5 Things, Including a Public Hearing on BU's Biolab

Today is Thursday, April 19. Here are five things you should know.

1) Warmer. Today looks to be a good one, with highs climbing back up to 73 degrees and partly cloudy skies, according to Weather Underground. At night, the skies will clear up once the evening gathers steam and things won’t get too cold, with a low temperature around 50 degrees predicted.

2) Marburg virus. The National Institutes of Health will host a public hearing tonight regarding the latest risk assessment for the National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratory (NEIDL), commonly referred to as the . For years, the highly-controversial lab has been hampered by legal challenges and regulatory reviews, but plans to conduct research on some of the deadliest pathogens known to man are still on the table. The university plans to use about 16 percent of the building as a biosafety Level 4 Biolab to study lethal disease which travel by air and for which there are no known cures or vaccines, such as Ebola and Marburg virus. Click here to read more about the hearing.

3) Launch. The Boston Globe will host a celebration commemorating the launch of Fenway 100, a publication marking the 100th anniversary of Boston’s storied old ballyard, at Game On! on Landsdowne Street tonight at 6 p.m. The event will be hosted by celebrated Globe scribe Dan Shaughnessy, and the program features former Sox lefty Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Globe sportswriter and author of Fenway 100 John Powers, Dropkick Murphy’s frontman Ken Casey and Sports Museum curator Dick Johnson. Refreshments will be served and the Sports Museum will be showcasing priceless Fenway memorabilia spanning the park’s 100-year history.

4) Battle of the Bands. If you haven’t submitted a video entry for our , better get moving as the Friday deadline looms. The rules are simple: submit a performance video of your band (solo artists are fine too) playing an original composition (no covers), keep the length to four minutes or less and a bunch of other details you can , and, boom. You’re good to go. Prizes include some free studio time and a gig at the Harp, among other things. 

5) First Marathon. On this day, in 1897, John J. McDermott of New York won the first Boston Marathon with a time of 2:55:10. The Boston Marathon was originally held on Patriot's Day, April 19, a regional holiday that commemorates the beginning of the Revolutionary War. In years when the 19th fell on a Sunday, the race was held the following Monday. In 1969, Patriots Day was officially moved to the third Monday in April and the race has been held on that Monday ever since.