December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 17 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events[link]

• 557 – Constantinople is severely damaged by an earthquake.
• 1287 – St. Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses, killing over 50,000 people.
• 1542 – Princess Mary Stuart becomes Mary, Queen of Scots.
• 1751 – The Theresian Military Academy is founded as the first Military Academy in the world.
• 1782 – The Montgolfier brothers' first balloon lifts off on its first test flight.
• 1812 – The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia.
• 1814 – War of 1812: The Royal Navy seizes control of Lake Borgne, Louisiana.
• 1819 – Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. state.
• 1836 – The Toledo War unofficially ends.
• 1896 – The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.
• 1900 – Quantum Mechanics: Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law.
• 1902 – The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from Ocean Beach, San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii.
• 1903 – The Wright brothers make their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
• 1907 – The schooner Thomas W. Lawson runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Scilly Isles in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die.
• 1909 – New South Wales Premier Charles Wade signed the Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909, formally completing the transfer of State land to the Commonwealth to create the Australian Capital Territory.
• 1911 – Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole.
• 1913 – Haruna, the fourth and last ship of the Kongō-class, launches, eventually becoming one of the Japanese workhorses during World War I and World War II.
• 1914 – Lisandro de la Torre and others found the Democratic Progressive Party (Partido Demócrata Progresista, PDP) at the Hotel Savoy, Buenos Aires.
• 1918 – Friedrich Karl von Hessen, a German prince elected by the Parliament of Finland to become King Väinö I, renounces the Finnish throne.
• 1918 – President of Portugal Sidónio Pais is assassinated.
• 1939 – Winter War: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland.
• 1941 – World War II: Japan signs treaty of alliance with Thailand.
• 1946 – The United Nations General Assembly votes to establish its headquarters in New York City.
• 1955 – Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sri Lanka join the United Nations.
• 1958 – The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first expedition to reach The Pole of Relative Inaccessibility in the Antarctic.
• 1961 – The United Republic of Tanzania joins the United Nations.
• 1962 – NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.
• 1963 – Baldwin Hills Reservoir wall bursts, killing five people and damaging hundreds of homes in Los Angeles.
• 1964 – American Civil Rights Movement: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States – The United States Supreme Court rules that the U.S. Congress can use the Constitution's Commerce Clause power to fight discrimination.
• 1971 – Over 200 of East Pakistan's (now Bangladesh) intellectuals are massacred by the Pakistani Army and their local allies.
• 1972 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission. To date this is the last manned mission to the moon.
• 1981 – Arab-Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset passes The Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the area of the Golan Heights.
• 1983 – The 3rd Congress of the Communist Youth of Greece starts.
• 1988 – The ET3 television network is launched in Thessaloniki, Greece.
• 1992 – War in Abkhazia: During the Siege of Tkvarcheli, a helicopter carrying evacuees from Tkvarcheli, Abkhazia, is shot down, resulting in at least 52 deaths, 25 of which are children. The incident catalyses more concerted Russian military intervention on behalf of Abkhazia.
• 1994 – Construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.
• 1995 – Yugoslav Wars: The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris by leaders of various governments.
• 1999 – Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations.
• 1999 – Torrential rains cause flash floods in Vargas, Venezuela, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, the destruction of thousands of homes, and the complete collapse of the state's infrastructure.
• 2003 – President of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.
• 2004 – The Millau viaduct, the tallest bridge in the world, near Millau, France is officially opened.
• 2004 – Cuba and Venezuela found the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.
• 2006 – American spy satellite USA-193 is launched.
• 2008 – President George W. Bush makes his fourth and final (planned) trip to Iraq as president and is almost struck by two shoes thrown at him by Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi during a news conference in Baghdad.

