Thomas Parentuchelli was born. As Nicholas V, he would become the best of the Renaissance popes, a man of blameless character. He was also a connoisser of the sciences, arts and architecture and a book lover who founded the Vatican Library.
William Cowper was born in Herfordshire, England. After an unhappy childhood in which he was brutalized at school, Cowper trained for the legal profession but never practiced law. Stress led to deep depression, from which Cowper never fully recovered. At age 32 he was converted while in an asylum. Upon his release after 18 months of treatment, he made his home with Rev. Morley Unwin and later Anglican hymnwriter John Newton in Olney. Cowper and Newton produced Olney Hymns (1779), one of the most significant early collections of English hymnody. Before his death, Cowper was recognized as the greatest English poet of his day, a founder of the Romantic movement. Two of his most popular verses are sung as the hymns "Oh, for a Closer Walk With Thee" and "There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood " He died April 25, 1800 allegedly despairing of salvation.
Birth of Jacob DeShazer in Salem, Oregon, in a devout Christian home of modest circumstances. His father was a minister-farmer, who worked on the farm during the week and preached on Sunday. Jacob was two when his father died. Three years later his mother married H. P. Andrus, and a new home was established in Madras, a small village of some 300 people, in north central Oregon. Although raised in church, and familiar with all the Bible stories, he had no real commitment to the Lord as he grew up. Jacob became a navy bombardier during World War II, and was part of Gen. Jimmy Doolittle's surprise attack on Japan shortly after the war began. His plane crashed as it tried to reach China, he was captured, and imprisoned for the duration. A guard gave the Americans a New Testament to taunt them that this was the way their God was treating them. But the Word reached his heart, and Jacob DeShazer was converted to Christ while in prison. Upon his release at the end of the war, he studied for the ministry, married, and returned to Japan as a missionary. Many were converted, including the Japanese general who led the attack on Pearl Harbor.
