September 7, 1807: English missionary Robert Morrison, 25, becomes the first Protestant missionary in China. Catholic missionaries beat Protestants by some 225 years—Jesuit Matteo Ricci first arrived in 1582 (see issue 52: Hudson Taylor).
May 5, 553: The Second Council of Constantinople convenes under the presidency of Eutychius, the city's new patriarch. The council, loaded with bishops from the Eastern church, attacked Nestorianism (a "heresy"—many have questioned that anathema—that overemphasizes Christ's dual nature as God and man). Nestorian Christians exist to this Day (see issue 51: Heresy in the Early Church).
May 5, 1525: Frederick III, the elector of Saxony also called "Frederick the Wise," ...
