TODAY IN HISTORY

SUNDAY APR 11, 2021 1945

During World War II, American soldiers liberated the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany.

1814

Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as Emperor of the French and was banished to the island of Elba.

1865

President Abraham Lincoln spoke to a crowd outside the White House, saying, “We meet this evening, not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart.”

1899

The treaty ending the Spanish-american War was declared in effect.

1921

Iowa became the first state to impose a cigarette tax, at 2 cents a package.

1947

Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers played in an exhibition against the New York Yankees at Ebbets Field, four days before his regular-season debut that broke baseball’s color line.

1953

Oveta Culp Hobby became the first Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.

1961

Former SS officer Adolf Eichmann went on trial in Israel, charged with crimes against humanity for his role in the Nazi Holocaust.

1965

Dozens of tornadoes raked six Midwestern states on Palm Sunday, killing 271 people.

1968

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which included the Fair Housing Act, a week after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

1970

Apollo 13, with astronauts James A. Lovell, Fred W. Haise and Jack Swigert, blasted off on its ill-fated mission to the moon.

1996

7-year-old Jessica Dubroff, who hoped to become the youngest person to fly cross-country, was killed along with her father and flight instructor when their plane crashed after takeoff from Cheyenne, Wyoming.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Ethel Kennedy is 93. Songwriter-producer Daryl Simmons is 64. Actor Johnny Messner is 52. Actor Vicellous Rapper David Banner is 47. Actor Tricia Helfer is 47. Actor Kelli Garner is

37. Singer Joss Stone is

34. Actor-dancer Kaitlyn Jenkins is 29.