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1945 marked the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
and the fall of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and the
Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...
. It is also the only year in which
nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
have been used in combat.


Events

Below, the events of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
have the "WWII" prefix.


January

*
January 1 January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the ye ...
– WWII: **
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
begins Operation Bodenplatte, an attempt by the ''
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...
'' to cripple Allied air forces in the
Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
. ** Chenogne massacre: German prisoners are allegedly killed by American forces near the village of Chenogne, Belgium. *
January 6 Events Pre-1600 * 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will ...
– WWII: A German offensive recaptures
Esztergom Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river ...
,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
from the Russians. *
January 12 Events Pre-1600 * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire. * 1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already rei ...
– WWII: The
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
begins the Vistula–Oder Offensive in Eastern Europe, against the
German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
. *
January 13 Events Pre-1600 * 27 BC – Octavian transfers the state to the free disposal of the Roman Senate and the people. He receives Spain, Gaul, and Syria as his province for ten years. * 532 – The Nika riots break out, during the raci ...
– WWII: The Soviet Union begins the East Prussian Offensive, to eliminate German forces in
East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
. *
January 16 Events Pre-1600 * 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire. * 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Sp ...
– WWII:
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
takes residence in the ''
Führerbunker The ''Führerbunker'' () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters ...
'' in Berlin. *
January 17 Events Pre-1600 * 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey. * 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people ...
** WWII: The
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
occupies
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...
, Poland. **
The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...
: Swedish diplomat
Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. 31 J ...
, who has saved thousands of Jews, is taken into custody by a Soviet patrol during the Siege of Budapest and is never again seen publicly. *
January 18 Events Pre-1600 * 474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later. * 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail. *1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chin ...
The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...
: The SS begins the evacuation of
Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. I ...
. Nearly 60,000 prisoners, mostly Jews, are forced to march to other locations in Germany; as many as 15,000 die. The 7,000 too sick to move are left without supplies being distributed. *
January 19 Events Pre-1600 * 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. * 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender a ...
The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...
: Soviet forces liberate the
Łódź Ghetto The Łódź Ghetto or Litzmannstadt Ghetto (after the Nazi German name for Łódź) was a Nazi ghetto established by the German authorities for Polish Jews and Roma following the Invasion of Poland. It was the second-largest ghetto in all of ...
; only 877 Jews of the initial population of 164,000 remain at this time. *
January 20 Events Pre-1600 * 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. * 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom. * 1156 & ...
** Franklin D. Roosevelt is
sworn in Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to giv ...
for a fourth term as President of the United States, the only President ever to exceed two terms. ** Germany begins the
Evacuation of East Prussia The evacuation of East Prussia was the movement of German civilian population and military personnel from East Prussia between 20 January and March 1945, that was initially organized and carried out by Nazi Germany, state authorities but quickly ...
. *
January 21 Events Pre-1600 * 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa. * 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when ...
22 (night) – At the Grünhagen railroad station, located in
East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
at this date, two trains, heading for Elbing, collide. At dawn the station is reached by
Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...
infantry and tanks which destroy the station, killing between 140 and 150 people. *
January 23 Events Pre-1600 * 393 – Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor. * 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao. * 1264 & ...
– WWII: ** Hungary agrees to an
armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...
with the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
. ** German Grand Admiral
Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelled Doenitz; ; 16 September 1891 24 December 1980) was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government fo ...
orders the start of Operation Hannibal, the mass evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from the
Courland Pocket The Courland Pocket (Blockade of the Courland army group), (german: Kurland-Kessel)/german: Kurland-Brückenkopf (Courland Bridgehead), lv, Kurzemes katls (Courland Cauldron) or ''Kurzemes cietoksnis'' (Courland Fortress)., group=lower-alpha ...
,
East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
and the Polish Corridor, evacuating an estimated 800,000-900,000 German civilians and 350,000 soldiers from advancing Soviet forces. ** Evacuation of Germans from Grünhagen. *
January 24 Events Pre-1600 * 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula. * 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt. *1438 – The Counc ...
– WWII: AP war correspondent Joseph Morton, nine
OSS OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...
men, and four SOE agents are executed by the Germans at Mauthausen concentration camp under Hitler's
Commando Order The Commando Order () was issued by the OKW, the high command of the German armed forces, on 18 October 1942. This order stated that all Allied commandos captured in Europe and Africa should be summarily executed without trial, even if in pro ...
of 1942, which stipulates the immediate execution of all captured Allied commandos or
saboteurs Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
without trial, even those in proper uniforms. Morton is the only Allied correspondent to be executed by the Axis during the war. *
January 26 Events Pre-1600 * 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph. * 1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people. * 1564 – The Council of T ...
– WWII: 19-year-old U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Audie Murphy sees action at Holtzwihr, France, for which is awarded the
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...
. *
January 27 Events Pre-1600 * 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent. * 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to bec ...
The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...
: The Soviet
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
liberates the
Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...
and Birkenau concentration camps. *
January 30 Events Pre-1600 * 1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen. *1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom. 1601–1900 * 1607 – An estimat ...
– WWII: ** , with over 10,000 mainly civilian Germans from Gotenhafen (
Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...
) is sunk in
Gdańsk Bay Gdańsk Bay or the Gulf of Gdańsk ( pl, Zatoka Gdańska; csb, Gduńskô Hôwinga; russian: Гданьская бухта, Gdan'skaja bukhta, and german: Danziger Bucht) is a southeastern bay of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the adjacent por ...
by three
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, ...
es from Soviet submarine ''S-13'' in the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
; up to 9,400, 5,000 of whom are children, are thought to have died – the greatest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history. **
Raid at Cabanatuan The Raid at Cabanatuan ( fil, Pagsalakay sa Cabanatuan), also known as the Great Raid ( fil, Ang Dakilang Pagsalakay, link=no), was a rescue of Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians from a Japanese camp near Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Ph ...
: 121 American soldiers and 800 Filipino guerrillas free 813 American
prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...
from the Japanese-held camp in the city of
Cabanatuan Cabanatuan, officially the City of Cabanatuan ( fil, Lungsod ng Cabanatuan; ilo, Siudad ti Cabanatuan), is a 1st class component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 327,325 p ...
, in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. **
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
makes his last public speech, on broadcast radio, expressing the belief that Germany will triumph. *
January 31 Events Pre-1600 * 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades. *1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the ...
– WWII: The Battle of Hill 170 in the Burma Campaign ends with the British 3rd Commando Brigade defeating the Imperial Japanese Army 54th Division, causing the Japanese Twenty-Eighth Army to withdraw from the Arakan Peninsula.


