John Cotton (minister)

John Cotton was a clergyman in England and the American colonies, and was considered the preeminent minister and theologian of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He studied for five years at Trinity College, Cambridge, and nine years at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He had already built a reputation as a scholar and outstanding preacher when he accepted the position of minister at St. Botolph's Church, Boston, in Lincolnshire, in 1612.

4 December 1585

Born on the same birth day (4 December): Betty Lennox • Bob Mosley • Dick Ricketts • Gasparo Gozzi • Jin (singer) • John Krish • Jules Armand Dufaure • Lee Smith (baseball) • Liu Bocheng • Victor French • Álex de la Iglesia

Born in the same month (December 1585): Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1585–1635) • Livia della Rovere • William Drummond of Hawthornden