Today in History: Saturday, January 03, 2015 AP Highlight in History: Jan 3, 1521: Martin Luther excommunicated Previous DayJanuary 3CalendarNext Day On January 3, 1521, Pope Leo X issues the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem, which excommunicates Martin Luther from the Catholic Church. Martin Luther, the chief catalyst of Protestantism, was a professor of biblical interpretation at the University of Wittenberg in Germany when he drew up his 95 theses condemning the Catholic Church for its corrupt practice of selling indulgences, or the forgiveness of sins. He followed up the revolutionary work with equally controversial and groundbreaking theological works, and his fiery words set off religious reformers all across Europe. In January 1521, Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther. Three months later, Luther was called to defend his beliefs before Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms, where he was famously defiant. For his refusal to recant his writings, the emperor declared him an outlaw and a heretic. Luther was protected by powerful German princes, however, and by his death in 1546, the course of Western civilization had been significantly altered. On Jan. 3, 1959, Alaska became the 49th state. AP Photo/Harvey Georges On this date in: 1521 Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. 1777 Gen. George Washingtons army routed the British in the Battle of Princeton, N.J. 1868 The Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of Japans emperor and heralded the fall of the military rulers known as shoguns. 1892 J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. 1938 The March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was organized. 1961 The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba. 1967 Jack Ruby, the man who fatally shot accused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, died in a Dallas hospital. 1990 Ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vaticans diplomatic mission in Panama City. Audio Link President George H.W. Bush announces the surrender AP Photo 2000 The last new daily Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schulz ran in 2,600 newspapers. 2004 NASAs Mars rover, Spirit, touched down on the red planet. 2006 Lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion and agreed to cooperate in investigations of corruption in Congress. 2009 After seven days of pummeling the Gaza Strip from the air, Israel launched a ground offensive.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 16:26:38 +0000
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