Moments Almanac Episodes

On August 1, Joseph Priestley isolated the gas we now call oxygen. Forty-five years later, Herman Melville was born—and would eventually fill Moby-Dick with images of breathlessness, surrender, judgment, and grace. From Adam’s first breath to Jonah’s prayer beneath the waves, from Father Mapple’s pulpit to Ishmael’s rescue from the sea, this episode follows one invisible gift through science, Scripture, and literature: the breath of life. Every breath is borrowed. Every morning is mercy. So ta...

What do a forgotten Baptist pastor and a future president have in common? On two different August 2nds, separated by more than 150 years, Stephen Gano and John F. Kennedy both found themselves at the mercy of the sea. One survived a prisoner-of-war island during the American Revolution. The other led the survivors of the sinking of PT-109 through shark-infested waters in the South Pacific during World War II. Both men walked away with something far greater than survival. In this episode of Mo...

July 31st holds two men who walked away from the future they were building for themselves. Ignatius of Loyola, a vain young soldier, took a cannonball to the legs at Pamplona in 1521 and came out the other side founding the Jesuits — dying on this date in 1556. Two centuries later, on this same day in 1777, a 19-year-old French nobleman named Lafayette defied his king, crossed an ocean, and asked Congress for a commission with no pay attached. Two very different men, two very different costs, on...

How does Christ preserve His Church when it seems determined to tear itself apart? On this July 30 edition of Moments Almanac, we journey from the dusty roads of sixth-century Syria to the turbulent streets of medieval Prague, tracing two dramatically different responses to conflict within the Christian faith. Meet Jacob Baradaeus, the "Ragged Bishop," who spent thirty-five years disguised in a patchwork robe, quietly ordaining pastors and encouraging scattered believers while an empire tried...

What makes a life successful? On this day in history, two remarkable men reached the end of their earthly journeys under strikingly different circumstances. William Wilberforce spent nearly fifty years fighting the British slave trade. Just days before his death on July 29, 1833, he learned that Parliament had finally passed the legislation that would abolish slavery throughout the British Empire. He died knowing the work of a lifetime had borne fruit. Fifty-seven years later, Vincent van Gog...

On July 28, 1881, J. Gresham Machen was born into a world confident that human progress was inevitable. Thirty-three years later, on that same date, the First World War began—a conflict that would claim nearly sixteen million lives and forever shatter that illusion. Serving with the YMCA in France during the war, Machen witnessed firsthand how quickly civilization can unravel. Returning home, he entered another battle—not on the battlefield, but in the church—defending the historic Christian fa...

Two men stood to speak on the same date in history. One was a young missionary on the American frontier who doubted he had much to offer. Standing beneath a grove of trees near Fort Hall in 1834, Jason Lee preached what he considered a brief, inadequate exhortation to a congregation that could barely understand him. It would later be remembered as the first Protestant sermon preached in the Oregon Country. The other was Maximilien Robespierre, the powerful voice of the French Revolution. Conv...

What happens when God calls someone to a work they will never see completed? On July 26, Moments Almanac remembers Fidelia Fiske, the pioneering missionary who left the comfort of Massachusetts to serve the Nestorian Christians of Persia. For fifteen years she educated young girls, cared for the sick, and faithfully proclaimed Christ in the mountains of Urmia. Then illness forced her home, never to return. Her story is not one of dramatic martyrdom or visible triumph, but of quiet perseveranc...

On July 25, two remarkable moments—separated by seventy-nine years—invite us to stand in awe of the mystery of human life. In 1899, Stuart K. Hine was born in London. His missionary journeys through the Carpathian Mountains would eventually lead him to translate and expand the beloved hymn "How Great Thou Art," a song that celebrates the majesty of God's creation and the God who knows each human soul. Then, on July 25, 1978, Louise Joy Brown entered the world as the first child conceived throu...

844 people boarded a ship they had every reason to trust. Within two minutes, hundreds were gone. In this episode of Moments Almanac, we remember the tragic sinking of the Eastland on July 24, 1915—one of America's deadliest maritime disasters—and the birth of Oswald Chambers, whose quiet life of daily obedience continues to shape millions through My Utmost for His Highest. What do a capsized ship and a devotional writer have in common? Both remind us that life is uncertain, tomorrow is never...

A mother who quietly shaped generations. A dying general racing to finish one last book. On this day in history, two remarkable lives came to their close—Susannah Wesley in 1742 and Ulysses S. Grant in 1885. Though separated by more than a century, both demonstrate the same enduring truth: faithfulness is measured not by fame, but by finishing the task God has entrusted to us. Drawing on Charles Wesley's beloved hymn, A Charge to Keep I Have, this episode reflects on conviction, perseverance,...

Two remarkable journeys began on the same date, separated by more than three centuries. On July 22, 1620, English Pilgrims departed Holland aboard the Speedwell, leaving behind the only home they had known in pursuit of religious freedom. Three hundred thirteen years later, Wiley Post landed in New York after becoming the first person to fly solo around the world. One journey crossed an ocean by faith. The other circled the globe through innovation and courage. Both remind us that life's grea...

