29th December: Today in Christian History

29th December, 1170

On this day in Christian History, Archbishop Thomas à Becket is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by knights of King Henry II.

29th December, 1563

On this day in Christian History, Death of Sebastian Castellio at Basle, Switzerland. He will be remembered for his book Concerning Heretics, calling for religious tolerance. 

29th December, 1824

On this day in Christian History, Death of Basiliscus, a founder of monasticism in Siberia.

29th December, 1876

On this day in Christian History, Death of hymn writer P.P. Bliss in a fiery train wreck, when a bridge near Ashtabula, Ohio, fails and his train plunges into a ravine. He had written many notable hymns, including “Hallelujah, What a Savior!” and “Almost Persuaded.” It will be remarked that the night before his death he sang, “I’m going home Tomorrow.”

29th December, 1899

On this day in Christian History, Sidney Brooks becames the first victim of the Boxer Rebellion. Assaulted near Tai’an, China, he was beaten and pricked with knives, led about with a rope through his nose, forced to stand in his underwear in freezing conditions, and finally beheaded after he managed to flee to a nearby ravine. The following year, tens of thousands of Chinese Christians and foreign missionaries perished in massacres by the Boxers.

29th December, 1903

On this day in Christian History, Death in Vineland, New Jersey, of Thomas B. Welch. A fervent Methodist, he had entered the ministry at nineteen but left because of problems with his voice. He had then become a physician and a dentist who sold alloys on the side until that became his main business. A temperance man, he had promised a recovering alcoholic that he would find a way to make a non-alcoholic communion drink. He did so but didn’t succeed in marketing the product. His son Charles will be more successful with Welch’s grape juice.

29th December, 1911

On this day in Christian History, Death of Chicago’s Pentecostal leader William Hamner Piper of a blood infection.

29th December, 1932

On this day in Christian History, Allen Yuan, who later became a Chinese Evangelist, was converted.

29th December, 2000

On this day in Christian History, Argentina declares the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (said to be the oldest Protestant church building in South America) a National Historic and Artistic Monument. The declaration also establishes a Russian Orthodox church and a Jewish synagogue as historic and artistic monuments.