November 19, 1861: At the suggestion of her minister, abolitionist Julia Ward Howe wrote "some good words to that tune" of the popular song "John Brown's Body." In February, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" was published in the Atlantic Monthly and became very popular, especially after the Civil War.

November 20, 1541: In Switzerland, French reformer John Calvin, 32, established a theocratic government at Geneva, thereby creating a home base for emergent Protestantism throughout Europe.

November 20, 1572: The first Presbyterian meeting house in England is established at Wandsworth, Surrey.

November 20, 1620: Peregrine White, son of William and Susanna White, is the first child born on the Mayflower.

November 21, 235 (traditional date): Anterus is elected pope, a position he would hold for only a few weeks. According to the Liber pontificalis, he was martyred for ordering the "acts of the martyrs" to be written down and put in the church library.

November 22, 1220: Pope Honorius III crowns Frederick II Holy Roman Emperor in an attempt to reestablish relations between emperor and pope. But Frederick's reign would become increasingly anti-papal, messianic, and eschatological. His supporters hailed him as a messiah; his enemies branded him Antichrist. When he died in 1250, both sides were shocked.

November 22, 1873: The French ship Ville du Havre sinks in the north Atlantic, killing all four daughters of Chicago lawyer Horatio G. Spafford. His wife survived, and Spafford immediately booked passage to join her in England. While passing over the spot where his daughters died, he began writing what would become the famous hymn "It Is Well with My Soul."

November 22, 1963: British scholar and author C.S. Lewis dies, the very same day as Aldous Huxley and John F. Kennedy.

November 23, 615: Irish scholar and missionary Columbanus dies in Bobbio, Italy. One of the greatest missionaries of the Middle Ages, he established monasteries in Anegray, Luxeuil, and Fontaines.

November 23, 1654: French scientist and mathematician Blaise Pascal experiences a mystical vision and converts to Christianity. The creator of the first wristwatch, the first bus route, the first workable calculating machine, and other inventions then turned his life to theology.

November 24, 1713: Junipero Serra, "the Apostle of California," is born. The Spanish missionary established nine of the first 21 Franciscan missions in "New Spain," baptizing about 6,000 American Indians.

November 25, 2348 BC:: According to Anglican Archbishop James Ussher's Old Testament chronology, Noah's flood began on this date.

November 25, 1742: The Scottish Society for the Propagating of Christian Knowledge approves David Brainerd as a missionary to the New England Indians.