April 30

in History

Christian Persecution Ends — An empire relents after years of bloodshed

Nicomedia, Roman Empire (modern Turkey)Classical

311

Christian Persecution Ends

An empire relents after years of bloodshed

After nearly a decade of the most systematic persecution Christians had ever faced, the Diocletianic Persecution officially ended in the eastern Roman Empire. Emperor Galerius, himself gravely ill, issued an edict of toleration that acknowledged the failure of the campaign to stamp out Christianity. Churches could be rebuilt, congregations could gather openly, and Christians could once again worship without fear. The edict marked the beginning of Christianity's transformation from persecuted faith to state religion.

311 AD

Modern

1897

J. J. Thomson

J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.

1897 AD

Honolulu, HawaiiEarly 20th Century

1900

Hawaii Becomes Territory

Pacific islands become American soil

With the stroke of a pen, the Hawaiian Islands were formally organized as a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole installed as governor. The annexation, which followed the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and years of political maneuvering by American sugar planters, transformed the archipelago from an independent Pacific kingdom into American territory. The move would prove strategically vital four decades later, when Pearl Harbor thrust Hawaii into the center of world history.

1900 AD