Today in History - April 20

  A special thanks to Wikipedia.org for following historical information. The sermons I have chosen from Sermonaudio.com

1653 – Oliver Cromwell dissolves England's Rump Parliament.[3]

I think it was Oliver Cromwell who said: "You need not hope in order to undertake, and you need not succeed in order to persevere." The following sermons and podcasts are on Oliver Cromwell and the English Civil War:

1. Oliver Cromwell: Saint, Soldier, Statesmen, by Dr. Alan Cairns (Text: Hebrews 8)
2. Oliver Cromwell, by Dr. Peter Hammond
3. Oliver Cromwell and His Russet-Coated Heroes, by Bill Potter
4. The Life and Labors of Oliver Cromwell, by Rev. Colin Mercer
5. Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector of England, by Rev. Ian Goligher (Text: 1 Samuel 18:12)

1789 – George Washington arrives at Grays Ferry, Philadelphia, while en route to Manhattan for his inauguration.
1861 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia.[8]

Recommended sermons and podcasts: Would George Washington Have Seceded With Robert E. Lee? by Historian Bill Potter

1862 – Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the experiment disproving the theory of spontaneous generation.

Recommended sermons and podcasts: Luther on Evolution: He Knew Darwin's Arguments, by W. J. Mencarow

1898 – U.S. President William McKinley signs a joint resolution to Congress for declaration of war against Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.[10]

Here is a short excerpt from Howard Zinn's The Twentieth Century (referring to the Spanish-American war):

"A volunteer from this state of Washington wrote: 'Our fighting blood was up, and we all wanted to kill 'n***rs.' ...This shooting human beings beats rabbit hunting all to pieces.' It was a time of intense racism in the United States. In the years between 1889 and 1903, on the average, every week, two Nigroes were lynched by mobs-hanged, burned, mutilated. The Filipinos were brown-skinned and strange looking to Americans...Our men have been relentless, have killed to exterminate men, women, children prisoners and captives. Active insurgents and suspected people from lads ten up, the idea prevailing that the Philippino as such was little better than a dog..."

1945 – Twenty Jewish children used in medical experiments at Neuengamme are killed in the basement of the Bullenhuser Damm school.

Recommended sermons and podcasts:

1. Auschwitz: A Foreshadowing of Hell, by Rev. Ian Brown [Text: Psalm 116:3 (Audio); Psalm 137:7 (Audio)]
2. The Holocaust of Hell, by Dr. David P. Murray [Text: I Thessalonians 1:7-9 (Audio)]
3. Who Brought the Holocaust to America and the World? - Planned Parenthood's 100th by Pastor Kevin Swanson