, 1770

On this day in Christian History, a French anti-Christian philosopher Francois Voltaire utters his famous remark, “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”

10th November, 1871

On this day in Christian History, after seven months of searching, American journalist Henry Stanley finally finds Scottish missionary David Livingstone in Ujiji, Central Africa, and utters his famous introduction, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume." The relationship between the two men led to Stanley's conversion and decision to become a missionary

November 10, 1890 

The Central American Mission was founded by C. I. Scofield in Dallas, Texas. In 1975 it changed its name to CAM International because of expansion into Spain.

November 10, 1907

Mok Lai Chi, interpreter to a Pentecostal missionary, is baptized in the Holy Spirit. He will be a founder of China’s first independent Pentecostal church and of its first Pentecostal newspaper, Pentecostal Truths, as well as an active leader in work to ameliorate the condition of the poor and needy.

November 10, 1908

Ten years after Samuel Hill and John Nicholson met in Boscobel, Wisconsin, to begin what would become Gideons International, the organization places its first Bible in a room at the Superior Hotel in Iron Mountains, Montana

November 10, 1910

The Gideons place their first Bible ten years after Samuel Hill and John Nicholson began the organization.

10th November, 1933

On this day in Christian History, hymn writer James Rowe died. In his lifetime, he wrote hymn songs including “I Would Be Like Jesus” and “I Was Sinking Deep in Sin.”