TODAY IN HISTORY

In A.D. 155, Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna (present-day Izmir, Turkey) and an early Church Father who was a disciple of the Apostle John, was martyred. Arrested at age 86, Polycarp was burned at the stake by the Romans for refusing to deny the Christian faith.

In 303, Roman Emperor Diocletian began his Great Persecution, issuing edicts calling for church buildings to be destroyed, sacred writings burned, Christians to lose civil rights, and clergy to be imprisoned and forced to sacrifice. In 1455 (traditional date), Johannes Gutenberg published the Bible, the first book ever printed on a press with movable type.

In 1468, German printer Johannes Gutenberg died.

In 1836, the siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas. Mexican troops under Gen. Santa Anna eventually wiped out the American garrison. Among those killed was frontiersman Davy Crockett.