December 9, 536
Count Belisarius of Byzantium, reputedly a Christian, enters Rome, where he will make a magnificent defense of the ancient city against the Goths. During his career, he will receive little support from the suspicious emperor Justinian, but when he is put on trial on what appear to be trumped up charges of corruption, Justinian will pardon him.
December 9, 1621
Deacon Robert Cushman preaches the first recorded sermon on American soil and the first printed there.
December 9, 1793
Christian journalist Noah Webster publishes the first issue of American Minerva, the first daily newspaper in New York City.
December 9, 1884
Stanley Smith and C. T. Studd, two of the Cambridge Seven (young men who had renounced fame and fortune to serve with the China Inland Mission), speak at Edinburgh University. The meeting, which they had feared would be a flop, proves a time of great power.
December 9, 1896
William Henry Sheppard, an African-American missionary to Africa, writes to supporters at home, promising to prove that he merits the trust they have placed in him. Finding little success as a missionary, he explores the Congo and exposes Belgian atrocities.
December 9, 1906
William Hamner Piper and his wife Lydia Markley hold their first service in Chicago. Their popular meetings replace the disgraced ministry of John Alexander Dowie. They soon become Pentecostal.
December 9, 1911
The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Argentina expels from its ranks Irish missionary James Stewart and some other associates who had adopted Pentecostal practices.
December 9, 1941
Martyrdom of Orthodox priest Sergius Mechiev who rejected the atheistic and anti-ecclesiastical proclamations of the Soviet government and had to live for years in hiding. He is shot within prison walls.
December 9, 1942
Death in California of faith healer Lilian Barbara Yeomans.
December 9, 1946
Maoist Communists burn a group of Christians to death in a seminary at Xiwanzi, China.
December 9, 1978
The Sorbonne, one of the most prestigious universities in France, awards missionary-linguist Kenneth Pike an honorary degree.
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