January 11
314 Pope Saint
Miltiades, who became pope after the Roman emperor
Galerius had previously passed an edict of toleration ending
the persecution of Christians, died. During his pontificate, in 313,
the Edict of
Milan was passed by the tetrarchs
Constantine and Licinius,
declaring that they would be neutral with regard to religious worship
and restoring church property. Constantine presented the pope with the Lateran
Palace which became the papal residence and seat of Christian
governance.
347 Theodosius
I, Christian emperor of Rome, was born (d. 17 January 395).
1546
Duke Ernest I, the Confessor, died (b. 27 June 1497, Uelzen,
Prussia). He was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and a nephew of
Frederick the Wise. He introduced Lutheranism into the duchy in 1527
and signed the Augsburg Confession in 1530.
1571 Austrian nobility was granted
freedom of religion.
1604 Josua
Wegelin, hymnist, was born in Augsburg (d. 14 September 1640).
1713 Pierre
Jurieu, French Protestant leader, died (b. 24 December 1637).
1745
Israel Christian Gronau,
Salzburg pastor in Georgia, died.
1759 The
first American life insurance company was incorporated in
Philadelphia as the “Corporation
of Poor and Distressed Presbyterian Ministers and of the Poor and
Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers.”
1791
William Williams, hymn translator, died (b. 11 February 1717,
Cefn-y-Coed, near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales).
1791 The
First-day or Sunday-school Society was organized in
Philadelphia.
1810
Johann Ludwig Krapf, German philologist and missionary to
eastern Africa, was born in Derendingen, near Tübingen,
Germany (d. 26 November 1881).
1813
Hans Knudsen, missionary to India and social worker, was born
in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 16 February 1886).
1817
Timothy Dwight, hymnist and eighth president of Yale College,
died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (b. 14 May 1752).
1843
Francis Scott Key, hymnist, died (b. 1 August 1779).
1852
Friedrich Spitta, theologian, was born in Wechold near Hoya,
Hanover (d. 7 June 1924).
1857 Eli Smith,
missionary, died (b. 13 September 1801). He served as an American Board
missionary to the Near East, especially Syria, and translated the Bible
into Arabic.
1870 Johann J. Walder, composer,
was born in Wetzikon, canton of Zurich, Switzerland (d. 18 March 1817).
His first melodies were published about 1775, and from 1779 on they
appeared in many collections. In 1785 he turned to politics. Her served
the canton of Zurich in several capacities. [The
Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal, comp. W. G. Polack (Saint
Louis: CPH, 1942): 591]
1871 A preliminary meeting for
organizing the
Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America
was held in Chicago through 13 January.
1875 Journalist Theodore Tilton
sued prominent liberal pastor
Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887)
for having an affair with his wife.
1876
Olaf Morgan Norlie, Lutheran professor and historian, was
born in Sioux City, Iowa (d. 22 June 1962).
1877
Charles W. Everest, hymnist, died (b. 27 May 1814).
1906
George Moulton Adams, Congregationalist theologian and
historian, died at Auburndale, Massachusetts (b. 7 July 1824).
1918
Peter Brand, Missouri Synod vice-president, died in
Pittsburgh (b. 3 November 1839, Ansbach).
1933 The
Altona Confession was issued by pastors of Altona (Hamburg),
Germany, defining Christian behavior in the confusing political
situation of that time.
1934
Georg Christoph Albert Käppel,
professor, organist and composer, died at River Forest, Illinois (b. 19
April 1862, Indianapolis, Indiana).
1950
Walter A. Maier, Lutheran Hour speaker,
died in Saint Louis (b. 4 October 1893, Boston).
1957
Louise Elisabeth Ellermann, the first LCMS medical
missionary, died (b. 3 August 1884, Evansville, Indiana).
1963 A. T. U. Ekong was named first
president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Nigeria.