Births[link]

• 1009 – Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (d. 1045)
• 1503 – Nostradamus, French astrologer (d. 1566)
• 1546 – Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer and alchemist (d. 1601)
• 1607 – János Kemény, Hungarian aristocrat, writer and prince of Transylvania (d. 1662)
• 1625 – Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville, French orientalist (d. 1695)
• 1631 – Anne Conway, Viscountess Conway, English philosopher (d. 1679)
• 1640 – (baptism date) – Aphra Behn, English playwright and novelist (d. 1689)
• 1678 – Daniel Neal, English historian (d. 1743)
• 1720 – Justus Möser, German statesman (d. 1794)
• 1730 – Capel Bond, English organist and composer (d. 1790)
• 1738 – Jan Antonín Koželuh, Bohemian composer (d. 1814)
• 1775 – Philander Chase, American founder of Kenyon College (d. 1852)
• 1775 – Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, British admiral (d. 1860)
• 1784 – Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, Princess of Asturias (d. 1806)
• 1787 – Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este, Empress of Austria and queen of Hungary and Bohemia (d. 1816)
• 1791 – Charles Wolfe, Irish poet (d. 1823)
• 1794 – Erastus Corning, American businessman and politician (d. 1872)
• 1824 – Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, French painter (d. 1898)
• 1852 – Daniel De Leon, South American socialist (d. 1914)
• 1853 – Errico Malatesta, Italian anarcho-communist (d. 1932)
• 1866 – Roger Fry, English artist and art critic (d. 1934)
• 1870 – Karl Renner, President of Austria (d. 1950)
• 1881 – Katherine MacDonald, American actress and film producer (d. 1956)
• 1883 – Manolis Kalomiris, Greek classical composer (d. 1962)
• 1883 – Ueshiba Morihei, Japan founder of the aikido (d. 1969)
• 1884 – Jane Cowl, American actress and playwright (d. 1950)
• 1895 – Paul Eluard, French poet (d. 1952)
• 1895 – King George VI of the United Kingdom (d. 1952)
• 1896 – Jimmy Doolittle, American General (d. 1993)
• 1897 – Margaret Chase Smith, American politician (d. 1995)
• 1897 – Kurt Schuschnigg, Austrian politician (d. 1977)
• 1901 – Paul, king of Greece (d. 1964)
• 1902 – Frances Bavier, American actress (d. 1989)
• 1908 – Morey Amsterdam, American comedian and actor (d. 1996)
• 1908 – Claude Davey, Welsh rugby union footballer (d. 2001)
• 1908 – Mária Szepes, Hungarian authoress (d. 2007)
• 1909 – Edward Tatum, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (d. 1975)
• 1911 – Spike Jones, American comedian and musician (d. 1965)
• 1911 – Hans von Ohain, German/American aerospace engineer (d. 1998)
• 1913 – Dan Dailey, American actor (d. 1978)
• 1914 – Karl Carstens, President of Germany (d. 1992)
• 1914 – Attila Petschauer, Hungarian fencer (d. 1943)
• 1914 – Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichordist (d. 2003)
• 1916 – Shirley Jackson, American writer (d. 1965)
• 1917 – C.-H. Hermansson, Swedish communist leader
• 1917 – Elyse Knox, American actress
• 1917 – June Taylor, American choreographer (d. 2004)
• 1918 – James T. Aubrey, American television executive (d. 1994)
• 1918 – Radu Beligan, Romanian actor
• 1918 – B.K.S. Iyengar, Indian yoga advocate
• 1920 – Clark Terry, American trumpeter
• 1922 – Nikolay Basov, Soviet physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 2001)
