Events in History Relating to Religion
July 17, 180
Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.
January 20, 250
Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Pope Fabian is martyred.
October 27, 312
Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross.
May 20, 325
The First Council of Nicea – the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church is held.
October 8, 451
At Chalcedon, a city of Bithynia in Asia Minor, the first session of the Council of Chalcedon begins (ends on November 1).
November 22, 498
After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran Palace, while Laurentius is elected Pope in Santa Maria Maggiore.
October 23, 502
The Synodus Palmaris, called by Gothic king Theodoric the Great, discharges Pope Symmachus of all charges, thus ending the schism of Antipope Laurentius.
January 2, 533
Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.
March 17, 624
History of Islam: Lead by Muhammad, the Muslims of Medina defeat the Quraysh of Mecca in the Battle of Badr.
January 1, 630
The Prophet Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with the army that captures it bloodlessly.
October 10, 680
Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated by forces under Caliph Yazid I. This is commemorated by Shi'a Muslims as Aashurah.
November 23, 800
Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Pope Leo III.
December 1, 800
Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican.
May 21, 879
Pope John VIII gives blessings to duke Branimir and to Croatian people, considered to be international recognition of Croatian state.
January 29, 904
Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
October 1, 911
During a siege in Constantinople, the Theotokos appeared at the church in Blachernae holding her veil over the praying faithful, among them St. Andrew of Constantinople.
September 15, 921
Saint Ludmila is murdered at the command of her daughter-in-law at Tetin.
February 2, 962
Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.
January 1, 1001
Grand Prince Stephen I of Hungary is named the first King of Hungary by Pope Silvester II.
August 9, 1048
Pope Damasus II dies in Rome, after reigning for only 23 days.
April 11, 1079
Bishop Stanislaus of Krakow is executed by order of Bolesław II of Poland.
November 19, 1095
The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land, begins.
November 27, 1095
Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.
November 28, 1095
On the last day of the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II appoints Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy and Count Raymond IV of Toulouse to lead the First Crusade to the Holy Land.
December 25, 1100
Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned as the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity
March 13, 1138
Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II.
April 8, 1149
Pope Eugene III takes refuge in the castle of Ptolemy II of Tusculum.
May 29, 1167
Battle of Monte Porzio – A Roman army supporting Pope Alexander III is defeated by Christian of Buch and Rainald of Dassel
December 29, 1170
Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
July 15, 1207
John of England expels Canterbury monks for supporting Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton.
October 4, 1209
Otto IV is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.
March 4, 1215
King John of England makes an oath to the Pope as a crusader to gain the support of Innocent III.
November 11, 1215
The Fourth Lateran Council meets, defining the doctrine of transubstantiation, the process by which bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ.
September 11, 1226
The Roman Catholic practice of public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament outside of Mass spreads from monasteries to parishes.
September 29, 1227
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to go on crusade.
August 25, 1248
The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III, the Archbishop of Utrecht.
May 15, 1252
Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad exstirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition.
April 28, 1253
Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, propounds Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for the very first time and declares it to be the essence of Buddhism, in effect founding Nichiren Buddhism.
April 13, 1256
The Grand Union of the Augustinian order formed when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.
May 4, 1256
The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.
October 24, 1260
The spectacular Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France; the cathedral is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
February 26, 1266
Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
October 29, 1268
Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the Hohenstaufen dynasty of Kings of Germany and Holy Roman Emperors, is executed along with his companion Frederick I, Margrave of Baden by Charles I of Sicily, a political rival and ally to the hostile Roman Catholic church.
October 12, 1279
Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk founder of Nichiren Buddhism, inscribes the Dai-Gohonzon
April 1, 1293
Robert Winchelsey leaves England for Rome, to be consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury.
December 13, 1294
Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
December 24, 1294
Pope Boniface VIII is elected Pope, replacing St. Celestine V, who had resigned.
April 20, 1303
The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII.
March 27, 1309
Pope Clement V excommunicates Venice and all its population.
July 26, 1309
Henry VII is recognized King of the Romans by Pope Clement V.
May 26, 1328
William of Ockham, Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena and two other Franciscan leaders secretly leave Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.
March 27, 1329
Pope John XXII issues his In Agro Dominico condemning some writings of Meister Eckhart as heretical.
August 9, 1329
Quilon the first Indian Diocese is erected by Pope John XXII and Jordanus is appointed the first Bishop
July 6, 1348
Papal bull of Pope Clement VI protecting Jews during the Black Death.
May 13, 1373
Julian of Norwich has visions which are later transcribed in her Revelations.
May 22, 1377
Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.
September 20, 1378
Cardinal Robert of Geneva, called by some the Butcher of Cesena, is elected as Avignon Pope Clement VII, beginning the Papal schism.
June 8, 1405
Richard le Scrope, Archbishop of York and Thomas Mowbray, Earl of Norfolk, are executed in York on Henry IV's orders.
April 10, 1407
the lama Deshin Shekpa visits the Ming Dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded with the title Great Treasure Prince of Dharma.
June 26, 1409
Western Schism: the Roman Catholic church is led into a double schism as Petros Philargos is crowned Pope Alexander V after the Council of Pisa, joining Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XII in Avignon.
May 4, 1415
Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
May 30, 1416
The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, burns Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.
May 30, 1431
in Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal. Because of this the Catholic Church remember this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc.
January 24, 1438
The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.
March 1, 1457
The Unitas Fratrum is established in the village of Kunvald, on the Bohemian-Moravian borderland. It is to date the second oldest Protestant denomination.
August 3, 1492
The Jews of Spain are expelled by the Catholic Monarchs.
May 23, 1498
Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy, on the orders of Pope Alexander VI.
May 28, 1503
James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor are married according to a Papal Bull by Pope Alexander VI. A Treaty of Everlasting Peace between Scotland and England signed on that occasion results in a peace that lasts ten years.
December 10, 1508
The League of Cambrai is formed by Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon as an alliance against Venice.
October 31, 1517
Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther posts his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
June 15, 1520
Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther in papal bull Exsurge Domine.
December 10, 1520
Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate.
January 3, 1521
Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
April 17, 1521
Martin Luther speaks to the assembly at the Diet of Worms, refusing to recant his teachings.
January 21, 1525
The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
June 13, 1525
Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for priests and nuns.
May 6, 1527
Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. 147 Swiss Guards, including their commander, die fighting the forces of Charles V in order to allow Pope Clement VII to escape into Castel Sant'Angelo.
October 11, 1531
Huldrych Zwingli is killed in battle with the Roman Catholic cantons of Switzerland.
December 9, 1531
The Virgin of Guadalupe first appeared to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico.
December 17, 1531
Pope Clement VII establishes a parallel body to the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal.
May 28, 1533
The Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declares the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn valid.
May 6, 1536
King Henry VIII orders English language Bibles be placed in every church.
October 4, 1537
The first complete English-language Bible (the Matthew Bible) is printed, with translations by William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale.
May 26, 1538
Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
June 10, 1539
Council of Trent: Paul III sends out letters to his bishops, delaying the Council due to war and the difficulty bishops had traveling to Venice.
September 27, 1540
The Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) receives its charter from Pope Paul III.
April 7, 1541
Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies.
March 21, 1556
In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake.
January 18, 1562
Pope Pius IV reopens the Council of Trent for its third and final session.
December 4, 1563
The final session of the Council of Trent is held (it opened on December 13, 1545).
January 26, 1564
The Council of Trent issues its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
January 28, 1573
Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.
October 10, 1575
Battle of Dormans: Roman Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeat the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.
July 17, 1586
A meeting takes place at Lüneburg between several Protestant powers in order to discuss the formation of an 'evangelical' league of defence, called the 'Confederatio Militiae Evangelicae', against the Catholic League.
March 14, 1590
Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots defeat the forces of the Catholic League under the Duc de Mayenne during the French Wars of Religion.
September 27, 1590
Pope Urban VII dies 13 days after being chosen as the Pope, making his reign the shortest papacy in history.
March 1, 1593
The Uppsala Synod is summoned to confirm the exact forms of the Lutheran Church of Sweden.
February 17, 1600
The philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive at Campo de' Fiori in Rome for heresy.
March 4, 1611
George Abbot is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.
April 28, 1611
Establishment of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines, the largest Catholic university in the world.
November 8, 1620
The Battle of White Mountain takes place near Prague, ending in a decisive Catholic victory in only two hours.
March 12, 1622
Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, is canonized a saint by the Catholic Church.
June 22, 1633
The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe.
November 11, 1634
Following pressure from Anglican bishop John Atherton, the Irish House of Commons passes "An Act for the Punishment for the Vice of Buggery".
October 9, 1635
Founder of Rhode Island Roger Williams is banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a religious dissident after he speaks out against punishments for religious offenses and giving away Native American land.
September 2, 1649
The Italian city of Castro is completely destroyed by the forces of Pope Innocent X, ending the Wars of Castro.
October 14, 1656
Massachusetts enacts the first punitive legislation against the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). The marriage of church-and-state in Puritanism makes them regard the ritual-free Quakers as spiritually apostate and politically subversive.
