366: A Tragic Clash After a Contested Election
On this day in 366, violence erupted in Rome after rival candidates, Damasus and Ursinus, were elected to succeed Bishop Liberius. Ancient historian Ammianus Marcellinus reports that 137 of Ursinus’s supporters were found slain in the basilica where they had gathered, cut down when Damasus’s backers forced their way in during the struggle. The scene is a sobering reminder of how ambition can corrupt even sacred callings and how quickly Christian witness is harmed when power eclipses holiness. Yet God remains faithful, calling His people to humility, repentance, and peace.

664: Cedd Finishes His Course in Peace
October 26, 664 marks the peaceful end of Cedd, bishop and missionary to the East Saxons. Trained in the gospel’s discipline of prayer and preaching, he carried Christ to a people long unsettled in faith, winning King Sigeberht’s trust, establishing churches, and founding a monastery at Lastingham to form believers in holy living. After serving at the Synod of Whitby as a translator, he returned to shepherd his flock. When plague swept the land, Cedd did not withdraw to save himself; he continued in ministry until he died, testifying that the Good Shepherd is worth every cost.

686: Eata of Hexham Perseveres Through Upheaval
On October 26, 686, Eata of Hexham died after decades of steady service through some of the most contested years of the English church. Formed in the Lindisfarne tradition and later abbot at Melrose, he helped shape a generation of leaders, including Cuthbert, and was repeatedly entrusted with difficult posts as abbot and bishop at Lindisfarne and Hexham. In the wake of the Synod of Whitby and the tensions it exposed, Eata was known for patience, humility, and a quiet commitment to peace without compromise in devotion to Christ. His life reminds us that steadfast love can hold believers together when change and conflict threaten to divide.

899: Alfred the Great’s Passing
Alfred of Wessex died on October 26, 899, likely at Winchester, after years of suffering and steadfast rule. His courage against the Danish invasions—especially after the dark winter at Athelney and the hard-won victory at Edington—helped preserve a Christian England when the faith seemed in peril. Yet his legacy reaches beyond battle: he sought to strengthen the church, promote godly order in law, and revive learning by translating key works into English and training leaders to read and judge wisely. His life reminds us that faithfulness can rebuild a nation.

1277: A Legacy of Stewardship for Learning and Service
On October 26, 1277, Walter of Merton—Bishop of Rochester and founder of the House of Scholars that became Merton College, Oxford—revised his will so that his fortune would secure the college’s future, while still directing much of his endowment to support his many cousins and nephews. In an age when wealth commonly vanished into private heirs, he chose a broader mercy: providing stability for disciplined study, godly formation, and service to church and realm. His careful statutes and final generosity reflect faithful stewardship, charity toward family, and long obedience that outlived him.

1633: A Shepherd for a Newtown Flock
On October 26, 1633, the congregation at Newtown (now Cambridge), Massachusetts, chose Thomas Hooker as its pastor, receiving a man who had crossed the Atlantic after persecution in England for preaching with conviction and freedom. With fellow minister Samuel Stone, Hooker strengthened a young community to live as a God-fearing people, shaped by Scripture, prayer, and accountable fellowship. His call testified that Christ preserves His church by raising courageous shepherds, and it encouraged believers to endure hardship without bitterness, trusting the Lord to turn exile into fruitful service.

1751: Philip Doddridge’s Homegoing
Philip Doddridge died on October 26, 1751, in Lisbon, where he had gone hoping the warmer climate might ease a lifetime of weakness and illness. Though offered a free education at Cambridge if he would take Anglican ordination, he chose conscience over advantage and served faithfully as a gospel minister and teacher, shaping many through preaching, pastoral care, and training future pastors. His enduring book, The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, would later be used to awaken William Wilberforce and others to vital faith, and his more than four hundred hymns, including “O Happy Day,” still call hearts to Christ.

1775: Phillis Wheatley Praises Washington in Faith
On October 26, 1775, Phillis Wheatley—an enslaved believer in Boston whose poetry openly praised Christ—sent George Washington lines later published as “To His Excellency General Washington,” calling him “first in peace and honors.” In an age that often denied her dignity, she used her God-given gifts to speak truth and courage into the public square, urging virtuous leadership under Heaven. Washington received her words with respect and, in 1776, replied and invited her to visit his Cambridge headquarters—an exchange that quietly testified to providence, courage, and the worth of every person made in God’s image.

