On this day missionary and educator Alexander Duff arrived in Kolkata, after a voyage during which he was shipwrecked twice. Duff was the first overseas missionary of the Church of Scotland to India. His survival despite the shipwrecks was seen as a sign of the divine will sanctioning his mission.
Though inspired by his evangelical mission, Duff, a committee and admired teacher, played a major role in the introduction and spread of Western education through the medium of English in India.
On July 13, 1830, he started General Assembly’s Institution, which would eventually become Scottish Church College.