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Not even God could sink the Titanic (White Star Line employee)
RMS Titanic, the pride of the White Star Line, slipped beneath the North Atlantic on this day in 1912 after striking an iceberg. Almost 1,500 people lost their lives in the freezing waters.
Just four days earlier, the world’s most famous liner had sailed from Southampton bound for New York to great celebration and confidence. Yet beneath the luxury lay fatal overconfidence. Lifeboats were insufficient, and safety took second place to speed and prestige. Built in Belfast by Harland & Wolff, Titanic was the finest ship afloat, but her maiden voyage lasted only days before she plunged two miles to the ocean floor, far short of her destination.
The disaster became a lasting symbol of human pride and misplaced trust. Many believed the ship was unsinkable, but history proved otherwise. The Bible reminds us that pride often precedes destruction. Titanic’s story still whispers a timeless warning: it is wiser to place our trust in God than in the confident claims of human achievement.
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
On this day in 1945, German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazi regime at Flossenbürg concentration camp, just weeks before the end of World War Two. He was only 39 years old. Bonhoeffer had boldly opposed Hitler’s tyranny, refusing to allow the church in Germany to be controlled by the state.
His involvement in the resistance led to his arrest and eventual death. Bonhoeffer is best remembered for his book ‘The Cost of Discipleship’ where he warns against what he called cheap grace, faith without true surrender. For him, following Jesus was never just an intellectual agreement, it was a costly commitment that could demand everything. Even in prison, witnesses spoke of his calm faith, deep compassion, and quiet confidence in God’s sovereignty.
In a world marked by injustice and pressure to compromise, Bonhoeffer’s life speaks powerfully across the decades. He understood that faith in Christ is tested most clearly in moments of darkness. His earthly life was cut short, but his witness reminds us that following Christ may be costly, but the hope found is stronger than the grave.
“I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God.” (Sir Isaac Newton)
On this day in 1727, Sir Isaac Newton died in London, leaving behind a legacy that reshaped the scientific understanding of the universe. As the brilliant mind behind the laws of motion and universal gravitation, Newton helped lay the foundations of modern physics. His work in mathematics, optics, and astronomy transformed how we understand the natural world.
Yet Newton was not only a scientist, but he also spent enormous amounts of time studying the Bible and writing on theology. He was convinced that the universe he explored was the creation of God. For Newton, scientific discovery was not a threat to faith but a window into the mind of the creator. The laws he uncovered pointed to divine design and purpose woven into the fabric of reality. Centuries later, Newton’s discoveries still shape our world, from engineering to space travel. But his life also reminds us that knowledge alone does not answer life’s deepest questions.
The Bible directs us beyond the laws that govern the universe to the God who stands behind them, and ultimately to Jesus Christ, in whom truth is not only discovered but personally known.
I know God is near to me, I have recognised him throughout my life (Ludwig van Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven died on this day in 1827. His phenomenal contribution to classical music places him at the top of the tree in the eyes of many. Beethoven was a Catholic and, by all accounts, a deeply spiritual man who believed his work was a mission of divine art, not simply a creative process.
Throughout the centuries, people have reinterpreted his work as simply spiritual despite him saying that it was a response to a personal faith in God. On October 6th 1802, he wrote a now famous letter to his brother expressing the agony he was experiencing over the onset of deafness. It must have been heartbreaking for him. Nevertheless, his faith came through over and over again.
Beethoven’s tremendous personal struggle seemed to give him an empathy for others. Like Jesus, and many who have followed in his footsteps, he identified with the poor and the forgotten. His music fills the concert halls of the world, and his short life of 56 years was one that contained a profound knowledge of God, his love and his mercy.
Serving my country in WW2, made me realise how precious life is. (British Paratrooper, 6thAirborne Division)
On March 24th 1945, as WW2 drew to a close, the skies above the River Rhine roared with the thunder of aircraft. Operation Varsity, a daring Allied airborne assault, the largest of its kind in a single day was underway. It was one of the final Allied operations in Europe.
Thousands of paratroopers jumped into a storm of bullets amidst the chaos of war with their brothers in arms dying all around them. Many more arrived in gliders that took off from various airfields in England. Vital bridges and towns were secured, paving the way for the Allied advance into Germany itself. Operation Varsity was carried out by thousands of brave young men.
The ones who came back all had a story to tell. Curtis ‘Goldie’ Goldman was a 22-year-old glider pilot, one of so many who played a vital role in putting men on the ground. After the war, he spoke of how his faith in Christ had sustained him that night at the controls of the aircraft. He survived the war and devoted the next 50 years of his life to serving God.
“You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest for your deeds will follow you down through history” (Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins)
On March 19th 2003, British troops were about to enter Iraq. More specifically it was the same regiment that was immortalised as the Desert Rats during WW2. Their commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins, and this is an extract from the speech he gave to his men from the bonnet of a British armoured vehicle as they prepared for battle. “We are entering Iraq not to conquer but to free a people. The only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Iraq is steeped in history, it is the location of the Garden of Eden, and the birthplace of Abraham so tread lightly there.”
