On this date in 1708, an odd story came to a head. A very wealthy French glass merchant, inspired by an apocalyptic book called "Accomplishment of the Scriupture Prophecies" (Pierre Jurieu, 1686) took in several young children and began schooling them to become prophets. As reported by the writer Daniel Defoe, these young mystics had left the merchant's care after a few years and were seeking to support themselves by spreading end times prophecies in London. On March 25, 1708, they staged a public resurrection from the dead in order to prove their powers and make some cash. The resurrection failed, and the young prophets fell into obscurity.
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On March 25, 1801, Novalis died. The poet's posthumously-published book "Christianity or Europe" was eschatological in its themes, claiming a new world order was soon going to form around a universal religion.
