Historical Events
- 1535-02-10 12 nude anabaptists run through Amsterdam streets
- 1665-06-07 Boston's First Baptist Church, one of the oldest Baptist churches in America, is founded [NS March 1]
- 1788-01-20 Pioneer African Baptist church organizes in Savannah, Georgia
- 1792-10-02 Baptist Missionary Society forms in London
Event of Interest
1829-05-15 Joseph Smith ordained by John the Baptist according to Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
- 1869-09-10 Baptist minister supposedly invents rickshaw in Yokohama, Japan
- 1881-01-26 Union of Baptists Communities forms in Foxholl
- 1881-04-11 Spelman College founded as Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary in basement of Friendship Baptist Church, Atlanta
- 1915-05-17 National Baptist Convention chartered
- 1962-08-15 Shady Grove Baptist Church burned in Leesburg, Georgia
Event of Interest
1973-05-10 Bruce Lee collapses in Golden Harvest studios in Hong Kong and is rushed to Hong Kong Baptist Hospital where doctors diagnose him with cerebral edema
Bruce Lee
- 1982-12-05 Seattle Univ Baptist Ch declares sanctuary for Cen Am refugees
- 1984-06-14 Southern Baptist convention decide on no women clergy members
- 2002-05-22 American civil rights movement: a jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church
Event of Interest
2006-03-19 On the weekend of his 84th birthday, Fred Shuttlesworth gives his final sermon in front of 300 people at the Greater New Light Baptist Church
Fred Shuttlesworth
- 2019-02-10 Sexual abuse investigation into US Southern Baptist churches reveals 400 church members implicated with over 700 victims, according to The Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News
Event of Interest
2020-07-30 Barack Obama gives the eulogy at the funeral of congressman John Lewis, with former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta
John Lewis
Barack Obama
Bill Clinton
Famous Birthdays
- 1566-12-20 Edward Wightman, English radical Anabaptist, born in Burton upon Trent (d. 1612)
- 1579-11-22 Johannes Stalpaert van der Wiele, Dutch lawyer, pastor and lyricist, born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1630)
- 1622-11-08 Galenus Abrahamsz de Haen, Dutch baptist pastor (Lambs' War), born in Zierikzee, Netherlands (d. 1706)
- 1708-08-10 John Stinstra, baptist vicar
- 1803-06-29 John Newton Brown, American publisher and Baptist teacher, born in New London, Connecticut (d. 1868)
- 1804-06-08 Jan Baptist van Son, Dutch politician (RC), born in 's-Hertogenbosch, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands (d. 1875)
- 1805-12-10 Johannes Elias Feisser, Dutch theologist and founder of 1st Dutch baptist church, born in Winsum, Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1865)
- 1824-09-21 Joseph Andrew Jackson Lightburn, American Baptist Minister and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Webster, Pennsylvania (d. 1901)
- 1832-05-23 Pieter Jan Baptist Carel Robidé van der Aa, Dutch Indologist and geographer, born in Oosterbeek, Netherlands (d. 1887)
- 1874-07-24 Oswald Chambers, Scottish Baptist and Holiness Movement minister and writer (My Utmost for His Highest), born in Aberdeen, Scotland (d. 1917)
- 1909-12-19 W.A. Criswell, American (Baptist) preacher (d. 2002)
Billy Graham
1918-11-07 Billy Graham, American Baptist evangelist (Crusades) described as 1 of the 20th century's most influential Christian leaders, born in Charlotte, North Carolina (d. 2018)
Billy Graham
- 1920-02-12 William Roscoe Estep, Baptist historian and professor (d. 2000)
- 1921-11-19 Peter Ruckman, American Baptist minister and founder of Pensacola Bible Institute in Pensacola, Florida, born in Wilmington, Delaware (d. 2016)
- 1926-09-25 Jack Hyles, Independent Baptist pastor (First Baptist Church of Hammond 1959-2001), born in Italy, Ellis County, Texas (d. 2001)
- 1929-11-13 Fred Phelps, American Baptist minister and civil rights attorney, born in Meridian, Mississippi (d. 2014)
- 1976-09-09 Juan A. Baptista, Venezuelan actor, born in Caracas, Venezuela
- 1981-10-01 Júlio Baptista, Brazilian soccer forward (47 caps; São Paulo, Sevilla), born in São Paulo, Brazil
- 1981-12-15 Creighton Lovelace, American Baptist minister
Famous Weddings
Wedding of Interest
1930-09-04 Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (21) weds Vivien Burey at First African Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Thurgood Marshall
Wedding of Interest
1948-03-28 Musician Nat King Cole (29) weds jazz singer Maria Hawkins (25) at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York
Nat King Cole
Wedding of Interest
1953-12-08 Prime Minister of Canada John Diefenbaker (58) weds second wife Olive Palmer (51) at Park Road Baptist Church in Toronto, Canada
John Diefenbaker
Wedding of Interest
1958-06-22 NBA forward Elgin Baylor (23) weds Ruby Saunder at Mt Olive Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.
