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U.S. President George W. Bush stood amid the 9,387 headstones marking the resting places of American soldiers who died 60 years ago on the beaches of Normandie, France in the largest amphibious invasion in history. To those who made it back he said " I want each of you to understand, you will be ho ... |
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The U.S. officially opens the World War II Veterans Memorial on the Mall in Washington, DC with a dedication ceremony. Sitting on 7.5 acres of land, the oval-shaped, bronze and granite monument is comprised of fifty-six pillars, arranged in two semi-circles, surrounding a reflecting pool. There is ... |
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Boris Yeltsin commences his five-year term as the first elected president of Russia. |
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Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II. |
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Great Britain, France, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. agree to end the occupation of Germany. |
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World War II ends with the surrender of Japan. |
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MacArthur lands in Japan. |
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An atomic bomb nicknamed "Fat Man" is detonated over the city of Nagasaki, Japan at 11:02 AM. |
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USSR declares war on Japan during WW II. |
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US B-29 Enola Gay drops Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, destroying about three fifths of the city. |
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Commander Machitsura Hashimoto, commanding Japanese submarine 58, fires two torpedoes at the Heavy Crusier USS Indianpolis (CA-35) and she sinks in 12 minutes with the loss of 300 of her 1,196 crew. Charles Butler McVay III is court-martialed and convicted of "hazarding his ship by failing to zigza ... |
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During the Potsdam Conference near Berlin, Truman tells Stalin that the US has a bomb of extraordinary power. |
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Dwight D. Eisenhower advises President Truman not to use the Atomic Bomb. In his assessment, it is unecessary. |
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The United States explodeds the first Atomic Bomb at the Alamogordo, New Mexico test site. |
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After a long and bloody 82 day battle, the Japanese island of Okinawa finally falls to U.S. forces. The Japanese lose 90,000 and the Americans lose roughly |
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At the close of World War II, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull approves the transfer of Werner von Braun's German rocket specialists. |
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German war criminal, Heinrich Himmler, is captured by the Allies. |
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Allies capture Luftwaffe Ace Adolf Galland. |
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German forces agree to an unconditional surrender. The day is commonly called VE Day, for Victory in Europe. |
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German General Alfred Johl signs the unconditional surrender of all German forces on all fronts in Reims, France at 2:41 am local time. |
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Canadian soldiers liberate the city of Amsterdam from Nazi occupation. |
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A Japanese bomb, launched by balloon, explodes near Lakewood, Oregon. It kills the woman and five children who were examining it. |
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The Soviet Union announces the fall of Berlin. Soviet soldiers hoist the red flag over the Reichstag building. |
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Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide. |
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The Red Army commences its attack on the German Reichstag building in Berlin. |
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Adolf Hitler marries Eva Braun designates Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor. |
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The German Army in Italy unconditionally surrenders to the Allies. |
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Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci are shot to death while trying to flee Italy. |
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During Galland's last flight of World War II, his Me-262 turbo-jet is seriously damaged by a P-47 Thunderbolt piloted by Lt. Jim Finnegan. He crashes on landing. |
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The newly formed United Nations meets for the first time in San Francisco, California. Fifty nations send representatives. |
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