January 3

On This Day In History
	1521: Martin Luther excommunicated by pope On this day in 1521, Pope Leo X issued the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem, excommunicating Martin Luther, the German priest whose questioning of certain Roman Catholic practices initiated the Protestant Reformation.
Martin Luther, oil on wood by Lucas Cranach the Elder.
Biography Of The Day
	1863 Belgian priest Father Damien, born this day in 1840, went on a mission to the Hawaiian Islands in 1863 and subsequently devoted his life to ministering to the lepers who had been deported to Molokai island.
Father Damien, coloured engraving, 1889.
More Events On This Day In History
	2001 Hillary Rodham Clinton was sworn in as a U.S. senator from New York, having become the first first lady in U.S. history to win elective office.
	1939 Canadian professional ice hockey player Bobby Hull, the "Golden Jet," was born.
1929	Italian motion-picture director Sergio Leone, known primarily for his popularization of the "spaghetti western," was born.
	1883 Clement Attlee, British Labour Party leader (1935–55) and prime minister (1945–51), was born.
1777	The Battle of Princeton (New Jersey) was fought during the American Revolution.
1543	Spanish soldier and explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the ''discoverer" of California, died.