Jump directly to the Content

Christian History

Today in Christian History

March 13

March 13, 1815: Presbyterian medical missionary James Hepburn is born in Milton, Pennsylvania. In the course of his missions work, he compiled the first Japanese-English dictionary and supervised the first complete translation of the Bible into Japanese (which was published in 1888).

March 13, 1925: Austin Peay, governor of Tennessee, signs the "Butler Bill," prohibiting any teaching that contradicted the Genesis creation story. By July, John Scopes was on trial for violating the legislation and the "trial of the century" had begun (see issue 55: The Monkey Trial and the Rise of Fundamentalism).

Read These Next

April 28, 1789: In the South Pacific, a band of hedonistic sailors stages the famous mutiny on the Bounty. The mutineers then sailed to uninhabited Pitcairn Island, where they soon fell into drinking and fighting. Only one man and several women (taken earlier as slaves) and children survived. The man, Alexander Smith, discovered the ship's neglected Bible, repented, and transformed the community. The Bible is still on display in a Pitcairn church.

More from April 28
close