• 1922 – Don Hewitt, American creator of 60 Minutes (d. 2009)
• 1922 – Junior J. Spurrier, American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1984)
• 1923 – Gerard Reve, Dutch writer (d. 2006)
• 1924 – Raj Kapoor, Indian actor (d. 1988)
• 1925 – Sam Jones, American baseball player (d. 1971)
• 1927 – Richard Cassilly, American tenor (d. 1998)
• 1931 – Jon Elia, Pakistani scholar, poet and philosopher (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Abbe Lane, American singer and actress
• 1932 – Charlie Rich, American musician (d. 1995)
• 1935 – Lewis Arquette, American film actor, writer and producer (d. 2001)
• 1935 – Lee Remick, American actress (d. 1991)
• 1938 – Leonardo Boff, Brazilian theologian
• 1938 – Hal Williams, American actor
• 1939 – Ernie Davis, American football player (d. 1963)
• 1940 – Lex Gold, Scottish football administrator
• 1941 – Karan Armstrong, American soprano
• 1941 – Ellen Willis, American journalist (d. 2006)
• 1942 – Zoe Laskari, Greek actress
• 1943 – R. Emmett Tyrrell, American magazine publisher
• 1946 – Jane Birkin, English-born French actress and singer
• 1946 – Patty Duke, American actress
• 1946 – Ruth Fuchs, East German athlete
• 1946 – Michael Ovitz, American film producer
• 1946 – Stan Smith, American tennis player
• 1946 – Joyce Vincent Wilson, American singer (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
• 1947 – Christopher Parkening, American guitarist
• 1947 – Linda Sutton, English artist
• 1947 – Dilma Rousseff, current President of Brazil
• 1948 – Kim Beazley, Australian politician
• 1948 – Dee Wallace, American actress
• 1949 – Bill Buckner, American baseball player
• 1949 – Cliff Williams, English bassist (AC/DC)
• 1951 – Jan Timman, Dutch chess grandmaster
• 1951 – Paul Zaloom, American actor and puppeteer
• 1952 – John Lurie, American actor, musician, painter, director and producer
• 1952 – Germain Houde, French Canadian actor
• 1953 – Vijay Amritraj, Indian tennis player
• 1953 – René Eespere, Soviet-born Estonian composer
• 1953 – Vangelis Meimarakis, Greek lawyer and politician
• 1953 – Mikael Odenberg, Swedish politician
• 1954 – James Horan, American actor
• 1954 – Alan Kulwicki, American NASCAR driver (d. 1993)
• 1954 – Steven MacLean, Canadian astronaut
• 1956 – Linda Fabiani, Scottish MSP
• 1956 – Hanni Wenzel, Liechtenstein skier
• 1958 – Mike Scott, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Waterboys)
• 1958 – Spider Stacy, English musician (The Pogues)
• 1958 – François Zocchetto, French politician
• 1959 – Bob Paris, American bodybuilder and gay rights advocate
• 1959 – Jorge Vaca, Mexican boxer
• 1960 – Don Franklin, American actor
• 1960 – Chris Waddle, English footballer
• 1961 – Patrik Sundstrom, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1962 – Ginger Lynn (Ginger Lynn Allen), American adult film actress
• 1963 – Greg Abbott, English former football player
• 1963 – Cynthia Gibb, American actress
• 1963 – Vytautas Juozapaitis, Lithuanian baritone, pedagogue (professor) and TV host
• 1963 – Michael Moloney, American television personality and interior designer
• 1963 – Alice Ripley American actress
• 1963 – Mario Yamasaki, Mixed martial arts referee
• 1965 – Craig Biggio, American baseball player
• 1965 – Ken Hill, American baseball player
• 1965 – Ted Raimi, an American actor
• 1966 – Fabrizio Giovanardi, Italian racecar driver