Elgin Baylor
Wedding of Interest
1960-12-22 NFL quarterback Fran Tarkenton (20) weds Anna Elaine Merrell at First Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia
Fran Tarkenton
Wedding of Interest
1980-10-31 Baptist minister Al Sharpton (26) weds back up singer Kathy Jordan
Al Sharpton
Wedding of Interest
1991-12-16 NBA center David Robinson (26) weds Valerie Hoggatt at a Baptist church ceremony in San Antonio, Texas
David Robinson
Wedding of Interest
1996-09-21 Elder son of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and magazine publisher John F. Kennedy Jr. (35) weds Caroline Bisset (30) at the wood-frame Brack Chapel of the First African Baptist Church in Cumberland Island, Georgia
John F. Kennedy Jr.
- 1999-06-12 Former Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller (22) weds lawyer and ophthalmologist Chris Phillips (26) at Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City
- 2000-10-14 Asylum recording artist Bryan White (26) weds actress Erika Page at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas
- 2005-01-08 Rapper and actor Nas (32) weds R&B singer Kelis (25) at Morningside Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia
Wedding of Interest
2005-07-15 Heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis (39) weds former Miss Jamaica runner-up Violet Chang at William Knibb Memorial Baptist Church in Falmouth, Jamaica
Lennox Lewis
- 2006-04-21 Professional drag racer Andrew Hines (22) weds Tanya Phillips at the First Baptist Church in Tampa, Florida
- 2006-06-03 Pop band Hanson member Zac Hanson (20) weds Kate Tucker (22) at the Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia
- 2014-11-01 Counting star Jessa Duggar weds Ben Seewald at the First Baptist Church in Bentonville, Ark
Famous Deaths
- 0029-08-29 John the Baptist, beheaded
- 1531-03-20 Sicke Freerks/Frericx [Cutter], Dutch anabaptist, beheaded
- 1531-12-06 John Volkertsz Trimaker, Dutch anabaptist leader, beheaded
- 1538-08-20 Aefgen Listinck, Dutch anabaptist, burned at stake
- 1549-05-27 Lijsbeth Dirksdr, Fries antabaptist, drowns
- 1549-06-07 Eelke Fouckens, Frisian anabaptist, beheaded
- 1559-03-14 Jacques d'Auchy, Walloon baptist merchant, executed
- 1612-04-11 Edward Wightman, English Baptist preacher, burnt at the stake in Lichfield for heresy (b. 1566)
- 1644-12-30 Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist (b. 1577)
- 1706-04-19 Galenus Abrahamsz de Haen, Dutch baptist pastor (Lambs' War), dies at 83
- 1790-01-08 John Stinstra, Dutch baptist vicar, dies at 81
- 1834-06-09 William Carey, one of the founders of the Baptist Missionary Society (b. 1761)
- 1850-04-12 Adoniram Judson, American Baptist missionary (b. 1788)
- 1865-06-02 Johannes Elias Feisser, Dutch theologist and founder of 1st Dutch baptist church, dies at 59
- 1868-05-14 John Newton Brown, American publisher and Baptist teacher, dies at 64
- 1875-11-06 John Baptist van Son, Dutch Catholic politician, dies at 71
- 1887-02-10 Pieter Jan Baptist Carel Robidé van der Aa, Dutch Indologist and geographer, dies at 54
- 1917-11-15 Oswald Chambers, Scottish Baptist and Holiness Movement minister and writer (My Utmost for His Highest), dies at 43
- 1931-01-11 James Milton Carroll, American Baptist pastor, leader, historian, and author (b. 1852)
- 1999-12-24 João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo, President of Brazil (b. 1918)
- 2000-07-14 William Roscoe Estep, American Baptist historian (b. 1920)
- 2001-02-06 Jack Hyles, Independent Baptist pastor (First Baptist Church of Hammond 1959-2001), dies at 74
- 2001-06-02 Frank Stagg, American Baptist Theologian (b. 1911)
- 2002-01-10 W.A. Criswell, American (Baptist) preacher (b. 1909)
- 2005-11-15 Dr. Adrian Rogers, American Southern Baptist Minister and leader (b. 1931)
- 2016-04-21 Peter Ruckman, American Baptist minister and founder of Pensacola Bible Institute in Pensacola, dies at 94
Billy Graham
2018-02-21 Billy Graham, American Baptist evangelist (Crusades) described as 1 of the 20th century's most influential Christian leaders, dies at 99
Billy Graham