80 years ago today - Jul 25, 1946

First counselor J. Reuben Clark speaks concerning embezzelment by a local bishop: "The Church could not use its funds for such a means as proposed to save any embarassment to the Church, and it could not and should not require the [local] brethren there to sacrifice unless their friendship for the [bishop's] family prompted them to do so on their own accord, and that he didn't worry about the resultant effect upon the Church if we did not attempt to cover up, but insisted upon justice."

[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]

185 years ago today - Jul 25, 1841 (Sunday)

Wm. Yokum lost his leg by amputation, as the result of a wound received in the massacre at Haun's Mill.

[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]

190 years ago today - (Mon) Jul 25, 1836

Joseph Smith and several leading Mormons (Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, etc.) leave Kirtland to seek buried treasure in Salem, MA

[Broadhurst, Dale R., Mormon Chronology, http://olivercowdery.com/history/morchrn2.htm]

25 years ago today - Jul 24, 2001

On Pioneer Day, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules Utah's ban on alcohol advertisements "irrational," saying it might be causing irreparable harm to local liquor, brewing and publishing companies.

[Harward, Randy; Utah Brewing Timeline, Salt Lake City Weekly, Aug 24, 2011]

180 years ago today - Jul 24, 1846

[Wilford Woodruff]

Met in council with the Twelve in a tent on a High prairie ridge. Eleven of the quorum of the Twelve were present. We put on our robes And offered up our prayers to God. Conversed upon principle. Decided in council that no man has a right to Attend to the ordinance of sealing except the President of the Church or those who are directed by him so to do And that the ordinance should be confined to Zion or her stakes. This was the last Council we were expecting to hold Altogether before O. Hyde, P. P. Pratt & J Taylor took there departure for England.

[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

180 years ago today - Jul 24, 1846

Oliver Cowdery writes to his sister referring to polygamy as a "folly and "abomination.

[Hales, Brian C., Joseph Smith's Polygamy: History and Theology, 3 vols., Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2013 (www.JosephSmithsPolygamy.com)]

45 years ago today - Jul 23, 1981-Thursday

[Leonard Arrington]

The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve announced this morning that Elder Gordon B. Hinckley has been made a member of the First Presidency [3rd counselor] and that Elder Neal Maxwell has been added to the Quorum of the Twelve in his place. Presumably Elder Hinckley will handle many of the assignments which President [N. Eldon] Tanner has been handling. Apparently they want to retain President Tanner's name as a member of the Presidency. [Hinckly would be referred to as the "acting president of the church" in the press.]

This move will surely be beneficial to our Historical endeavors, particularly because Elder Hinckley is familiar with what we are doing, and because he is positive. He has a positive, favorable view on what we are doing.

[Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]

45 years ago today - Jul 23, 1981

Elder Gordon B. Hinckley is called as third counselor in the First Presidency due to the physical weakness of Presidents Spencer W. Kimball, N. Eldon Tanner, and Marion G. Romney. Hinckley is referred to in the press as the "acting president of the church" because Kimball, Tanner, and Romney are largely out of the public eye.

[Neal A. Maxwell is called as an apostle to replace Gordon B. Hinckley]

[Wikipedia, 20th Century (Mormonism), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_century_(Mormonism)]

125 years ago today - Jul 23, 1901

The question of a wife being sealed to a man who had committed suicide was discussed by the Presidency and other brethren. President Joseph F. Smith said that in his opinion people who commit suicide should be given the full benefit of doubt as to their sanity before the doors of the Temple should be closed against them. Those who take their own life wilfully of course are barred.

[Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

90 years ago today - Jul 22, 1936

First counselor J. Reuben Clark recommends that the Communist candidate for U.S. president be denied use of the Salt Lake Tabernacle for a speech. He also recommends to "confidentially" advise Utah's governor to have Mormon members of the American Legion armed with "picks and ax-handles" to attend the Communist Party's rally in Liberty Park.

