Today in History (December 22): 1582 This date became January 1, 1583, in Belgium when that nation officially adopted the new Gregorian calendar; ... the new calendar by Pope Gregory XIII was designed to keep time with the solar calendar; by 1950, the Gregorian calendar had been adopted worldwide 1770 Birth of Father Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin (d. 1840), "Apostle to the Alleghenies," in the Hague, Netherlands; born the son of a Russian nobleman, Gallitzin was converted to Catholicism in 1787; he arrived in America five years later, attended Baltimore Seminary, and was ordained into the priesthood in 1795; he devoted the remainder of his life to his work as a frontier missionary; sometimes called "Father Smith," Gallitzin built up the Catholic church in the Alleghenies (parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia), exhausting his personal fortune in the process; Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, was named for him 1826 Ulrik Vilhelm Koren, Kristiana University, 1852; emigrated to America, 1853; first Norwegian pastor to settle west of the Mississippi; pastor at Washington Prairie, Iowa (1853-1910); procured land for Luther College, Decorah, Iowa; taught there several years; Iowa District president; author; president of Norwegian Lutheran Church in America; born in Bergen, Norway 1837 Mercer University was chartered in Penfield, Georgia, under Baptist support; in 1871 the college moved to Macon, Georgia 1862 William Dallmann, vice-president of Missouri Synod, English and Missouri Synod leader, writer, born at Neu Damerow, Pomerania; graduated from St. Louis Seminary in 1886; pastor in Marshfield, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; New York City, New York; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; president of English Synod (1899-1901); vice-president of English Synod (1901-09); vice-president of Missouri Synod beginning in 1926; D.D. (St. Louis); editor of _Lutheran Witness_ (1891-95); author of numerous theological books 1862 American revivalist Billy Sunday lost his father in the U.S. Civil War, five months after he had enlisted in the Union Army; William Ashley ("Billy") Sunday was only one month old 1896 Victor Bartling, professor at Concordia - Milwaukee, born in Waterford, Wisconsin; graduated from St. Louis (1919); pastor at Bismarck, North Dakota (1919-24); Fargo, North Dakota (1925-26); professor at Concordia in Milwaukee beginning in 1926 1899 Death of Dwight L. Moody (b. 1837), American evangelist; born in Northfield, Massachusetts, he went to Boston at 17 to work as a clerk in his uncle's shoe store; he was led to faith in Christ there through his Sunday-school teacher, Edward Kimball; in 1856 he moved to Chicago, and by 1860 was preaching there full time; with organist and Gospel singer Ira D. Sankey, Moody conducted revivals in the British Isles 5 times in 31 years (1860, 1870, 1873-75, 1881-84, and 1891); his Northfield, Massachusetts, conferences for college students led to the formation of the Student Volunteer Movement; Moody also founded the Chicago (now Moody) Bible Institute (1886); he married Emma C. Revell (sister of religious publisher Fleming H. Revell), who taught him social graces and bore him three children 1908 Philip Andreas von Rohr, president of Wisconsin Synod, died (b. 1843); graduate of Buffalo Synod Seminary (1863); pastor at Toledo; Winona, Minnesota (1866-1908), which parish grew to be the largest in Minnesota; joined Wisconsin Synod 1877; president of Wisconsin Synod from 1889 until his death in 1908; left the Buffalo Synod in 1866 to form a separate body, which, as its last president, he dissolved peacefully in 1875; forceful, practical, endowed with sound judgment and keen and ready understanding, he is largely responsible for the development of the Wisconsin Synod and its missions and institutions during his term of office If you wish to use these items, please get permission. Permission to post TIH items on LUTHERAN-ROOTS was received from Marvin A. Huggins, C.A., Associate Director Concordia Historical Institute (314)505-7921 801 De Mun Avenue FAX: (314)505-7901 St. Louis, MO 63105-3168 mhuggins@chi.lcms.org Web Page: http://chi.lcms.org/ for today, John Birkholz brotherjohn@imt.net 963 McIver Road Great Falls, MT 59404