Jump directly to the Content

Christian History

Today in Christian History

November 20

November 20, 1541: In Switzerland, French reformer John Calvin, 32, established a theocratic government at Geneva, thereby creating a home base for emergent Protestantism throughout Europe (see issue 12: John Calvin).

November 20, 1572: The first Presbyterian meeting house in England is established at Wandsworth, Surrey.

November 20, 1620: Peregrine White, son of William and Susanna White, is the first child born on the Mayflower (see issue 41: The American Puritans).

November 20, 1806: Baptist preacher Isaac Backus, an influential voice in arguing for religious liberty in Massachusetts and later the United States, dies (see issue 6: Baptists).

Read These Next

April 24, 387: On this day, Augustine of Hippo writes in his autobiographical Confessions, "We were baptized and all anxiety for our past life vanished away." The 33-year-old had been a teacher of rhetoric and pagan philosophies at some of the Roman Empire's finest schools, but after great influence by his mother, Monica, and the famous bishop Ambrose, he turned to Christianity. His baptism by Ambrose, on Easter Sunday, marked his entrance into the church (see issue 15: Augustine and ...

More from April 24
close