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0884
Pope Marinus I died.
1174
Nur ad-Din Mahmud bin Zengi dies. Saladin would eventually take over for him, controlling a Muslim empire that stretches from the Tigris river to the Libyan desert and surrounding the Crusader states on three sides. First, though, Saladin had to defeat ed-Din's son As-Salih Ismail.
1252
Torture to elicit confessions is first authorized by Pope Innocent IV in his Bull Ad exstirpanda of May 15, 1252, which was confirmed by Pope Alexander IV in 1259 and by Clement IV in 1265. In Ad exstirpanda Innocent IV wrote: "When those adjudged guilty of heresy have been given up to the civil power by the bishop or his representative, or the Inquisition, the podest or chief magistrate of the city shall take them at once, and shall, within five days at the most, execute the laws made against them. " He also ordered that this Bull and corresponding regulations of Frederick II be entered in every city among the municipal statutes under pain of excommunication, a punishment also visited on those who failed to follow the papal and imperial decrees.
1455
Pope Callistus III proclaims a crusade against the Turks in order to recapture the city of Constantinople. Despite pleas for help, few European leaders had sent any assistance to Constantinople when the siege began and even the papacy sent a mere 200 knights. Thus, this new call for a Crusade was too little, too late.
1665
Pope Alexander VII issued a statement condemning Jansenism.
1672
The first copyright law of the American colonies was enacted by Massachusetts.
1941
The Nazi occupation government in the Netherlands prohibited the playing of Jewish music.
1962
Madalyn Murray (later O'Hair) appealed to the Supreme Court in her case to force the end of required Bible readings and recitations of the Lord's Prayer in public schools.
1972
Decided: Wisconsin v. Yoder
The Supreme Court ruled 6 to 1 that the compulsory education law in Wisconsin violated the Free Exercise Clause for Amish parents.
1980
Pope John Paul II wrote to the German Bishops Conference that "I am convinced that the doctrine of [papal] infallibility is in a certain sense the key to the certainty with which the faith is confessed and proclaimed, as well as to the life and conduct of the faithful. For once this essential foundation is shaken or destroyed, the most basic truths of our faith likewise begin to break down."
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