January 11: Messiah claimant Theudas

During the year 46 CE, Theudas was killed by the Romans. One of many Jewish claimants to Messiah, he led some 400 followers to the Jordan, aiming to fulfill a prophecy that the Messiah would lead his people to the wilderness before returning to Jerusalem in triumph. At the river, however, the group was massacred by the Romans, and Theudas himself beheaded.