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April 4, 1945

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from April 4, 1945

Notable Births

Daniel Cohn-Bendit

1945Daniel Cohn-Bendit, French-German educator and politician[โ€ ]

Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit is a French-German politician. Born stateless to a German-Polish Ashkenazi Jewish family, Daniel Cohn-Bendit obtained German citizenship in 1959 and French citizenship in 2015.

Caroline McWilliams

1945Caroline McWilliams, American actress (died 2010)[โ€ ]

Caroline Margaret McWilliams was an American actress, best known for her portrayal of Marcy Hill in the television series Benson. McWilliams had also appeared in nine episodes of its parent-series Soap, as Sally. She was a regular on the CBS soap Guiding Light for several years and appeared in a short-term role on the NBC soap Another World. She also had a recurring role on Beverly Hills, 90210 playing the mother of Jamie Walters's character, Ray Pruit.

Historical Events

United States Army

1945World War II: United States Army troops liberate Ohrdruf forced labor camp in Germany.[โ€ ]

The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution. It operates under the authority, direction, and control of the United States secretary of defense. It is one of the six armed forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. The Army is the most senior branch in order of precedence amongst the armed services. It has its roots in the Continental Army, formed on 14 June 1775 to fight against the British for independence during the American Revolutionary War (1775โ€“1783). After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army.

Battle of Kassel (1945)

1945World War II: United States Army troops capture Kassel.[โ€ ]

The Battle of Kassel was a four-day struggle between the U.S. Army and the German Army in April 1945 for Kassel, a medium-sized city 140 kilometers northeast of Frankfurt am Main, which also is the second-largest city in Hesse. The battle resulted as the U.S. Third Army pushed northeast from the region of Frankfurt and Mainz. The battle opened on April 1, 1945 and ended with an American victory three days later. Opposing the Third Army's 80th Infantry Division were an infantry replacement battalion, some heavy tanks, and anti-aircraft guns. Although the Germans gave battle at Kassel, their army was on the brink of collapse as the Western Allies and the Red Army made deep inroads into Germany. The defense of Kassel did not materially impede the Allied advance, and, one month after the battle ended, Germany was forced to capitulate.

Red Army

1945World War II: Soviet Red Army troops liberate Hungary from German occupation.[โ€ ]

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often referred by its shortened name as the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars to oppose the military forces of the new nation's adversaries during the Russian Civil War, especially the various groups collectively known as the White Army. In February 1946, the Red Army was renamed the "Soviet Army". Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union it was split between the post-Soviet states, with its bulk becoming the Russian Ground Forces, commonly considered to be the successor of the Soviet Army.