• 1966 – Anthony Mason, American basketball player
• 1966 – Bill Ranford, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Tim Sköld, Swedish/American musician
• 1967 – Ewa Białołęcka, Polish writer
• 1968 – Noelle Beck, American actress
• 1969 – Scott Hatteberg, American baseball player
• 1969 – Natascha McElhone, English actress
• 1970 – Nadine Garner, Australian actress
• 1970 – Anna Maria Jopek, Polish singer
• 1970 – Beth Orton, English singer-songwriter
• 1971 – Brian Gay, professional golfer; three-time winner on the PGA Tour
• 1971 – Tia Texada, American actress and singer
• 1971 – Michaela Watkins, American comic actress (Saturday Night Live)
• 1972 – Eric Anderson, American musical theatre actor
• 1972 – Miranda Hart, British comedienne
• 1972 – Marcus Jensen, American baseball player
• 1973 – Pat Burke, Irish basketball player
• 1973 – Amanda Byram, Irish television presenter
• 1973 – Tomasz Radzinski, Polish-born Canadian soccer player
• 1973 – Thuy Trang, American actress (d. 2001)
• 1974 – Billy Koch, American baseball player
• 1974 – Joe Principe, American musician (Rise Against)
• 1975 – Justin Furstenfeld, American rock singer
• 1975 – KaDee Strickland, American actress
• 1976 – Tammy Blanchard, American actress
• 1976 – Leland Chapman, American bounty hunter
• 1976 – Sebastien Chaule, French-born German rugby player
• 1976 – André Couto, Portuguese racing driver
• 1976 – Santiago Ezquerro, Spanish footballer
• 1977 – Jamie Peacock, English rugby league footballer
• 1978 – Dean Brogan, Australian rules footballer
• 1978 – Zdeněk Pospěch, Czech footballer
• 1978 – Kim St-Pierre, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Radu Sîrbu, Moldovan singer (O-Zone)
• 1978 – Patty Schnyder, Swiss tennis player
• 1979 – Jean-Alain Boumsong, French footballer
• 1979 – Michael Owen, English footballer
• 1979 – Sophie Monk, Australian actress, singer, and model
• 1980 – Gordon Greer, Scottish footballer
• 1980 – Tata Young, Thai-American singer
• 1980 – Didier Zokora, Ivorian footballer
• 1981 – Amber Chia, Malaysian model and actress
• 1981 – Émilie Heymans, Canadian diver
• 1981 – Johnny Jeter, American professional wrestler
• 1981 – Shaun Marcum, American baseball player
• 1982 – Josh Fields, American baseball player
• 1982 – Steve Sidwell, English footballer
• 1982 – Anthony Way, English singer and actor
• 1984 – Chris Brunt, Northern Irish footballer
• 1984 – Krissy Lynn, American pornographic actress
• 1984 – Edward Rainsford, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1984 – Rana Daggubati,Indian actor,Producer
• 1984 – Jackson Rathbone, American actor and musician
• 1985 – Jakub Błaszczykowski, Polish footballer
• 1985 – Julio Pimentel, Dominican baseball player
• 1985 – Paul Rabil, Professional lacrosse player
• 1985 – Tom Smith, Welsh rugby union footballer
• 1985 – Nonami Takizawa, Japanese actress
• 1986 – Jang Jae Ho, South Korean electronic sports player
• 1987 – Alexander Gaskarth, American singer (All Time Low)
• 1988 – Nicolas Batum, French basketball player
• 1988 – Vanessa Hudgens, American singer and actress
• 1988 – Hayato Sakamoto, Japanese baseball player
• 1989 – Pedro Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1989 – Onew, South Korean singer (Shinee), musical actor and TV host
• 1992 – Ryo Miyaichi, Japanese footballer
• 1994 – Joshua Dionisio, Filipino actor