June 3, 1658
Pope Alexander VII appoints François de Laval vicar apostolic in New France.
February 12, 1689
The Convention Parliament convenes and declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.
March 31, 1717
A sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, provokes the Bangorian Controversy.
November 9, 1720
The synagogue of Yehudah he-Hasid is burned down by Arab creditors, leading to the expulsion of the Ashkenazim from Jerusalem.
May 24, 1738
John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day.
March 22, 1784
The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current place in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.
November 26, 1784
The Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of the United States established.
June 29, 1786
Alexander Macdonell and over five hundred Roman Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario.
January 23, 1789
Georgetown College, the first Roman Catholic college in the United States, is founded in Georgetown, Maryland (now a part of Washington, D.C.)
November 6, 1789
Pope Pius VI appoints Father John Carroll as the first Catholic bishop in the United States.
November 15, 1791
The first U.S Catholic college, Georgetown University, opens its doors.
September 2, 1792
During what became known as the September Massacres of the French Revolution, rampaging mobs slaughter three Roman Catholic Church bishops, more than two hundred priests, and prisoners believed to be royalist sympathizers.
February 10, 1798
Louis Alexandre Berthier invades Rome, proclaims a Roman Republic on February 15 and then on February 20 takes Pope Pius VI prisoner.
March 21, 1800
With the church leadership driven out of Rome during an armed conflict, Pius VII is crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché.
April 8, 1808
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baltimore is promoted to an archdiocese, with the founding of the dioceses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Bardstown (now Louisville) by Pope Pius VII.
February 24, 1822
The 1st Swaminarayan temple in the world, Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad, is inaugurated.
September 22, 1823
Joseph Smith, Jr. claims that he is directed by God through the Angel Moroni to the place where the Golden plates are stored.
February 11, 1826
Swaminarayan wrote the Shikshapatri, an important test within the Swaminarayan faith.
September 21, 1827
Joseph Smith, Jr. is reportedly visited by the angel Moroni, who gave him a record of gold plates, one-third of which Smith has translated into The Book of Mormon.
April 6, 1830
The Church of Christ is organized by Joseph Smith, Jr. and others at Fayette, New York.
November 27, 1830
St. Catherine Laboure experienced a vision of the Blessed Virgin standing on a globe, crushing the feet of a serpent, and eminating rays of light from her hands.
March 24, 1832
In Hiram, Ohio a group of men beat, tar and feather Mormon leader Joseph Smith, Jr..
February 14, 1835
The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.
October 27, 1838
Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs issues the Extermination Order, which orders all Mormons to leave the state or be exterminated.
June 17, 1839
In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issues the Edict of toleration which gives Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaii Catholic Church and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace is later established as a result.
August 15, 1843
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
March 21, 1844
The original date predicted by William Miller for the return of Christ.
May 22, 1844
Persian Prophet The Báb announces his revelation, founding Bábism. He announces to the world the coming of "He whom God shall make manifest". He is considered the forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith.
May 23, 1844
Declaration of the Báb: a merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement that would later be brutally crushed by the Persian government. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Bahá'í Faith, and Bahá'ís celebrate the day as a holy day.
June 27, 1844
Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are murdered by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail.
October 22, 1844
The Great Anticipation: Millerites, followers of William Miller, anticipated the end of the world in conjunction with the Second Advent of Christ. The following day became known as the Great Disappointment.
October 9, 1845
The eminent and controversial Anglican, John Henry Newman, is received into the Roman Catholic Church.
May 1, 1846
The few remaining Mormons left in Nauvoo, Illinois, formally dedicate the Nauvoo Temple.
June 16, 1846
The Papal conclave of 1846 concludes. Pope Pius IX is elected pope, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy (not counting St. Peter).
July 3, 1849
The French enter Rome in order to restore Pope Pius IX to power. This would prove a major obstacle to Italian unification.
September 29, 1850
The Roman Catholic hierarchy is re-established in England and Wales by Pope Pius IX.
December 9, 1851
The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal, Quebec.
November 18, 1852
Rose Philippine Duchesne dies in St. Charles, Missouri. She is canonized on July 3, 1988 by Pope John Paul II.
December 8, 1854
Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogma of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was born free of original sin.
June 9, 1856
Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa and head west for Salt Lake City carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts.
April 21, 1863
Bahá'u'lláh, considered the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, declares his mission as "He whom God shall make manifest".
May 23, 1863
Organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan.
June 26, 1870
The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States.
