Major Mike | Today in History 09/13 (Church of the Holy Sepulchre)

Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, Israel (© Jivko Kazakov/Getty Images)

(335) A church is consecrated on Christendom’s hallowed ground

In Jerusalem, Constantine the Great consecrates a new church built over the purported sites of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Christendom’s holiest place, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre will be destroyed and rebuilt more than once.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church contains, according to traditions dating back to at least the fourth century, the two holiest sites in Christianity: the site where Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, at a place known as “Calvary” or “Golgotha”, and Jesus’s empty tomb, where he is said to have been buried and resurrected. The tomb is enclosed by the 19th-century shrine, called the Aedicule. The Status Quo, a 150-year-old understanding between religious communities, applies to the site.

Construction completed: 335 AD
Capacity: 8,000
Founder: Constantine the Great
Burials: Godfrey of Bouillon · Baldwin I of Jerusalem · Baldwin IV of Jerusalem · Baldwin II of Jerusalem · Baldwin V of Jerusalem · Fulk, King of Jerusalem · Baldwin III of Jerusalem · Cecile of France
Religion: Christianity
Architectural styles: Romanesque architecture · Baroque architecture · Church · Baroque

Top view of the church and surrounding areas, detailed descriptions in Greek, 1807
wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre

4.15.A18

(335) A church is consecrated on Christendom’s hallowed ground.
Also on this day,

1848 | ‘American Crowbar Case’ influences ideas on brain function

Phineas Gage is working on a Vermont railroad when a 3-foot 7-inch iron tamping rod is driven through his head with explosive force. The resulting injury, which Gage will survive for another 12 years, changes both his personality and doctors’ opinions in the field of neurology.

1990 | Two separate yet equally important groups debut on NBC as Law & Order premieres

Detective Mike Logan arrests the perpetrators and DA Ben Stone prosecutes them as ‘Law & Order,’ a combo of police procedural and courtroom drama, makes its prime-time bow. The show will go on to be the longest-running crime drama on US television and spawn spin-offs galore.

1993 | Arab-Israeli peace process gets a boost at the White House as Oslo Accords signed

US President Bill Clinton hosts Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House as their representatives sign the ‘Oslo Accords,’ another step in the complex Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Today in History ^09/13/17

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, left, and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, right, shake hands as President Bill Clinton presides over the ceremony marking the signing of the 1993 Oslo peace accord, Sept 13, 1993 (© Ron Edmonds/AP)

(1993) Arab-Israeli peace process gets a boost at the White House

US President Bill Clinton hosts Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House as their representatives sign the 'Oslo Accords,' another step in the complex Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The Oslo Accords are a set of agreements between the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization: the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995. The Oslo Accords marked the start of the Oslo process, a peace process aimed at achieving a peace treaty based on United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and at fulfilling the "right of the Palestinian people to self-determination." The Oslo process started after secret negotiations in Oslo, resulting in the recognition by the PLO of the State of Israel and the recognition by Israel of the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people and as a partner in negotiations.