June 18
1464: Pius II leads a short ‘crusade’ against the Turks into Italy. But he died of illness before his allies arrived. Soon after, the long ‘crusades’ came to an end.
1546: Anne Askew is sentenced by the Judges under King Henry VIII to be executed for her views on transubstantiation.
1677: Demise of Johann Franck at Guben in Germany; he was a leading hymn-writer, whose lyrics were considered most mystical and personal.
1826: Lutheran church begins its prison ministry in Germany under the leadership of Theodore Fliedner.
1830: Birth of Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane, a poet from Scotland, who penned “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” and “The Ninety and Nine,” two hymns which are considered by some as the most haunting hymns in the English language.
1849: (probable date) Repose of William B. Tappan, a clock maker turned pastor, Sunday school leader, and hymn-writer with the famous hymn “’Tis Midnight and on Olive’s Brow” to his credit.
1896: Bernard Mizeki, an African evangelist, is executed in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). Although his life was in danger, he had refused to flee, saying he was working for Christ.
1906: Birth of Gordon Lindsay, a pioneer missionary, who founded Christ for the Nations, an interdenominational foreign missions support agency in 1948 along with his wife Freda.
1955: The Communist government forbids all kinds of divine services, Bible studies, and the celebration of Communion in East Germany.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy:Â www.studylight.org