On this day in 1517, an Augustinian priest named Martin Luther, offended by the practice of marketing the forgiveness of sins, listed his objections and nailed them to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany. There had been many before him who had criticized certain practices of the established church—or even broke with it—but this time, the questioner gained the protection of his ruler. Thus the Protestant Reformation is usually traced to this event.
