526 A.D.
Death of Pope Saint John I, the 53rd successsor of Peter who, after crowning Emperor Justinian, was imprisoned by the barbaric King Theodoric who had invaded Italy. John, the first pope to visit Constantinople, died in prison. For more on him, see DAILY LITURGY
964 A.D.
Death of Pope John XII. In one of the more embarassing times of the papacy, this pontiff is said to have had a stroke while bedding his mistress, a married woman. A week later he was dead. It was this pope who reconstituted the Holy Roman Empire, crown Otto I of Germany who later would depose John XII.
872 A.D.
Louis II is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Hadrian II.
1306 A.D.
Pope Clement V excommunicates Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots.
1920 A.D.
Birth of Karol Jozef Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland during the sixth year of
the reign of Pope Benedict XV, 258th Pontiff. Young Karol would become in 1978, the 264th successor of Peter and take the name John Paul II. See our special section today in SPECIAL SALUTE TO THE VICAR OF CHRIST.