July 26, 1603: James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England. Among his many acts affecting English religious life (it is he for whom the King James Version is named) was the issuing of the Book of Sports, approving sports on Sunday.
July 26, 1833: Having abolished the slave trade in 1807, Britain's House of Commons bans slavery itself. When William Wilberforce, who had spent most of his life crusading against slavery, heard the news, he said, "Thank God I have lived to witness [this] day." He died three days later (see issue 53: William Wilberforce).
July 26, 1869: England's Disestablishment Bill is passed, officially disconnecting the Church of Ireland from the state. It is from this act that we get the mighty word "antidisestablishmentarianism," which was the organized opposition to the legislation.
July 26, 1925: William Jennings Bryan, American editor, politician, and anti-evolutionary leader, dies five days after being publicly ridiculed for his role in the Scopes "Monkey" trial (see issue 55: The Monkey Trial and the Rise of Fundamentalism).