The Iraq War remains a highly controversial operation. I write this not to make any kind of statement about the rights and wrongs of it. But Tim Collins clearly sensed the enormous significance of that Biblical land his men were about to enter. It is true for so many of the places on earth that have been, and continue to be, ravaged by war and conflict. My countless visits to Normandy and other WW1 and WW2 battle sites across Europe have led me to conclude that there is a spiritual imprint in those places that is caused by catastrophic loss of life. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his glorious church can turn the tide of evil and the wickedness that flows from the human heart.
The feeling that I was going to live was overwhelming, I will never forget it. (Zeebrugge Disaster Survivor)
On this day in March 1987, the MS Herald of Free Enterprise set sail from Zeebrugge in Belgium, bound for Dover in England. Within minutes it became clear that the bow doors had been left open. The ship quickly filled with sea water and capsized plunging its passengers into the freezing waters of the English Channel.
193 of them would lose their lives in one of Britain’s worst maritime disasters since the Titanic in 1912. In the days after the tragedy, survivors spoke of their experiences. Many recalled moments of unexpected peace and strength, as strangers held hands and prayed together. Crew members and passengers put the safety of others before their own. Andrew Parker, a British army sergeant held a baby above the freezing water and Father Raymond Luckhurst, a Catholic priest was seen praying with passengers.
75 years earlier, Christian evangelist John Harper, had remained on deck as the Titanic sank refusing a place in a lifeboat to speak to passengers about Jesus. The Scottish preacher lost his life that night. One man said at a survivor’s gathering that he believed he was John Harper’s last convert.
I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn (John Wesley)
On this day in 1791 John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, died at the age of 87, leaving a legacy that transformed Christianity across Britain and beyond. born in Epworth in 1703, Wesley was a priest whose relentless passion for holiness and earnest desire to see lives changed drove him into the fields, the streets, and the hearts of ordinary people.
He preached 40,000 sermons, travelled 250,000 miles on horseback, and insisted that the transforming power of the Gospel must be lived in both personal devotion and practical love. Wesley’s Methodist societies grew not because of ease or comfort, but because he called men and women to a disciplined life marked by prayer, scripture, mercy, and sacrificial service. He cared deeply for the poor, the imprisoned, and the outcast, teaching that faith without love is dead. Even in his last years, his concern was not for his own rest but for the Church’s faithful witness to Jesus.
As we remember John Wesley’s death and celebrate his devotion, we are reminded that the Gospel he preached is still the power of God for salvation. His life calls us to a faith that moves outward in compassion, grounded in communion with Christ, pointing ever to the hope we have in Jesus who lived, died, and rose that we might live in his love forever..
The silence was broken only by the sound of cutting equipment and voices calling into the darkness (Rescue worker at Moorgate)
On this day in 1975 a packed London Underground train failed to stop at Moorgate and ploughed into the dead end at full speed, killing 43 people and injuring many more in one of the worst accidents in the network’s history. Survivors and rescuers spoke of shock, courage, and the bewildering suddenness of tragedy, reminding us how fragile life is in a moment. In the days that followed, Londoners brought flowers and messages of support to the scene, and families grappled with unbearable loss.
Communities mourned together, finding strength in shared grief even when answers seemed distant and hollow. In the face of sorrow’s heavy weight, ordinary acts of kindness shone like small beacons in the dark. as we remember those who died and those who lived with lasting memories of that morning, we are invited to reflect on the deeper hope that outlasts every crash and calamity. Where human courage meets suffering, the Gospel tells us there is a love that walks with us in the deepest valley and offers peace beyond understanding in Jesus, who knows every wound and every tear.
The picture doesn’t show the carnage, but it shows what it cost (US Marine veteran)
On this day in 1945, a small group of United States Marines raised an American flag on top of Mount Suribachi, during one of the bloodiest battles of WW2. The island of Iwo Jima had been fought over inch by inch, with Japanese forces deeply entrenched in tunnels beneath the volcanic rock.
When the flag went up, it signalled not victory, but hard-won progress in a battle that would ultimately cost nearly 7,000 American lives. The moment was captured by photographer Joe Rosenthal, creating one of the most recognisable images of the 20thcentury. It showed strain, teamwork, and determination, 6 men leaning together under the weight of the flag and the moment it represented. Yet the photograph also hid a harsher truth, three of those men would be dead before the battle for Iwo Jima was over.
The flag on Suribachi became a symbol of sacrifice, not triumph without cost. It reminds us that freedom has often been secured by ordinary people willing to give everything for something greater than themselves. And in that willingness to lay down one life for others, the image quietly echoes the Gospel, pointing to a deeper hope found in sacrificial love that conquers even death.
God made me fast and when I run, I feel his pleasure (Eric Liddell)
On this day in 1945, Eric Liddell died in Weihsien Internment Camp in northern China, aged just 43. To the world, he was an Olympic champion, immortalised for his victory in the 400 metres at the 1924 Paris Games. To those who knew him, Eric Liddell was far more than a runner; he was a man whose faith shaped every decision he made.
