February 18, 1546: German reformer Martin Luther dies in Eisleben. In one of his pockets he had placed the beginning of a projected manuscript against Roman Catholics. In another pocket was a slip of paper reminding him, “We are beggars, that’s the truth” (see issue 39: Luther’s Later Years).
February 18, 1564: Michelangelo Buonarroti, the Italian Renaissance artist whose works include the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, dies.
February 18, 1678: Puritan preacher John Bunyan publishes The Pilgrim’s Progress, the best-selling book (apart from the Bible) in history. The allegorical tale, which describes Bunyan’s own conversion process, begins, “I saw a man clothed with rags … a book in his hand and a great burden upon his back” (see issue 11: John Bunyan).
February 18, 1688: Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania, issue America’s first formal protest of slavery.