Deaths[link]

• 1460 – Guarino da Verona (b. 1370)
• 1476 – Vlad III the Impaler (b. 1431)
• 1510 – Friedrich of Saxony (b. 1473)
• 1542 – King James V of Scotland (b. 1512)
• 1553 – Hanibal Lucić, Croatian writer (b. 1485)
• 1591 – Saint John of the Cross, Spanish friar and poet (b. 1542)
• 1624 – Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, English statesman (b. 1536)
• 1651 – Pierre Dupuy, French scholar (b. 1582)
• 1713 – Thomas Rymer, English historian (b. 1641)
• 1715 – Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1636)
• 1735 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop and antiquarian (b. 1674)
• 1741 – Charles Rollin, French historian (b. 1661)
• 1788 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer (b. 1714)
• 1788 – King Charles III of Spain (b. 1716)
• 1799 – George Washington, First President of the United States (b. 1732)
• 1831 – Martin Baum, American businessman and politician (b. 1765)
• 1838 – Jean-Olivier Chénier, French Canadian physician (b. 1806)
• 1860 – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, British statesman (b. 1784)
• 1861 – Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, consort of Queen Victoria (b. 1819)
• 1865 – Johan Georg Forchhammer, Danish geologist (b. 1794)
• 1873 – Louis Agassiz, Swiss-born American zoologist and geologist (b. 1807)
• 1878 – Alice of the United Kingdom, Grand Duchess of Hesse (b. 1843)
• 1902 – Julia Dent-Grant, wife of Ulysses S. Grant (b. 1826)
• 1912 – Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis, British Army lieutenant (b. 1887)
• 1920 – George Gipp, American football player (b. 1895)
• 1927 – Yulian Vasilievich Sokhotski, Russian mathematician (b. 1842)
• 1935 – Stanley G. Weinbaum, American science-fiction author (b. 1902)
• 1940 – Anton Korošec, Slovenian political leader (b. 1872)
• 1943 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon and breakfast food manufacturer (b. 1852)
• 1947 – Stanley Baldwin, British statesman (b. 1867)
• 1947 – Edward Higgins, American evangelical (b. 1864)
• 1956 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi, Finnish politician (b. 1870)
• 1957 – Fred Chapman, American baseball player (b. 1872)
• 1963 – Dinah Washington, American singer (b. 1924)
• 1964 – William Bendix, American actor (b. 1906)
• 1966 – Shailendra, Indian lyricist (b. 1923)
• 1970 – Franz Schlegelberger, German Nazi politician (b. 1876)
• 1971 – Dick Tiger, Nigerian-born boxer (b. 1929)
• 1974 – Walter Lippmann, American journalist and political commentator (b. 1889)
• 1975 – Arthur Treacher, English actor (b. 1894)
• 1978 – Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish diplomat (b. 1886)
• 1984 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer and Nobel laureate (b. 1898)
• 1985 – Catherine Doherty, Russian-born Canadian social activist (b. 1896)
• 1985 – Roger Maris, American baseball player (b. 1934)
• 1989 – Jock Mahoney, American actor and stuntman (b. 1919)
• 1989 – Andrei D. Sakharov, Russian physicist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1921)
• 1990 – Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer (b. 1921)
• 1993 – Jeff Alm, American football player (b. 1968)
• 1993 – Myrna Loy, American actress (b. 1905)
• 1994 – Orval Faubus, American politician (b. 1910)
• 1996 – Gaston Miron, French-Canadian poet and editor (b. 1928)
• 1997 – Stubby Kaye, American actor (b. 1918)
• 1997 – Kurt Winter, Canadian musician (The Guess Who) (b. 1946)
• 1998 – Norman Fell, American actor (b. 1924)
• 1998 – Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr., American civil rights activist and author (b. 1928)
• 1998 – Annette Strauss, American philanthropist (b. 1924)
• 2001 – W. G. Sebald, German writer (b. 1944)
• 2003 – Jeanne Crain, American actress (b. 1925)
• 2003 – Blas Ople, Filipino diplomat (b. 1927)
• 2003 – Frank Sheeran, American labor union official (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Rod Kanehl, American baseball player (b. 1934)
• 2004 – Fernando Poe, Jr., Filipino actor and politician (b. 1939)
• 2005 – Trevanian, American author (b. 1931)
• 2006 – Anton Balasingham, Sri Lankan political strategist (b. 1938)
• 2006 – Ahmet Ertegün, Turkish-born American music executive (b. 1923)
• 2006 – Mike Evans, American actor (b. 1949)
• 2009 – Alan A'Court, English footballer (b. 1934)
• 2010 – Timothy Davlin, American politician (b. 1957)
• 2010 – Neva Patterson, American actress (b. 1920)
• 2010 – Dale Roberts, English footballer (b. 1986)
• 2011 – Joe Simon, American comic book artist (b. 1913)

Holidays and observances[link]

• Alabama Day (Alabama)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • John of the Cross
  • Spyridon (Western Church)
• Day of the Martyred Intellectuals (Bangladesh)
• Monkey Day

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: December 14

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

Saint Mark the Evangelist
Evangelist, Martyr
Born	1st century AD Cyrene, Pentapolis of North Africa[1][2]
Died	April 25, 68 AD
Honored in	Coptic Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Lutheranism
Major shrine	Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Cairo, Egypt) Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Alexandria, Egypt) Basilica di San Marco (Venice, Italy)
Feast	April 25
Attributes	Lion in the desert; bishop on a throne decorated with lions; man helping Venetian sailors; man holding a book with "pax tibi Marce" written on it; man holding a palm and book; man with a book or scroll accompanied by a winged lion; man with a halter around his neck; man writing or holding his gospel; rescuing Christian slaves from Saracens.
Patronage	Barristers, Venice, Egypt, Mainar and others; see others in.[3]
Influences	Jesus, Simon Peter

Mark the Evangelist (Latin: Mārcus; Greek: Μᾶρκος; Coptic: Μαρκοϲ; Hebrew: מרקוס‎) is the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark. He is one of the Seventy Disciples, and the founder of the Church of Alexandria, one of the original four main episcopal sees of Christianity.

