The first St. Patrick's Day parade is held in New York City - March 29

Death at Newark, New Jersey, of hymn writer Ray Palmer. His most famous hymn is “My Faith Looks Up to Thee.”

1139 - In the bull "Omne Datum Optimum," Pope Innocent II grants the Templars "every best gift," and makes them an independent unit within the church. Created to protect pilgrims from bandits in the Holy Land, the Templars rose in influence and wealth and eventually earned the jealousy of other Christians.

1190 - Crusades complete massacre of Jews of York England.

1547 - English reformer John Hooper and his wife are welcomed to Zurich by Heinrich Bullinger, having temporarily left England because of persecution by King Henry VIII. Hooper will perish at the stake under Mary Tudor.

1549 - The first Jesuits arrived in Brazil led by Father Manuel de Nobrega.

1751 - Death of Captain Thomas Coram. Appalled at the sight of children dying in London's streets, he had urged the creation of the Foundling Hospital in that city. The orphanage will be claimed as the world’s first incorporated charity and in its chapel the captain’s remains will be interred on April 3.

1762 - The first St. Patrick's Day parade is held in New York City.

1788 - Death of Charles Wesley in London. An evangelist like his more famous brother, John, he also wrote many hymns of the highest quality.

1882 - Death at Clifton, England (near Bristol), of Dora Greenwell, Christian poet and hymn writer. Her two best-known hymns are “And Art Thou Come with us to Dwell?” and “I Am Not Skilled to Understand.”

1887 - Death at Newark, New Jersey, of hymn writer Ray Palmer. His most famous hymn is “My Faith Looks Up to Thee.”

1926 - Dutch Calvinists oust Rev. J. G. Geelkerken over Genesis 3.

1927 - Death of Ambrosius of Georgia in Tbilisi. He had been the patriarch of all Georgia, a historian of his people and their church, and a staunch opponent of Soviet communism. The Soviets had imprisoned him and his death came shortly after his release.

1991 - Ezra Lawiri is fatally wounded by an artillery shell as the Sudanese battle surrounds him. An Episcopal priest, educator, author, and translator, he had refused to take refuge in Kenya, saying death would overtake him wherever he was when his time came.

– Sources: Christian History Institute, christianitytoday.com