On This Day in Church History
A real event from the story of the church on each calendar day, told with its setting and what came of it, and quoted word for word from sources published before 1931.
"Dr. Livingstone, I Presume?"
November 10, 1871 · Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika
The setting
David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary and explorer, had not been heard from for years and was feared dead. The New York Herald sent the journalist Henry M. Stanley to find him.
The story
Stanley's diary for Friday, November 10, 1871, marks the 236th day of his march from Bagamoyo on the coast. His men dressed in their best, and Stanley put on a new flannel suit and chalked his helmet. They marched into Ujiji with flags unfurled and guns loaded for a salute.
Through the crowd Stanley saw a pale, tired white man with a grey beard, a faded cap and a red-sleeved waistcoat. He wanted to run and embrace him but held back. Instead he walked up, took off his hat and spoke the line that became famous.
They shook hands, and Stanley thanked God he had been allowed to see him.
“"DR. LIVINGSTONE, I PRESUME?" "Yes," said he, with a kind, cordial smile, lifting his cap slightly.”
“"I thank God, Doctor, I have been permitted to see you." He answered, "I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you."”
What happened next
Stanley stayed with Livingstone for months, and they explored the north end of Lake Tanganyika together. Livingstone refused to go home and died in Africa in 1873. His work and Stanley's reports drew many missionaries to Central and East Africa.
Why it matters: God's servants are never as forgotten as they may feel.
Source: Henry M. Stanley, How I Found Livingstone (1872), Chapter XI, Through Ukawendi, Uvinza, and Uhha, to Ujiji. Public domain.
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Other days
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October 19
Disaster at the Surrey Gardens Music Hall
1856 · London, England
October 20
Wesley and the Wednesbury Mob
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October 24
First Communion on Aniwa
1869 · Aniwa, New Hebrides (Vanuatu)
October 28
The Battle of the Milvian Bridge
312 · Rome, Italy
October 29
The Last Diary Entry of James Hannington
1885 · Busoga, near Uganda
October 31
Luther's Ninety-Five Theses
1517 · Wittenberg, Germany
November 5
The Patons Land on Tanna
1858 · Tanna, New Hebrides (Vanuatu)
November 6
Jonathan Edwards Writes "A Faithful Narrative"
1736 · Northampton, Massachusetts
November 10
"Dr. Livingstone, I Presume?"
1871 · Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika
November 11
The Mayflower Compact
1620 · Cape Cod, Massachusetts
November 12
Müller Opens His Second Orphan House
1857 · Ashley Down, Bristol, England
November 14
Samuel Seabury Consecrated America's First Bishop
1784 · Aberdeen, Scotland