July 15, 1015: Vladimir, the grand prince of Russia who made Orthodox Christianity the national religion, dies at age 59 (see issue 18: Russian Christianity).
July 15, 1099: The First Crusade captures Jerusalem, massacring thousands. "The city was filled with corpses and blood," wrote one chronicler (see issue 40: The Crusades).
July 15, 1606: Dutch Painter Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn is born to a wealthy family in Leyden. Personal tragedies seemed to deepen the spiritual dimensions of his art, and he eventually created nearly 90 paintings and etchings depicting Christ's passion.
July 15, 1704: August G. Spangenberg, bishop of the Unitas Fratrum and founder of the Moravian Church in North America, is born in Germany (see issue 1: Nicolaus Zinzendorf).
