Deaf Bible Scholar John Kitto died on this day in 1854. He's remembered for putting together one of the best Bible encyclopedias up to his time, the
Pictorial Bible and Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature. Born in Plymouth, England in 1804, he was pressed to work as a child because of his family's poverty. Kitto fell 35 feet while carrying slate tiles up a ladder. He recovered from his injuries except for the loss of his hearing. Kitto endured a difficult childhood, eventually finding his way to drawing illustrations for Bible stories and becoming a printer. A missionary group sent him to Malta and he eventually made his way to Russia, Turkey, Egypt.
Kitto died at the age of 50, but not before he was granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.