According to William Lane (1974), an "unbroken tradition" identifies Mark the Evangelist with John Mark,^[4] and John Mark as the cousin of Barnabas.^[5] An exception is found in Hippolytus of Rome, who in his work On the Seventy Apostles, distinguishes Mark the Evangelist (2 Tim 4:11), John Mark (Acts 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37), and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10; Phlm 24).^[6] According to Hippolytus, they all belonged to the "Seventy Disciples" who were sent out by Jesus to saturate Judea with the gospel (Luke 10:1ff.). However, when Jesus explained that his flesh was "real food" and his blood was "real drink", many disciples left him (John 6:44-6:66), presumably including Mark. He was later restored to faith by the apostle Peter; he then became Peter’s interpreter, wrote the Gospel of Mark, founded the church of Africa, and became the bishop of Alexandria.

According to Eusebius of Caesarea (Eccl. Hist. 2.9.1-4), Herod Agrippa I in his first year of reign over the whole Judea (41) killed James, son of Zebedee and arrested Peter, planning to kill him after the Passover. Peter was saved miraculously by angels, and escaped out of the realm of Herod (Acts 12:1-19). Peter went to Antioch, then through Asia Minor (visiting the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, as mentioned in 1 Pet 1:1), and arrived in Rome in the second year of Emperor Claudius (42; Eusebius, Eccl, Hist. 2.14.6). Somewhere on the way, Peter picked up Mark and took him as travel companion and interpreter. Mark the Evangelist wrote down the sermons of Peter, thus composing the Gospel according to Mark (Eccl. Hist. 15-16), before he left for Alexandria in the third year of Claudius (43).^[7]

In AD 49, about 19 years after the Ascension of Jesus, Mark traveled to Alexandria [cf. c. 49 [cf. Acts 15:36-41] and founded the Church of Alexandria, which today is claimed by the Coptic Orthodox Church.^[8] Aspects of the Coptic liturgy can be traced back to Mark himself. He became the first bishop of Alexandria and he is honored as the founder of Christianity in Africa.^[9]

According to Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. 2.24.1), Mark was succeeded by Annianus as the bishop of Alexandria in the eighth year of Nero (62/63), probably, but not definitely due to his coming death. Later Coptic tradition says that he was martyred in 68.^{[10][11][12][13][14]} It is believed that on the night when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane Mark had followed him there and the Temple guards saw him, he ran away and dropped his loincloth.

His feast day is celebrated on April 25, and his symbol is the lion.^[15]

Biblical and traditional information[link]

Evidence for Mark the Evangelist's authorship of the Gospel that bears his name originates with Papias.^[16][17] According to D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, it is "almost certain" that Papias is referring to John Mark.^[18] However, some have argued that identifying Mark the Evangelist with John Mark and Mark the Cousin of Barnabas has led to the downgrading of the character of Barnabas from truly a "Son of Comfort" to one who favored his blood relative over principles.^[19]

The martyrdom of Saint Mark. Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry (Musée Condé, Chantilly).

The identification of Mark the Evangelist with John Mark led to identifying him as the man who carried water to the house where the Last Supper took place (Mark 14:13).;^[20] or as the young man who ran away naked when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:51-52).^[21]

The Coptic Church holds the tradition of identifying Mark the Evangelist with John Mark, and holds that he was one of the Seventy Disciples sent out by Christ (Luke 10:1), as is confirmed by the list of Hippolytus.^[22] It also believes that Mark the Evangelist is the one who hosted the disciples in his house after the death of Jesus, into whose house the resurrected Jesus Christ came (John 20), and into whose house the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples at Pentecost.^[22]

Mark is also believed to be one of the servants at the Marriage at Cana who poured out the water that Jesus turned to wine (John 2:1-11),^[22] These traditions have no solid proof neither from the New Testament nor from Church history.

