April 1, 1826 - Sometimes, the Lord works in very interesting ways. When Baptist missionary Jonathan Goble arrived in Japan on April 1, 1826, he was completely unaware that his wife would become seriously ill eleven years later. In response to advice he received from Japanese doctors, he instructed his wife to spend ample time outdoors. He was also told to have four men carry her about, but Goble was not satisfied with this. As a result, he invented a two-wheeled cart pulled with long poles, thus creating the rickshaw. While he never claimed a patent for his invention, he certainly improved the working lives of many that he came in contact with.

Francis Asbury, a driving force behind early American Methodism, died on March 31, 1816. An English-born missionary, Asbury traveled thousands of miles on horseback across the American frontier, preaching and organizing Methodist societies.

On March 30, 1533, Thomas Cranmer was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by King Henry VIII. Though initially reluctant, Cranmer became a central architect of the English Reformation.

Hans Nielsen Hauge died on March 29, 1824, after a life marked by spiritual awakening and repeated imprisonment. Growing up in Norway under a state Lutheran church system, Hauge experienced a profound conversion in 1796 and began preaching without official authorization.

The First Vatican Council (1869–1870) formally defined the doctrine of papal infallibility, teaching that the pope is preserved from error when speaking ex cathedra on matters of faith and morals. The declaration was controversial, even within Catholic circles.

The late fourteenth century witnessed one of the most confusing crises in church history. For decades, the papacy had resided in Avignon, France, rather than Rome. Political pressures and factional divisions complicated the church’s leadership and credibility.