September 19, 1870
Having invaded the Papal States a week earlier, the Italian Army lays siege to Rome, entering the city the next day, after which the Pope described himself as a Prisoner in the Vatican.
September 20, 1871
Bishop John Coleridge Patteson martyred on the island of Nukapu, a Polynesian outlier island now in the Temotu province of the Solomon Islands. He is the first bishop of Melanesia.
July 23, 1874
Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos is appointed the Archbishop of the Portuguese colonial enclave of Goa.
December 26, 1883
The Harbour Grace Affray between Irish Catholics and Protestant Orangemen causes five deaths in Newfoundland.
November 1, 1886
Ananda College, a leading Buddhist school in Sri Lanka is established with 37 students.
April 10, 1887
On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of The Catholic University of America.
September 24, 1890
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy.
May 15, 1891
Rerum Novarum, the first document of the Catholic Social Teaching tradition, is published by Pope Leo XIII.
April 6, 1893
Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is dedicated by Wilford Woodruff.
November 8, 1901
Bloody clashes take place in Athens following the translation of the Gospels into demotic Greek.
May 9, 1911
The works of Gabriele D'Annunzio placed by the Vatican in the Index of Forbidden Books.
May 13, 1917
Three children report the first apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal.
September 13, 1917
Last apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal where the Miracle of the Sun happened and the Lady revealed her identity to the three shepherd children
October 13, 1917
The "Miracle of the Sun" is witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people in the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal.
November 5, 1917
St. Tikhon of Moscow is elected the Patriarch of Moscow and of the Russian Orthodox Church.
April 6, 1919
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi orders a General Strike.
May 16, 1920
In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc as a saint.
March 18, 1922
In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience. He would serve only 2 years.
June 10, 1925
Inaugural service for the United Church of Canada, a union of Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregationalist churches, held in Toronto Arena.
December 11, 1925
Quas Primas Roman Catholic papal encyclical introduces the Feast of Christ the King.
October 2, 1928
The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", commonly known as Opus Dei, is founded by Saint Josemaría Escrivá.
November 18, 1930
Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai, a Buddhist association later renamed Soka Gakkai, is founded by Japanese educators Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda.
December 8, 1935
The Japanese military police launches a violent suppression of the religious sect Oomoto, beginning with a crackdown on the sect's operational bases of Ayabe and Kameoka in Kyoto Prefecture and the arrest of its leader Onisaburo Deguchi.
October 25, 1938
The Archbishop of Dubuque, Francis J. L. Beckman, denounces Swing music as "a degenerated musical system... turned loose to gnaw away at the moral fiber of young people", warning that it leads down a "primrose path to hell".
March 2, 1939
Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected Pope and takes the name Pius XII.
January 25, 1941
Pope Pius XII elevates the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese. It becomes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.
April 26, 1946
Father Divine, a controversial religious leader who claims to be God, marries the much-younger Edna Rose Ritchings, a celebrated anniversary in the International Peace Mission movement.
November 1, 1950
Pope Pius XII witnesses "The Miracle of the Sun" while at the Vatican.
November 1, 1950
Pope Pius XII claims Papal Infallibility when he formally defines the dogma of the Assumption of Mary.
November 17, 1950
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, is enthroned as the leader of Tibet at the age of fifteen.
December 12, 1950
Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.
September 11, 1955
Dedication of the first Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Europe, the Bern Switzerland Temple.
January 8, 1956
Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
May 24, 1956
Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha's Parinibbāna.
October 14, 1956
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Indian Untouchable leader, converts to Buddhism along with 385,000 followers (see Neo-Buddhism).
March 1, 1958
Samuel Alphonsus Stritch, is appointed Pro-Prefect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first American member of the Roman Curia.
October 13, 1958
Burial of Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XII on the 41st anniversary of the "Miracle of the Sun".
March 10, 1959
Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, 300,000 Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama's palace to prevent his removal.
March 17, 1959
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.
March 31, 1959
The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
September 12, 1960
John F. Kennedy avers he does not speak for the Roman Catholic Church, and neither does the Church speak for him.
October 11, 1962
Second Vatican Council: Pope John XXIII convenes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years.
May 8, 1963
Soldiers of Catholic South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem open fire on Buddhists defying a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesak, killing nine.
November 21, 1964
Second Vatican Council: The third session of the Roman Catholic Church's ecumenical council closes.
October 4, 1965
Becoming the first Pope to ever visit the United States of America and the Western hemisphere, Pope Paul VI arrives in New York.
October 28, 1965
Nostra Aetate, the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions" of the Second Vatican Council, is promulgated by Pope Paul VI; it absolves the Jews of the alleged killing of Jesus, reversing Innocent III's 760 year-old declaration.
