George Went Hensley (c. 1880–1955) was an American Pentecostal minister. He experienced a religious conversion around 1910 and came to believe that the New Testament commanded all Christians to handle venomous snakes. Although illiterate, he was a licensed minister of the Church of God from 1915 to 1922. He was arrested on moonshine-related charges and sentenced to a term in a workhouse, from which he escaped. He then held revival services in Ohio, and established churches, known as the Church of God with Signs Following, in Tennessee and Kentucky. His services ranged from small meetings in houses to gatherings with hundreds of attendees and media attention. He was arrested for violating laws against snake handling at least twice. He claimed to have survived more than 400 snake bites, but fell ill after being bitten during a service in 1955. He refused medical attention and died the next day. Despite his personal failings—he had conflicts with his family because of his drunkenness, frequent travels, and lack of steady income—Hensley convinced many residents of rural Appalachia that snake handling was commanded by God, and his followers continued the practice after his death.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Went_Hensley

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1682:

William Penn landed at New Castle, Delaware Colony, on his way to founding the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Philadelphia

1838:

Governor of Missouri Lilburn Boggs issued Missouri Executive Order 44, ordering all Mormons to leave the state or be killed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Executive_Order_44

1907:

Hungarian gendarmes fired into a crowd of people gathering for the consecration of the local church in Csernova (now Ružomberok, Slovakia), killing fifteen people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Cernov%C3%A1_massacre

1958:

General Ayub Khan deposed Iskander Mirza in a bloodless coup d'état to become the second President of Pakistan, less than three weeks after Mirza had appointed him the enforcer of martial law. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Khan_(President_of_Pakistan)

1981:

Cold War: Soviet Whiskey-class submarine U 137 ran aground near Sweden's Karlskrona naval base (monument pictured), sparking an international incident termed "Whiskey on the rocks". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_S-363

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

wife-beating question: A question which presupposes some controversial premise, such that it cannot be directly answered without incriminating oneself; a loaded question. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wife-beating_question

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Our words must be judged by our deeds; and in striving for a lofty ideal we must use practical methods; and if we cannot attain all at one leap, we must advance towards it step by step, reasonably content so long as we do actually make some progress in the right direction.   --Theodore Roosevelt https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt