Happy Birthday April 7

The Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier was born on April 7, 1506 in the royal castle of Xavier, near Sangüesa and Pamplona, in the Spanish kingdom of Navarre. In 1541 Francis Xavier was commissioned by King John III of Portugal to preach the Christian faith in the Portuguese colonies in the East, thus marking the beginning of the Jesuit missions. He was influential in evangelization work, most notably in India and Japan.

The castle of the Xavier family By Jsanchezes,

The poet William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in what is now named Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in NW England. A volatile child, on one occasion on suffering an indignity, William went up to the attic intending to kill himself with a fencing sword. In 1778, William's father sent him as a boarder to Hawkshead Grammar School in Cumbria. It as there that William fell in love with countryside and nature and began to write poetry.

Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia on April 7, 1915. At the time of her birth, her mother, Sadie Fagan  was just 13. It is thought her father was Clarence Holiday, who abandoned Sadie when Billie was an infant to pursue a career as a jazz guitarist. She started singing in the early 1930s in Harlem, New York City, for tips in night clubs. Holiday took her professional pseudonym from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and her probable musician father.

For more April 7 anniversaries, including the establishment of the first permanent American settlement outside the original Thirteen Colonies. the introduction of the first friction matches and the debut of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, check out OnThatDay.