Daily Archives: April 11, 2025

Lincoln calls for reconciliation and black suffrage as Confederate sympathizer plots his assassination 160 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1865)

1860s, American Civil War, U.S. Presidents


Video: 'Lincolns Final Speech - April 11, 1865 - Audio'

(Tuesday, April 11, 1865, approximately 8:00 p.m. local time; during the American Civil War) — Two days after Lee’s army surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his last public speech from a White House window to a crowd on the lawn, saying, “We meet this evening, not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart.” Continue reading Lincoln calls for reconciliation and black suffrage as Confederate sympathizer plots his assassination 160 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1865) →

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs education bill at his old school 60 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1965)

1960s, U.S. Presidents


Video: 'Signing of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 4/11/65.'

(Palm Sunday, April 11, 1965, 4:20 p.m. CST) — U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed today the $1.3 billion aid-to-education bill at the old country school in Johnson City, Texas, where he had his first lessons.

Tornadoes kill 271 in Midwest, sweep six states 60 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1965)

1960s


Video: 'Weather History: 1965 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak'

(Palm Sunday, April 11, 1965, 12:55 p.m. CST) — Tornadoes swept through six Midwestern states from Iowa to Ohio today and tonight, killing 271 persons and injuring thousands. Continue reading Tornadoes kill 271 in Midwest, sweep six states 60 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1965) →

U.S. report concludes a Russian of Japan could be decisive 80 years ago today (Apr 11 1945)

1940s, World War II


Video: 'Peter Jennings - Hiroshima: Why the Bomb was Dropped (1995)' (Apr. 11, 1945, 34:59)

(Wednesday, April 11, 1945; part of the Pacific War during World War II) — A report from the U.S. Joint Intelligence Staff on Unconditional Surrender of Japan concluded today that a Russian invasion of Japan could be decisive in ending the Pacific War.

President Roosevelt drives former mistress to Dowdell’s Knob 80 years ago today (Apr 11 1945)

1940s, U.S. Presidents, World War II


Video: 'American Experience FDR Parts 3 and 4' (Apr. 11, 1945, at 2:10:48)

(Wednesday, April 11, 1945, lunchtime EWT; during World War II) — U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt drove his former mistress Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, who had arrived at Warm Springs, Georgia, on Monday (Apr. 9, 1945), to Dowdell’s Knob, overlooking a lovely valley, and talked about the future of the world and what he was going to do after the war had ended.

Nazi concentration camp Nordhausen-Dora liberated 80 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1945)

1940s, The Holocaust, World War II


Video: 'Mittelbau-Dora/Nordhausen - The camp where the Nazis built their V2-rockets'

(Wednesday, April 11, 1945 approximately 6:30 p.m. Central European Summer Time; part of The Holocaust during World War II) — The Nazi concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora (also Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen-Dora) near Nordhausen in Thuringia, Germany, which supplied labor for extending the nearby tunnels in the Kohnstein and for manufacturing the V-2 rocket and the V-1 flying bomb, was liberated today by U.S. troops. Continue reading Nazi concentration camp Nordhausen-Dora liberated 80 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1945) →

‘Marty’ romantic drama film premieres in New York City 70 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1955)

1950s, Movies 1950s


Video: 'Marty' trailer

(Monday, April 11, 1955, 11:00 a.m. EST) — Marty, a romantic drama film about a lonely butcher who finds love despite the opposition of his friends and family, premiered today at the Sutton theater in New York City. Continue reading ‘Marty’ romantic drama film premieres in New York City 70 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1955) →

Ambassador Graham Martin remains optimistic following President Ford’s pitch for new aid for Saigon 50 years ago today (Apr 11 1975)

1970s, Cold War, Vietnam War


Video: 'Vietnam a Television History Episode 11' (Apr. 11, 1975, at 35:50)

(Friday, April 11, 1975; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and Cold War) — One day after U.S. President Gerald Ford appealed to Congress to approve “without delay” nearly a billion dollars in military and humanitarian aid for Saigon to give South Vietnam a chance to “save itself” as a country, U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Graham Martin remained optimistic.

U.S. announces it will close embassy in Phnom Penh 50 years ago today (Apr 11 1975)

1970s, Cold War, Vietnam War


Video: 'Vietnam a Television History Episode 11' (Apr. 11, 1975, at 37:48)

(Tuesday, April 11, 1975; during the Cambodian Civil War, part of the Vietnam War, Indochina Wars and the Cold War) –The United States announced today that because of the “seriously deteriorating military situation” it was closing its embassy in Phnom Penh and evacuating several hundred Americans and Cambodians from the encircled Cambodian capital.

The Beatles headline NME Poll-Winners’ All-Star Concert 60 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1965)

1960s, Popular Music 1960s, Television 1960s, The Beatles 1960s


Video: 'The Beatles - Live At NME Poll Winners Concert, London (April 11, 1965) + Awards!'

(Sunday, April 11, 1965, 3:15-4:40 p.m. BST) — The Beatles topped the bill this afternoon at the 1964-65 New Musical Express Annual Poll-Winners’ All-Star Concert at the Empire Pool in Wembley in London. Continue reading The Beatles headline NME Poll-Winners’ All-Star Concert 60 years ago this hour (Apr 11 1965) →