On this day in history, two men were born 127 years apart whose lives were joined by a single question. Daniel March gave the Church one of its most enduring missionary hymns: Hark! the Voice of Jesus Calling. More than a century later, Bill McChesney answered that call with his own life, serving as a missionary in the Congo and ultimately giving the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. One wrote the hymn. The other lived it. Join us as we reflect on the voice of Christ that still ...

How do you translate the Bible into a language that has never been written down? On this episode of Moments Almanac, we follow the remarkable life of Marilyn Laszlo, a farm girl from Indiana whose childhood promise to God led her deep into the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Living among the Sepik Iwam people for twenty-five years, she helped create their first written alphabet, translated the New Testament into their language, and watched a once-isolated village embrace God's Word as their own—...

On July 19, two remarkable moments in history—separated by 156 years—invite us to consider the power and weight of a single voice. In 1692, five women were executed during the Salem witch trials, condemned by fear, rumor, and testimony that should never have been enough to take a life. Among them was Rebecca Nurse, a respected Christian woman first declared innocent before a court reversed its verdict. Then, on that same date in 1848, another gathering unfolded in Seneca Falls, New York. There...

On July 18, two remarkable stories unfold more than a century apart, bound together by a common thread: the courage to cross the lines others refused to cross. In 1753, Lemuel Haynes was born into a world that doubted a Black man could shepherd a congregation. Yet through decades of faithful ministry, he transformed suspicion into trust and became one of America's pioneering pastors. Then, on July 18, 1863, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw led the famed 54th Massachusetts into the deadly assault ...

What if one of the greatest revolutions in church history began... with an empty chair? On July 17, 1883, Arthur Flake was born in Texas. Though his name is unfamiliar to many today, his influence has shaped generations of churches across the Southern Baptist Convention. Flake believed that churches shouldn't simply pray for growth—they should prepare for it. In this episode of Moments Almanac, we explore the life of the businessman who became a pioneer in Sunday School ministry, and discover...

Apollo 11, C.T. Studd, and the Journey That Lasts Forever On July 16, the world watched three astronauts launch toward the moon in one of history's greatest engineering achievements. But thirty-eight years earlier, on the same date, another remarkable journey quietly reached its destination. This episode of Moments Almanac contrasts the thunder of Apollo 11 with the faithful life of missionary C.T. Studd, who walked away from fame, fortune, and comfort to spend his life carrying the gospel to...

What does a grieving painter have in common with a lonely spacecraft crossing millions of miles of empty space? On July 15, two remarkable stories converge. In 1606, Rembrandt was born—a man whose deepest losses transformed not only his art but the way generations would see the suffering Christ. More than three centuries later, Mariner 4 became the first spacecraft to reveal Mars as it truly was, replacing centuries of imagination with an unexpected reality. Together, these stories remind us ...

One date. Two revolutions. Two very different ways of changing the world. On July 14, 1789, the storming of the Bastille ignited the French Revolution, unleashing forces that would reshape Europe through violence and upheaval. Forty-four years later, on that same date, an English pastor named John Keble stepped into a pulpit with a different vision for renewal—one rooted not in rage, but in prayer. In this episode of Moments Almanac, we explore the surprising connection between the Bastille, ...

On July 13, 1813, Adoniram Judson stepped onto the shores of Burma with little more than conviction and a calling. What followed was a lifetime marked by unimaginable loss, imprisonment, sacrifice, and quiet faithfulness—but also by a harvest he would scarcely live to see. In this episode of Moments Almanac, we trace Judson's remarkable journey from a discouraged young missionary to the father of the Burmese church. Along the way, we'll reflect on Jesus' call to pray for laborers, hear the stir...

On July 12, 1739, a quiet young man in Connecticut encountered Christ. No one could have imagined that his life would one day inspire generations of missionaries around the world. David Brainerd died believing he had accomplished very little. Expelled from Yale, weakened by tuberculosis, and burdened by deep melancholy, his ministry often seemed marked more by disappointment than success. Yet God was writing a story Brainerd himself would never live to read. In today's Moments Almanac, we ...

July 11, 1850: a wealthy Baltimore family welcomes a daughter who will grow up to refuse every salary she's ever offered and write over 77,000 letters on behalf of missionaries she'd mostly never meet. On today's Moments Almanac, we mark the birthday of Annie Armstrong — the strong-willed, unpaid, occasionally infuriating laywoman behind the Woman's Missionary Union and the Easter offering that still bears her name. This one isn't a hero story. It's an honest one — and it might be better for it....

What keeps a life from coming apart? On this episode of Moments Almanac, we journey from the quiet monastery of Benedict of Nursia to the dueling grounds of Weehawken, where Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr settled a grievance with pistols at dawn. One man left behind a simple rhythm of prayer, work, and rest that has shaped Christian communities for fifteen centuries. The other two left a cautionary tale of what wounded pride can destroy in a single moment. Along the way, we reflect on Prov...