October 21 is the date Martin Luther joined the faculty of the University of Wittenberg in 1512.
After a frustrating period in a monastery and a disillusioning visit to a church conference in Rome, he decided to pursue a doctorate at Wittenberg — and did so well that he was asked to join the faculty. Preparing lessons for his students gave him an occasion to work out his thoughts about the monastery and his trip to Rome, and his thinking crystallized when, in 1517, Pope Leo X announced the sale of indulgences (monetary gifts to the church said to lessen the donors’ ultimate punishment for their sins) to help finance the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica. Outraged, Luther wrote a treatise called “Disputation on the Power of Indulgences” — commonly known today as “The Ninety-five Theses” — arguing against the sale of indulgences as both corrupt and theologically mistaken. He nailed his theses to the door of the university chapel; his ideas circulated swiftly and widely, stirring controversy and helping to spark what later became known as the Protestant reformations in Western Europe.
Augustana Lutheran Church of Hyde Park 
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