Liddell famously refused to run his strongest event at the Olympics because it was scheduled on a Sunday. After international fame, he returned to China as a missionary, serving among the poor and later enduring Japanese captivity during WW2. In the camp, witnesses remembered his quiet courage, his kindness, and how he gave his food, time, and strength to others, even as his own health failed. Eric Liddell died from a brain tumour just months before the camp was liberated, his life poured out in service rather than self-preservation.
His story reminds us that true greatness is not found in applause or achievement, but in faithfulness when no crowd is watching. And in a broken world still desperate for hope, Liddell’s life points beyond human effort to the Gospel, where love, sacrifice, and victory are finally complete.
People are not resistant to progress, only to confusion (Roy Jenkins, Chancellor of the Exchequer)
On this day in 1971, Britain abandoned centuries of monetary tradition and embraced decimal currency. For generations, 12 pennies made a shilling, and 20 shillings made a pound, a system deeply ingrained in daily life. The change to 100 new pennies caused widespread confusion, resistance, and uncertainty across the country.
A vast national education campaign followed, machines became obsolete overnight, and shop staff were retrained en masse. Even Harrods employed Decimal Penny Assistants to guide customers through the unfamiliar coins and values. The transition had taken 5 years of planning and was carried out entirely by hand, long before modern computers existed. February 15th was chosen carefully, with banks and shops closing for several days to convert accounts and clear cheques. Old money did not disappear immediately and remained legal in banks for some time, overlapping with the new system. It was a moment that showed how quickly structures can change, yet how long hearts and habits take to follow.
That tension mirrors a deeper spiritual truth. When someone encounters God and understands what Jesus did through his life, death, and resurrection, change happens instantly. Yet learning to live that new life takes time. As Scripture says, “If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.”
I’m not a person who wants to hide who I am. I’m a Christian (Whitney Houston)
On February 11th 2012, the lifeless body of Whitney Houston was found in a bathtub inside room 434 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. Many spoke poignantly at her funeral of the little girl with the faith in God and the huge voice who sang in the church choir.
Throughout her illustrious career, Whitney always included at least one Gospel song in her set list whether in a stadium or a concert hall. The documentary about her life and legacy was deeply moving. How could the girl, raised in a loving Christian family, become so lost to anxiety and addiction? A closer look at her upbringing though reveals an awful exposure to abuse and racism in her early teens. Whitney Houston once said “I know my singing talent is something God has given me” but at the same time she expressed her sense of disconnect with the faith she once had a child. She told Oprah Winfrey in 2009 “I’m so humbled and thankful to God that, by his grace and goodness, he has never given up on me, and I know I am his daughter. Jesus loves me, this I know”
Whitney’s talent has been lost to the world, but the heartfelt honesty of her words remains. I often encourage people who have lost the child-like faith they once had to “Go back and pick up what you left behind”
If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong (Abraham Lincoln)
On this day in 1865, the United States Congress formally ratified the Thirteenth Amendment effectively abolishing slavery. An institution that had shaped the nation’s economy, culture, and conscience for generations. More than four million enslaved men, women, and children were legally recognised as free, following the devastation of civil war. It was a moment born out of immense suffering and sacrifice, revealing the terrible cost of treating people as property.
The abolition of slavery did not end injustice overnight. Freedom on paper did not immediately mean safety, equality, or opportunity in daily life. Reconstruction would prove fragile, resistance fierce, and racism deeply entrenched. Yet voices like Abraham Lincoln had already framed the struggle as a moral reckoning, not merely a political dispute.
The nation was being forced to confront a truth it had long avoided that slavery contradicted its own claims of liberty. This moment echoes a deeper spiritual reality found in the Gospel. Scripture teaches that every person is made in God’s image, equal in worth and dignity. Slavery dehumanises but Jesus restores. Laws can break chains, but the Gospel breaks the power that makes chains possible.
I felt that the only way out of Auschwitz was through the chimney (Auschwitz survivor)
On this day in 1945, Soviet Red Army soldiers entered an isolated complex in Poland called Auschwitz-Birkenau. Six thousand prisoners were found alive, many barely conscious, surrounded by evidence of industrialised murder. The images forced the world to face the reality of the Nazi ideology, no longer as propaganda but a horrifying truth.
More than a million Jews were murdered at Auschwitz. In 2005, the UN designated 27th January as Holocaust Memorial Day, ensuring this crime would never be forgotten. It stands as one of the clearest examples of how far humanity can descend when truth is rejected and power replaces conscience. The Holocaust exposed depths of evil previously unimaginable.
The Bible tells the story of a people chosen not for superiority, but to reveal God’s persistent love in a broken world. Jesus, born a Jew, extended that promise beyond Israel to all nations without abandoning his own people. The cross does not deny human evil, but absorbs it, offering forgiveness where judgement is deserved. On this day, remembrance calls us to recognise that the Gospel alone can redeem humanity’s darkest moments.