According to the Coptic church, Saint Mark was born in Cyrene, a city in the Pentapolis of North Africa (now Libya). This tradition adds that he returned to Pentapolis later in life, after being sent by Saint Paul to Colossae (Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24; these actually refer to Mark the Cousin of Barnabas), and serving with him in Rome (2 Tim 4:11); from Pentapolis he made his way to Alexandria.^[23][24] When Mark returned to Alexandria, the pagans of the city resented his efforts to turn the Alexandrians away from the worship of their traditional gods.^{[citation needed]} In AD 68 they placed a rope around his neck and dragged him through the streets until he was dead.^[25]

Fate of his remains[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

Illumination of St. Mark in the 11th century Trebizond Gospel (Russian State Museum, Saint Petersburg).

Russian Orthodox icon of St. Mark the Evangelist, 18th century (Iconostasis of Transfiguration Church, Kizhi Monastery, Karelia, Russia).

St. Mark by Donatello (Orsanmichele, Florence).

In 828, relics believed to be the body of St. Mark were stolen from Alexandria by two Venetian merchants and taken to Venice, where the Byzantine Theodore of Amasea had previously been the patron saint. A basilica was built there to house the relics.

A mosaic in St Mark's Basilica, Venice depicts sailors covering the relics with a layer of pork. Since Muslims are not allowed to touch pork, this action was done to prevent Muslim intervention in the relics removal.^{[citation needed]}

Copts believe that the head of the saint remained in Alexandria. Every year, on the 30th day of the month of Paopi, the Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates the commemoration of the consecration of the church of St. Mark, and the appearance of the head of the saint in the city of Alexandria. This takes place inside St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria, where the saint's head is preserved.

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates his feast day on April 25.

In 1063, during the construction of a new basilica in Venice, St. Mark's relics could not be found. However, according to tradition, in 1094 the saint himself revealed the location of his remains by extending an arm from a pillar.^[26] The newfound remains were placed in a sarcophagus in the basilica.^[27]

In June 1968, Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria sent an official delegation to Rome to receive a relic of St. Mark from Pope Paul VI. The delegation consisted of ten metropolitans and bishops, seven of whom were Coptic and three Ethiopian, and three prominent Coptic lay leaders.

The relic was said to be a small piece of bone that had been given to the Roman pope by Giovanni Cardinal Urbani, Patriarch of Venice. Pope Paul, in an address to the delegation, said that the rest of the relics of the saint remained in Venice.

The delegation received the relic on June 22, 1968. The next day, the delegation celebrated a pontifical liturgy in the Church of Saint Athanasius the Apostolic in Rome. The metropolitans, bishops, and priests of the delegation all served in the liturgy. Members of the Roman papal delegation, Copts who lived in Rome, newspaper and news agency reporters, and many foreign dignitaries attended the liturgy.

See also[link]

• Feast of Saint Mark
• Gospel of John
• Gospel of Luke
• Gospel of Mark
• Gospel of Matthew
• John the Evangelist
• Luke the Evangelist
• Matthew the Evangelist

References[link]

General

• "The Apostle and Evangelist Mark (40–62)". Official web site of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. http://www.patriarchateofalexandria.com/index.php?module=content&cid=001003&id=38&lang=en. Retrieved 2011-02-07. 

Specific

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Saint Mark

• The Life, Miracles and Martyrdom of St. Mark the Evangelist of Jesus Christ
• H.B. Swete, 'St. Mark in the New Testament'
• H.B. Swete, 'St. Mark in Early Tradition'
• St. Mark the Apostle, Evangelist, and Preacher of the Christian Faith in Africa
•  Joseph MacRory (1913). "St. Mark". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 
•  A. J. Schem (1879). "Mark, Saint". The American Cyclopædia. 
• Apostle Mark the Evangelist of the Seventy Orthodox icon and synaxarion