1715 - Robert Norden became licensed pastor of the Baptist congregation in Prince George County - the first Baptist church organized within the American colony of Virginia.
1940 - Auschwitz, largest of the Nazi concentration camps, was first opened near Krakow, Poland. Before its liberation by the Allies in 1945, over 3 million Jews would be exterminated there.
1956 - President Eisenhower signed a congressional resolution which added the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. The last phrase now reads: '...one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'
1966 - The Vatican announced that its 'Index of Prohibited Books' (created by Pope Paul IV in 1557) had been abolished.
1984 - The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution opposing the ordination of women for ministry in the Baptist Church.
© 1987-2012, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from
Almanac of the Christian Church
