January 15
345 Paul of
Thebes, traditionally considered to be the first Christian
hermit and an inspiration for Antony of Egypt and later Christian
monasticism, died.
1535
Henry VIII (1491–1547)
declared himself the head of the English Church.
1556
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1500–1558)
resigned his crown.
1697 Massachusetts citizens
observed a day of fasting and repentance for the
Salem witch trials of 1692 in which nineteen suspected
witches were hanged and more than 150 imprisoned.
1776 Peter
Muhlenberg (1746–1807)
preached a farewell sermon to his congregation in Woodstock, Virginia,
before joining the Continental Army.
1803
Nathan Marcus Adler, English chief rabbi, was born at
Hanover, Germany (d. 21 January 1890).
1812
Hiester Henry Muhlenberg, treasurer of the General Council,
was born in Reading, Pennsylvania (d. 5 May 1886).
1820
Johann Ludwig Schneller, founder of an orphanage in
Jerusalem, was born in Erpfingen, Wuerttemberg (d. 18 October 1896). [German
Wikipedia article]
1841
Charles A. Briggs, American clergyman and theologian, was
born in New York City (d. 8 June 1913).
1844 The
University of Notre Dame was chartered in South Bend, Indiana.
1852
Mount Sinai Hospital was incorporated by Sampson Simson and
eight associates in New York City as the first Jewish hospital in the
U.S.
1863
Frederic George Kenyon, British archeologist and philologist,
was born in London (d. 23 August 1952).
1866
Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, recipient of
the Nobel
Peace Prize, was born (d. 12 July 1931).
1871 John Gottlieb Frederick
Kleinhans, president of the Southern Illinois District, was born in
Sheboygan, Wisconsin (d. 20 November 1942). He graduated from Concordia
Seminary (Saint Louis) in 1892 and served as a pioneer missionary in
western Kansas, having charge of more than fifteen congregations with
his headquarters at Offerle and Milberger. He was pastor at Haven,
Kansas, from 1901 to 1909 and then moved to Zion Lutheran Church
(Staunton, Illinois). He was vice-president of the Kansas District from
1906 to 1909. He helped establish Saint John’s
College (Winfield, Kansas) and served on its Board of Directors. He was
president of the Southern Illinois District from 1912 to 1933 and
served as secretary of the College of Presidents of the Missouri Synod.
He was also a member of the Board of Control of Concordia Theological
Seminary (Springfield, Illinois) for several years. He served on the
synod’s
Intersynodical Committee and the Mission Board of the Lutheran
Synodical Conference and was chairman of the synod’s
Literature Board.
1879
Johann Christoph Wilhelm Lindemann, president of the
Evangelical Lutheran Teachers Seminary (Addison, Illinois), died (b. 6
January 1827).
1890
Martin Henry Coyner, professor at Concordia College (Conover,
North Carolina) and Concordia Theological Seminary (Springfield,
Illinois), was born in Waynesboro, Virginia (d. 13 February 1962, Saint
Louis).
1896
Jacob Gartenhaus, founder and first president of the
International Board of Jewish Missions, was born in Austria (d. 1984).
1898 Frank S. Mead, American
authority on the historical and contemporary church, was born. His most
reprinted (and updated) work has been the Handbook of
Denominations in the United States.
1929
Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He was
America's most visible civil rights leader from 1955 until his death by
assassination on 4 April 1968.
1950 Hong Kong was declared a
Missouri Synod mission field.
1951
Henry A. Ironside (b. 14 October 1876), American clergyman
and Bible teacher, died.
1951 The U.S. Supreme Court struck
down a New York City ordinance requiring a police permit for street
preachers. The court determined that the ordinance violated the
First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and
religion.
1999 Herbert A. Mueller died in
Saint Louis (b. 2 June 1914, Lone Elm, Missouri). Following his
graduation from Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis) in 1938, he served as
a parish pastor from 1940 to 1969 in York Center and Dundee, Illinois.
He then served as secretary of the LCMS from 1969 to 1983, at which
time he retired. He also served on several synodical boards and
commissions, including the Board for Higher Education and the
Commission on Constitutional Matters. He received an honorary doctor of
letters degree from Concordia Teachers College (Seward, Nebraska) in
1966. Following retirement, he coordinated chapel services part-time at
the LCMS International Center until 1998.