1779: God Gives More Than He Takes
On October 26, 1779, Anglican pastor and hymnwriter John Newton—once a hardened slave trader, later a humbled servant of Christ—wrote in a letter, “The Lord is so rich that He easily can—so good that He certainly will—give His children more than He will ever take away.” Newton’s words came from a life that had tasted both deep shame and deeper mercy, and they offered steady comfort to believers facing loss, discipline, or change. He pointed troubled hearts to the Father’s character: unlimited in resources, unwavering in goodness, and faithful to turn every deprivation into lasting spiritual gain.

1813: Songs for the Church’s Pilgrims
Henry Thomas Smart was born on October 26, 1813, in London, and would spend his gifts strengthening the church’s praise. Though largely self-taught, he rose to serve as a respected organist in prominent London parishes, shaping congregational singing with melodies that carried sturdy doctrine on worshiping lips. Two of his tunes still ring out wherever believers gather—LANCASHIRE (“Lead On, O King Eternal”) and REGENT SQUARE (“Angels From the Realms of Glory”). In later years, even as blindness came, Smart continued to labor, reminding us that faithful service is not measured by ease, but by perseverance in God’s calling.

1889: Stones That Speak
Millar Burrows was born October 26, 1889, and would become a respected American archaeologist and biblical scholar whose careful work helped many believers trust the historical setting of Scripture. Serving as director of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem (1931–32; 1947–48), he labored among the lands of the Bible with patient discipline and reverence for truth. His most popular book, What Mean These Stones? (1941), invited ordinary readers to see how archaeology can illuminate God’s Word. In an age of doubt, Burrows modeled steady scholarship in service of enduring faith.

1928: A Life Spent Calling People to Christ
Reuben A. Torrey died on October 26, 1928, closing a ministry marked by fearless confidence in God’s Word and the power of prayer. After pastoring Chicago’s Moody Avenue Church, he helped shape generations of gospel workers as the first superintendent of the Moody Bible Institute and later the first superintendent of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (Biola). As an editor of The Fundamentals, he labored to defend historic Christian truth and strengthen believers in a time of growing doubt. His enduring witness urges today’s Christians to preach Christ plainly, rely on the Spirit, and hold the faith with courage.

1929: Faithful Shepherd Under Arrest
On October 26, 1929, Orthodox priest Innocent Semyonovich Popov was arrested during the Soviet anti-religious campaign, accused of urging believers to preserve the church, hosting illegal meetings in his flat, and stirring public “disturbance” simply by refusing to be silent. In the year that followed, the state sentenced him to death, treating pastoral courage as a crime; yet the sentence was later commuted to five years in prison. Popov’s ordeal testifies that the gospel cannot be chained: when public worship is threatened, steadfast prayer, brave witness, and care for Christ’s flock become holy resistance.

1944: A Shepherd for Church and Nation
On October 26, 1944, William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, died in London after months of failing health, having served barely two years yet leaving a weighty witness. In dark wartime days his radio broadcasts called the nation to courage, repentance, and hope, insisting that public life remains answerable to God. He pressed Christians to love their neighbors in concrete ways, shaping thought on social responsibility while refusing to separate mercy from truth. His ecumenical labors sought visible unity for faithful mission. Through writings like Nature, Man and God and The Faith and Modern Thought, he urged clear, worshipful belief in a modern world.

1948: A Fellowship for Unity and Witness
On October 26, 1948, leaders from twenty-four Pentecostal bodies across the United States and Canada gathered in Des Moines, Iowa, to organize the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America. In a season when division came easily, they chose the harder path of brotherly love—praying together, listening patiently, and affirming that the gospel is greater than secondary disputes. The association committed to meet annually to strengthen cooperation in evangelism, missions, and practical help, so that Christ would be honored and His people would stand together before a watching world. Their humility and courage still call believers to pursue unity in truth and holiness.

1963: Nothing Much Can Go Wrong
On October 26, 1963, only weeks before his death at 65, C.S. Lewis wrote to a child with disarming simplicity: “If you continue to love Jesus, nothing much can go wrong with you, and I hope you may always do so.” Near the end of a life marked by sharp intellect, public witness, and private suffering, Lewis pointed past arguments to the heart of Christian endurance—steady love for Christ. The famed apologist who helped many think clearly about faith also reminded a young believer that the safest place is trustful devotion to Jesus, whatever may come.