February 12

1548 Hermann Bonnus, reformer and hymnist, died (b. 1504). [German Wikipedia article]

1640 Johann Michael Altenburg, hymnist, died in Erfurt (b. 27 May 1584).

1663 Cotton Mather, colonial American theologian and Congregational minister, was born in Boston (d. 13 February 1728).

1667 Bartholomäus Crasselius, hymnist, was born at Wernsdorf, near Glaucha, Saxony (d. 10 November 1724). [German Wikipedia article]

1689 The Convention Parliament was convened to determine if James II (1633–1701), the last Roman Catholic king of England, had vacated the throne when he fled to France in 1688.

1737 Benjamin Schmolck, German Lutheran clergyman and hymnist, died at Schweidnitz, Silesia (b. 21 February 1672, Brauchitschdorf, near Liegnitz).

1739 Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen, composer, died (b. 2 December 1670, Gandersheim, Brunswick).

1776 Richard Mant, hymnist, was born in Southampton, England (d. 2 November 1848).

1797 Franz Joseph Haydn's (1732–1809) tune AUSTRIAN HYMN, originally composed for the national anthem of Austria, was first performed for the Emperor Francis II’s fifth birthday. “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” is sung to this tune.

1818 Henry Downton, hymnist, was born at Pulverbatch, Shropshire, England (d. 8 June 1885).

1819 Johann Michael Gottlieb Schaller, professor of church history at Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis), was born at Kirchenlamitz, Bavaria (d. 19 November 1887).

1834 Friedrich Schleiermacher (b. 21 November 1768), German theologian and philosopher, died.

1838 Martin C. Barthel, first manager of Concordia Publishing House, was born (d. 26 February 1899).

1843 Joseph Hardy Neesima, missionary to Japan, was born in Yedo (Tokyo), Japan (d. 23 January 1890).

1860 August Ludwig Christian Kavel, Lutheran immigrant leader to Australia, died (b. 3 September 1798, Berlin).

1865 Presbyterian minister and militant abolitionist Henry Highland Garnet (1815–1882) became the first African-American to address the U. S. House of Representatives.

1877 Henry Williams Baker, hymn author, translator and composer, died (b. 27 May 1821).

1878 Alexander Duff, first missionary of the Church of Scotland to India (landed there in 1830), died at Edinburgh, Scotland (b. 15 April 1806).

1915 Fanny Crosby (b. 24 March 1820), the famed Gospel songwriter who lost her sight at the age of six weeks, died.

1920 William Roscoe Estep, Baptist historian and professor and an authority on the Anabaptist movement, was born (d. 14 July 2000).

1952 The Roman Catholic religious program Life Is Worth Living debuted on Dumont television. Hosted by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) and televised Tuesday nights, it became the longest-running religious TV series of its era, lasting until 8 February 1957.

1962 Westfield House, Cambridge, England, was dedicated.

1971 Nelson Glueck (b. 1900), American Jewish archeologist, died.