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Martin Luther didn't intend to split Christianity. He nailed his Ninety-Five The
Featured Event 1546 Death

February 18

Martin Luther Dies: Reformer Who Split Christianity

Martin Luther didn't intend to split Christianity. He nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg in 1517 as an academic debate invitation — the standard way to propose scholarly argument. A printer got hold of them, translated them from Latin into German, and distributed them across the Holy Roman Empire in weeks. Luther was shocked by the response. He died in Eisleben in 1546, the same town where he'd been born. By then, half of Europe had followed him out of Rome.

February 18, 1546

480 years ago

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