December 7, 1965
Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras simultaneously lift mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054.
June 14, 1966
The Vatican announces the abolition of the index librorum prohibitum (index of prohibited books), which was originally instituted in 1557.
August 22, 1968
Pope Paul VI arrives in Bogotá, Colombia. It is the first visit of a pope to Latin America.
September 14, 1975
The first American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, is canonized by Pope Paul VI.
November 10, 1975
United Nations Resolution 3379: United Nations General Assembly approves a resolution equating Zionism with racism (the resolution is repealed in December 1991 with Resolution 4686).
August 26, 1978
Papal conclave, 1978 (August): Pope John Paul I is elected to the Papacy.
October 16, 1978
Pope John Paul II is elected after the October 1978 Papal conclave.
November 12, 1978
As Bishop of Rome Pope John Paul II takes possession of his Cathedral Church, the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
November 18, 1978
Jonestown incident: In Guyana, Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple cult in a mass murder-suicide that claims 918 lives in all, 909 of them at Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo J. Ryan is assassinated by members of Peoples Temple shortly beforehand.
March 4, 1979
The first encyclical written by Pope John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis (Latin for "The Redeemer of Man") is promulgated less than five months after his installation as pope.
June 2, 1979
Pope John Paul II visits his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.
September 29, 1979
Pope John Paul II became the first pope to set foot on Irish soil with his pastoral visit to the Republic of Ireland.
October 6, 1979
Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House.
November 20, 1979
Grand Mosque Seizure: About 200 Sunni Muslims revolt in Saudi Arabia at the site of the Kaaba in Mecca during the pilgrimage and take about 6000 hostages. The Saudi government receives help from French special forces to put down the uprising.
December 5, 1979
Sonia Johnson is formally excommunicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for her outspoken criticism of the church concerning the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
May 9, 1980
The first meeting of Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury takes place in Ghana.
May 13, 1981
Mehmet Ali Ağca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome. The Pope is rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery and survives.
May 12, 1982
During a procession outside the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, security guards overpower Juan Fernandez Krohn before he can attack Pope John Paul II with a bayonet. Krohn, an ultraconservative Spanish priest opposed to the Vatican II reforms, believed that the Pope had to be killed for being an "agent of Moscow".
September 7, 1986
Desmond Tutu becomes the first black man to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa.
January 1, 1988
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
February 29, 1988
South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town
November 16, 1989
A death squad composed of El Salvadoran army troops kills six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.
September 10, 1990
The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire – the largest church in Africa is consecrated by Pope John Paul II.
March 23, 1994
A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster.
February 24, 1996
The last occurrence of February 24 as a leap day in the European Union and for the Roman Catholic Church.
December 22, 1997
Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
January 25, 1998
During a historic visit to Cuba Pope John Paul II demands the release of political prisoners and political reforms while condemning US attempts to isolate the country.
March 16, 1998
Pope John Paul II asks God for forgiveness for the inactivity and silence of some Roman Catholics during the Holocaust.
July 10, 1998
Roman Catholic sex abuse cases: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by former priest Rudolph Kos.
May 7, 1999
Pope John Paul II travels to Romania becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.
October 31, 1999
Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran Church leaders sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, ending a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation.
June 13, 2000
Italy pardons Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981.
November 5, 2000
Emperor Haile Selassie I is given an Imperial funeral by the Ethiopian Orthodox church
June 10, 2001
Pope John Paul II canonizes Lebanon's first female saint Saint Rafqa
February 27, 2003
Rowan Williams is enthroned as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury in the Anglican church.
November 27, 2004
Pope John Paul II returns the relics of Saint John Chrysostom to the Eastern Orthodox Church.
November 30, 2005
John Sentamu becomes the first black archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York.
January 12, 2006
Turkey releases Mehmet Ali Ağca from jail after he served 25 years for shooting Pope John Paul II.
June 6, 2007
A German man jumps on to the Popemobile in Vatican City, Rome. It is a possible attempt to injure or kill Pope Benedict XVI. The Pope is not injured and Bodyguards wrestled the man to the ground.
September 14, 2007
Restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass are officially removed in the Roman Catholic Church as Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum takes effect.
April 4, 2008
The raid on the FLDS owned ranch called the YFZ Ranch in Texas, 401 children are taken into custody. 133 woman are taken into state custody also, the total number of woman and children is 534.
January 24, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI rescinds the excommunications of four bishops consecrated without papal consent in 1988 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
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