14th May: Today in Christian History

 

14th May, 1610

On this day in Christian History, Henry IV of France was assassinated in Paris. In his lifetime, he was formerly a Huguenot, who had converted to Catholicism to become king.

14th May, 1692

On this day in Christian History, Sir William Phipps arrives in Massachusetts with a new charter that ends theocratic rule in the British colony.

14th May, 1759

On this day in Christian History, in Everton, England, Anglican evangelical John Berridge preached outdoors for the first time. His message is one of salvation by grace alone: “Cease from thine own works.”

14th May, 1820

A church is dedicated at New Eden, Jamaica, the fruit of Moravian mission work on the Island. Designed to hold 500 worshipers, the church soon proves too small as 900 wish to enter it. 

14th May, 1826

On this day in Christian History, Baptism of Nathanael Tajkhan, formerly a Muslim, then a Hindu, until he heard the word of God. He became a zealous convert, preaching wherever he had opportunity, although renounced by his village. He won his wife and some others to Christ before his untimely death.

14th May, 1846

On this day in Christian History, during the construction of a new cathedral at Zadonsk, the remains of Tikhon, the Russian Orthodox bishop of Veronezh, were uncovered incorrupt. Many miracles were reported occurring near them and he was thereafter named a saint. In his lifetime, he had written spiritual works stressing on the subjects of love and forgiveness.

14th May, 1858

Death in South Windsor, Connecticut, of Bennet Tyler, a Congregational theologian who had served as president of Dartmouth College and was a founder of the Theological Institute of Connecticut (now Hartford Seminary). While he was president of Dartmouth, the college admitted its first African-American student.

14th May, 1901

On this day in Christian History, Althea Brown, an African-American Christian, was commissioned to go to Africa as a missionary. She will die there of malaria and sleeping sickness after compiling a dictionary and grammar of the Bushoong tribal language.

14th May, 1941

On this day in Christian History, a Christian missionary/educator Minnie Vautrin gasses herself to death in Indianapolis, unable to cope with memories of wartime experiences in which she protected thousands of Chinese women from rape by Japanese invaders.

14th May, 1948

On this day in Christian History, after defying the advice of his State and War Departments, President Harry Truman issued a de facto recognition of the State of Israel within hours of its declaration of independence.

14th May, 1995

Fr Oleg Steniaev and Bishop Arseney Epifanov of Istrinsk (vicar of Patriarch Alexis II), burn books of Leo Tolstoy, Nikolai Rerikh, Vladimir Soloviev, Sergei Bulgakov, Paul Florensky, and others in a church yard. The authors had written works that were considered either heretical or liberal.

14th May (Unknown Year)

On this day, Pastor Darasimi Gloria-Oyor (Nee Mike Bamiloye) was born. You can read her full biography here.