On April 15, 1945, British troops liberated the German Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they discovered thousands of dead and rotting corpses, and many more thousands of sick and starving prisoners confined to severely overcrowded and dirty compounds. The prisoners were suffering from acute typhus, typhoid and tuberculosis due to a lack of running water. More than 30,000 others had died in the previous months, many from typhus, but even more from starvation.
On April 16, 1964, The Rolling Stones’ debut album, “The Roll ing Stones,” issued in the U.S. as “England’s Newest Hit Makers,” was released. The band consisted of lead singer Mick Jagger, rhythm guitarist Brian Jones, lead guitarist Keith Richards, bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts.
On April 17, 1985, the U.S. government announced a campaign to increase organ donation awareness with the hope of making the procedure as widespread as donating blood, following similar campaigns from other countries around the world as organ transplants became more common.
On April 18, 1997, major floods in Grand Forks, North Dakota, caused by the Red River’s breaching a dike, necessitated the evacuation of 50,000 residents from their homes. In some areas, only the roofs of their houses were visible.
On April 19, 1897, the world’s oldest annual marathon run took place for the first time. Today the Boston Marathon ranks among the world’s most prestigious road racing events, with an average of 20,000 participants, and is one of five members of the World Marathon Majors, which also include the cities of London, Berlin, Chicago and New York.
On April 20, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI visited Ground Zero in New York, the scene of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the city’s Twin Towers, at the end of his six-day tour of America. He greeted survivors, fire and police workers, and relatives of some of the 2,749 people who died at the scene, and prayed for the rescuers and victims, as well as “those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred,” before celebrating Mass at New York’s Yankee stadium.
On April 21, 1918, Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace pilot popularly known as the “Red Baron” and credited with 80 confirmed air combat victories, was killed in action during World War I.
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