by Mehdi
Welcome to the year of 1945, one of the most important years of the 40's.
This year has some of the events that made a big difference in American history.
It was home stretch of World War II. The world discovered the horrors of the
German Death Camps. It will come to be known as the Holocaust. The US dropped the Atomic bomb on Japan.
This prompted the final end of the war. But the war did not stop there. It
continued into peace talks, and trials of Axis military leaders for horrendous
war crimes against prisoners. Finally, this temporary truce is leading into an
unexpected Cold War. Audie
Murphy returns home as the most decorated American combat soldier in WWII.
Between February 4-11, of the Yalta conference between Stalin,
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and FDR.
These secret meetings had to do with important military and political decisions
at the Yalta
Meeting.
The beloved President Roosevelt dies
on April 12, 1945.
On March 24, U.S. marines capture the Japanese island of Iwo
Jima after more than a month of intense
fighting. Over 21,000 U.S. soldiers lost their lives.
On April 30 the German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler committed suicide.
On May 7 Germany signs the documents
of surrender in Reims, France.
On May 8 V-E
Day is celebrated worldwide.
On July 16 the first test explosion of the atom bomb happened at Alamogordo,
New
Mexico.
On August 6, General Leslie R. Groves informs J. Robert Oppenheimer of the
Hiroshima bombing decision.
On August 6 Colonel
Paul Tibbets pilots the Enola
Gay and drops the first atomic bomb on
Hiroshima.
Nagasaki
is devastated
by an atomic
bomb on August 9.
September 2 Japan officially surrenders on the deck of the USS
Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
The Nuremberg
Trials begin on October 18 to punish Nazi
leaders for their crimes against
humanity.
On October 24, the charter of nations was signed by remaining nations
making the official start of the United
Nations.
By 1945, about 5000 US homes have small-screened television
sets.
Cheerioats cereal was changed to Cheerios.
18th Annual Academy
Awards
Best Picture: The Lost Weekend
Best Actress: Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce)
Best Actor: Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend)
1940
1941 1942 1943
1944 1945 1946
1947 1948 1949
1940s
e-mail
us at thongell@pocanticohills.org
last updated
12/04/05