Religion
*** A
Aaron ..... elder brother of Moses who was the FIRST High Priest of Israel
Adrian 1V, Nicholas Breakspear ..... born 1100 died 1159 ..... ITALY ..... the FIRST and only Englishman to become Pope when he was appointed from 1154 to 1159
Asbury - Francis ..... born 1745 died 1816 ..... English-born American churchman, born in Handsworth, Staffordshire, who became the FIRST Methodist bishop in America
Aubrey - John ..... born 1626 died 1697 ..... English antiquary who was the FIRST to claim Stonehenge as a Druid temple
Augustine - St ..... U.K ..... FIRST Archbishop of Canterbury 601-604
*** B
Baker - Rev Thomas ..... FIJI ..... English missionary who was the FIRST and only European ever to be cooked and eaten by Fijians, an event which happened C1867
Bakr ( or Bekr) - Abu ..... born 573 died 634 ..... close adviser to Muhammad in the period 622-632 and on the prophet's death he became the FIRST Caliph adding Mesopotamia to the Muslim world and instigating expansion into Iraq and Syria. Caliph is the title of civic and religious heads of the world of Islam
Broughton - William ..... FIRST and only Anglican bishop of Australia
*** C
Campion - Edmund ..... born 25th January 1540 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST of the Jesuit martyrs
Carroll - Father John ..... the FIRST Roman Catholic bishop in the U.S.A - November 6th 1789
Coverdale - Miles ..... priest who made the FIRST English translation of the entire bible in 1535
Cranmer Thomas ..... born 2nd July 1489 died 21st March 1556 ..... U.K ..... the man behind the Book of Common Prayer and the FIRST Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury. When Henrys daughter, the Catholic Mary, came to the throne, Cranmer was jailed and condemned to death for being a Protestant. He was burned alive and the Martyrs Memorial in Oxford marks the spot where he died
*** D
Dalai - Lama .. died 1475 .. TIBET ..... FIRST in a long line of the dominant order of Tibetan Buddhists
Denis - St .. FIRST bishop of Paris
Dudley - Rev. Martin ..... FIRST clergyman to conduct a gay 'marriage' in an Anglican church when he blessed two homosexual priests in a service that used a traditional wedding liturgy in which the couple exchange vows and rings. The service was carried out at one of London's oldest churches, St Bartholomew the Great - May 2008
*** G
George - David ..... opened the FIRST black Baptist church in America
Govender - Rogers ..... U.K ..... FIRST black Dean of Manchester - October 10th 2005. He was England's FIRST black Cathedral Dean. He was born in Kwazulu-Natal in Durban, south Africa, and was ordained in 1985 in the Diocese of Natal where he served for 15 years as a parish priest, archdeacon and cathedral canon.
Guinness - Arthur ..... born 1725 died 1803 ..... founded the FIRST Protestant Sunday School in Ireland in 1786
*** J
James The Great ..... the FIRST apostle to be martyred for his beliefs when he was beheaded by King Herod. In the early 9th century his tomb was 'discovered' in Spain. A church was built on the site and the town of Composteta grew up around it and within a few years the first pilgrims arrived. In France the pilgrims were known as Jacquets
John Paul 1 .. originally Albino Luciani ..... born 1912 died September 28th 1978 ….. ITALY ..... the 263rd Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and the FIRST Pope in history to choose a double name. He died after only 33 days in office
John Paul 11 (Karol Jozef Wojtyla) ..... born May 18th 1920 died April 2nd 2005 ..... ITALY ..... succeeded John Paul 1 and was the FIRST non-Italian pope in 450 years. He was the FIRST pope to visit the synagogue of Rome and the FIRST to visit Britain and Ireland. In May 2001, he became the FIRST Pope to visit a Mosque - Syria and later a synagogue
*** K
King - Martin Luther .. U.S.A ..... born 1929 died 1968 ..... in 1955 he set up the FIRST black ministry at Montgomery, Alabama
*** M
Middleton- Thomas Fanshawe ….. born 26th January 1769 ….. the FIRST Bishop of Calcutta , consecrated at Lambeth on 8th May 1814
Mort - John ….. born 13th April 1915 .. FIRST Bishop of the newly created Diocese of Northern Nigeria ( 1952)
*** O
Oliver - John Venerable .. U.K ..... FIRST clergyman to take a business management course with a view to introducing 'strategy and company mission' into parish courses - 1997. He studied at the Leeds Business School for an Institute of Directors' Diploma in Company Direction
*** R
Rievaulx Abbey .. the FIRST Cistercian monastery in Northern England
Robinson - Gene ..... FIRST openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church in America - 2003
Rugambwa - Laurean ..... born February 8th 1912 ..... in 1952 he was ordained Bishop, the FIRST from East Africa and in 1960 he became the FIRST black African cardinal in modern times
*** S
Savelli - Giacomo ..... Pope Honorius 1V ..... born 1210 died April 3rd 1287 ..... the FIRST Pope to employ the great banking houses in northern Italy for the collection of Papal dues
Sentamu - Rt Rev John ..... FIRST senior black bishop in Britain when named as successor to the retiring Bishop of Birmingham and in June 1002 became the Church of England's FIRST black Archbishop when appointed Archbishop of York
Stephen - St ..... U.K ..... the FIRST Christian martyr, he was stoned to death c AD35
*** W
Williams - Rowan ..... born June 14th 1950 ..... U.K ..... in February 2003 he became the FIRST Welshman to be appointed Archbishop of Canterbury and lead the Church of England
Wiseman - Nicholas Patrick Stephen ..... born 1802 died 1865 ..... British Catholic priest who became the FIRST Archbishop of Westminster in 1850