Today is Monday, September 21, 2009.

Today is Monday, September 21, 2009.

On this day in history:

1452 - Birth of Girolamo Savonarola, Italian reformer. A Dominican from
1474, he was famous for his religious zeal. For 14 years he
led in the reformation of Florence, before attacks on
Alexander VI led to his excommunication. In 1498, he was
convicted of heresy, hanged and burned.

1522 - Martin Luther, 36, first published his German translation of the
New Testament. (Luther's translation of the entire Bible was
completed in 1534 -- perhaps the greatest literary achievement
of the great Reformer.)

1814 - Francis Scott Key's patriotic verses, entitled "The Star
Spangled Banner," were first published in "The Baltimore
American." (The poem became the American National Anthem in
1931.)

1848 - The Arkansas Baptist State Convention was organized in Tulip,
Arkansas, by 72 delegates from several area-wide Baptist
churches and organizations. It was the first statewide Baptist
organization in the history of Arkansas.

1933 - In Germany during Hitler's rise to power, Martin Niemoeller
began organizing the Pastors' Emergency League. Over 7,000
churches joined, although some 2,500 later withdrew under Nazi
pressure. (The League itself gave birth to the more famous
Barmen Synod, formed in May 1934.)