Joseph Fielding Smith, American religious leader, 10th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1972)
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. (July 19, 1876 – July 2, 1972) was an American religious leader and writer who served as the tenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1970 until his death in 1972. He was the son of former church president Joseph F. Smith and the great-nephew of LDS Church founder Joseph Smith.
Smith was named to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1910, when his father was the church's president. When Smith became president of the LDS Church, he was 93 years old; he began his presidential term at an older age than any other president in church history. Smith's tenure as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1951 to 1970 is the third-longest in church history; he served in that capacity during the entire presidency of David O. McKay.
Smith spent some of his years among the Twelve Apostles as the Church Historian and Recorder. He was a religious scholar and a prolific writer. Many of his works are used as references for church members. Doctrinally, Smith was known for rigid orthodoxy and as an arch-conservative in his views on evolution and race, although it has been said that age had softened him and as a result he put up less resistance to reforms by the time he had become president.
1876Jul, 19
Joseph Fielding Smith
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Events on 1876
- 2Feb
Major League Baseball
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed. - 10Mar
Alexander Graham Bell
The first successful test of a telephone is made by Alexander Graham Bell. - 22Apr
MLB
The first game in the history of the National League was played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. This game is often pointed to as the beginning of the MLB. - 4Jun
First Transcontinental Railroad
An express train called the Transcontinental Express arrives in San Francisco, via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after leaving New York City. - 25Nov
Battle of the Little Bighorn
American Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack the sleeping village of Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife at the headwaters of the Powder River.