Today is Thursday, September 17, 2009.

Today is Thursday, September 17, 2009.

On this day in history:

1656 - Massachusetts enacted severe laws against Quakers. (At the time,
government and religion were intricately interwoven; the line
between blasphemy and treason was virtually nonexistent; and
non-sacramental Quakerism gave the impression that the
denomination was anti-government.)

1717 - The first synod of the Presbyterian Church in America met in
Philadelphia.

1776 - Along the western coast of North America, a party of 247 Spanish
colonists consecrated their newly-founded mission, known as
San Francisco.

1787 - The U.S. Constitution -- ratified on this date -- contained the
following code under Article 6, Section 3: 'No religious tests
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or
public trust under the United States.'

1868 - Birth of Walter Gowans, Canadian missions pioneer. In 1893 he
helped found the Sudan Interior Mission in Toronto. Today, SIM
works with African nationals and specializes in church
planting, medicine and broadcasting.