January 16
1120 The
Council of Nablus was held, establishing the earliest
surviving written laws of the Crusader
Kingdom
of Jerusalem.
1412 The Medici
family was appointed official banker of the Papacy.
1545 George
Spalatin, German reformer and Luther's co-worker and
associate, died (b. 17 January 1484).
1604 At the
Hampton Court Conference, Oxford divine John Rainolds
presented to King James I the motion “that
there might bee a newe translation of the Bible.”
1661
Johann Friedrich Möckhel,
German pastor and hymn poet, was born at Kulmbach, Germany (d. 1729).
1737 “O
God of Jacob, by Whose Hand”
was written by Philip
Doddridge (1702–1751).
1786 The Virginia Legislature
adopted the
Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, which guaranteed that
no one would be forced to attend or support any church nor belong to
any religious organization.
1820
Johannes Rebmann, missionary to East Africa, was born in
Gerlingen, North Wuerttemberg, Germany (d. 4 October 1876).
1884
Martin Stephan Jr., pastor and architect, died (b. 23 July
1823).
1890 The
Moody Bible Institute in Chicago was dedicated seventeen
years after evangelist D. L. Moody and college administrator Emma Dryer
first discussed the idea.
1894 Bapuji Appaji, a Christian
convert from Brahmanism in west India, died.
1900 A preliminary meeting to
organize the
Slovak Synod was held at Braddock, Pennsylvania.
1907 John
Gibson Paton, Presbyterian missionary to New Hebrides, died
in Canterbury, Australia (b. 24 May 1824).
1919 The
Prohibition Amendment became part of the U. S. Constitution
after it was ratified by Nebraska, going into effect a year later.
1936
Gustaf A. Brandelle, president of the Augustana Synod, died
(b. 19 March 1861).
1953 Members of the first class of
eight graduates from the
Lutheran seminary in Nigeria were ordained.
1968 Bob Jones
Sr. (b. 30 October 1883), the militant fundamentalist
evangelist who in 1924 founded the school known as Bob Jones
University, died.
1972
Paul George Elbrecht, president of the Alabama Lutheran
Academy and College (Selma) and of Concordia Lutheran College of Texas
(Austin), died in Austin, Texas (b. 30 September 1921, Cleveland, Ohio).
1989 Herman A. Bielenberg died in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida (b. 13 December 1899, Staten Island, New
York). He was a pioneer Missouri Synod pastor in the use of photography
and motion pictures. He wrote the original script and supervised the
production of the motion picture The Call of the Cross,
produced for the centennial of the Saxon Immigration to Missouri in 1938–1939. This was the
first sound motion picture produced by the synod. In 1947 he was named
chairman of the synod’s
Board for Visual Education. Bielenberg also edited the Eastern District
Edition of The Lutheran Witness for seventeen
years. He was an avid photographer and won numerous awards for his
work. When he retired, he and his wife traveled extensively delivering
photographic lectures to congregations, camera clubs and civic
organizations. He was active in many photographic societies such as the
Photographic Society of America.
