At age 81, Swiss microbiologist Werner Arber becomes the first Protestant to lead the Academy.

FORBES: New Head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences

According to legend, Protestant reformer Martin Luther was the first person to decorate a Christmas tree.

FORBES: Everything You Wanted to Know About Christmas (but were afraid to Google)

This past week, the leaders of Northern Ireland's Protestant and Catholic factions put aside their differences, met for the first time in Belfast, and agreed to a power-sharing arrangement.

NPR: Orchestrating Goodwill for Northern Ireland

We find ourselves in a village in northern, Protestant Germany, a year before the outbreak of the First World War, and there, with only the briefest of excursions to the world beyond, we stay.

NEWYORKER: The White Ribbon

Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland's unionist first minister and a hardline Protestant, broke with tradition by attending the funeral mass.

ECONOMIST: A depressing terrorist attack��and a heartening response

So one of the first things TV analysts talk about from election exit polls is how religious groups voted, particularly Protestant evangelicals and Catholics.

FORBES: There Is No Catholic Vote, Just Catholic Sensibilities

For the first time, fewer than 50% (48%, in fact) of adults identified as Protestant, and those numbers are going down both in traditional mainline denominations, such as my United Church of Christ, and evangelical churches.

FORBES: Selling Religion: Why My Church Sponsored Youth Baseball and Softball