[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]

130 years ago today - Jul 22, 1896

Presidents George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith (President [Wilford Woodruff] being at home unwell) had an interview with Elder Marriner W[ood]. Merrill, President of the Logan Temple. Some complaint had been made in regard to the salaries of some of the Temple hands, who had been paid only half their salary during the two months vacation. It was shown that the hands did not work at all on Saturdays, but they were provided with dinner at the Temple, and that the work on Mondays was very light. Taking all things into consideration, the salaries were ample for services rendered. President Cannon said that if the brethren employed in the Recorder's office could obtain more remunerative labor they should be at liberty to make the change, and he believed that lady scribes could be obtained at an much less salary than that now paid. The conclusion was that the brethren had no good grounds of complaint.

[Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

115 years ago today - Jul 21, 1911; Friday

[Charles W. Penrose]

Prof[essor] O[sborne]. J[ohn]. P[eter] Widtsoe came ... Had Talk with him on Man's Origin.

[Charles W. Penrose, Diary]

185 years ago today - Jul 21, 1841

The WARSAW SIGNAL in Warsaw, Illinois: "How MILITARY these people are becoming! Every thing they say or do seems to breathe the spirit of military tactics. Their PROPHET appears, on all great occasions, in his splendid regimental dress, signs his name Lieut. General, and more titles are to be found in the Nauvoo Legion, than any one book on military tactics can produce; and now comes a public journal, the name of which is composed of two military words. Truly FIGHTING must, be a part of the creed of these Saints!"

225 years ago today - Jul 21, 1801

Mary Fielding (Smith), later the wife of Hyrum Smith and mother of Joseph F. Smith, is born in Bedfordshire, England.

75 years ago today - Jul 20, 1951

Because the Korean War reduced the number of young elders being called as missionaries, the First Presidency issued a call for seventies to help fill the need. Many married men subsequently served full-time missions.

[Church News: Historical Chronology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/58765/Historical-chronology-of-The-Church-of-Jesus-Christ-of-Latter-day-Saints.html]

90 years ago today - Jul 20, 1936

Chief of Salt Lake City's detectives begins sending to the First Presidency reports of surveillance and infiltration of the Communist Party in Utah.

[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]

115 years ago today - Jul 20, 1911

[Charles W. Penrose]

"Bro[ther] [David O.] McKay home with a broken leg. Bro[ther] [George F.] Gibbs read his a/c [account] of matters connected with plural marriage of Abra[ha]m H Cannon [who had just died] and Miss Hamlin which was not ordered published but to be filed and preserved."

[Charles W. Penrose Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1910-1951, Privately Published, Salt Lake City, Utah 2010]

10 years ago today - 2016 July 19

A day before the Russian government passes anti-terror laws restricting most religious proselyting, the LDS Church promises to comply with these laws and designates missionaries serving in Russia as "volunteers".

[Wikipedia, 21st Century (Mormonism), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_century_(Mormonism)]

150 years ago today - 1876. July 19

Joseph Fielding Smith: Born Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., in Salt Lake City to Julina Lambson and future Church President Joseph F. Smith. He was the grand-nephew of Joseph Smith, grandson of Church Patriarch Hyrum Smith, nephew of Church Patriarch John Smith, brother of Apostle Hyrum Mack Smith, and father-in-law of Apostle Bruce R. McConkie.

[Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

190 years ago today - Jul 19, 1836

A warrant for the arrest David W. Patten, Warren Parrish, and Wilford Woodruff is issued in Tennessee on the grounds that they have been "prophesying falsely, by saying that four persons who were baptized should receive the Holy Ghost in twenty-four hours, and that Christ should come the second time before this generation passed away." Charges dropped against Wilford since he wasn't present at the time. The other two are acquitted the next day.

[Kenney, Scott, Saints Without Halos, "Mormon History 1830-1844," http://web.archive.org/web/20120805163534/saintswithouthalos.com/dirs/d_c.phtml]