February

*
February February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...
– Raymond L. Libby of
American Cyanamid American Cyanamid Company was a leading American conglomerate which became one of the nation's top 100 manufacturing companies during the 1970s and 1980s, according to the Fortune 500 listings at the time. It started in fertilizer, but added ...
's research laboratories, at
Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 202 ...
, announces a method of orally administering the antibiotic
penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from '' Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum usin ...
. *
February 3 Events Pre-1600 *1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states. * 1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire. * 1488 – ...
– WWII: ** Battle of Manila: United States forces enter the outskirts of
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
to capture it from the Japanese Imperial Army, starting the battle. On February 4, U.S. Army forces liberate
Santo Tomas Internment Camp Santo Tomas Internment Camp, also known as the Manila Internment Camp, was the largest of several camps in the Philippines in which the Japanese interned enemy civilians, mostly Americans, in World War II. The campus of the University of Santo ...
in the city. ** The
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
agrees to enter the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...
against Japan, once hostilities against Germany are concluded. *
February 4 Events Pre–1600 * 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrelling ...
11 – WWII:
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
and
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
leader
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
hold the
Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...
. *
February 7 Events Pre-1600 * 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor. * 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II. *1301 &nda ...
– WWII: General
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...
returns to
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
. *
February 8 Events Pre-1600 * 421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. * 1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir. * 1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of ...
– The Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, championed by charismatic native leader Elizabeth Peratrovich, is passed by the territorial Senate, after the legislature defeated a previous bill in 1943. *
February 9 Events Pre-1600 * 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. * 1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland. *1539 – The first recorded race is held ...
**
Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...
becomes leader of the German Communists in Moscow. ** WWII: " Black Friday": A force of Allied
Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...
aircraft suffers heavy casualties in an unsuccessful attack on German destroyer ''Z33'' and escorting vessels sheltering in
Førde Fjord Førde Fjord ( no, Førdefjorden) is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. It is the longest of all the fjords in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnfjord. Førdefjorden passes through the municipalities of Sunnfjord (municipalit ...
, Norway. *
February 10 Events Pre-1600 *1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end. * 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, sparki ...
– WWII: German troopship is sunk by the Soviet submarine ''S-13''; 3,608 drown. *
February 10 Events Pre-1600 *1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end. * 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, sparki ...
20 – WWII: Operation Kita: The
Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
returns "Completion Force", containing both its ''Ise''-class battleships, safely from
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
to Kure in Japan despite Allied attacks. *
February 13 Events Pre-1600 * 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome. * 1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th. * 1462 – The ...
– WWII: ** The Budapest Offensive and the Siege of Budapest end with
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
troops surrendering
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...
(Hungary) to
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
-Romanian forces. ** Bombing of Dresden (Germany) by the British
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
and
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
; 25,000-35,000 are estimated to have died. *
February 16 Events Pre-1600 * 1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire. * 1270 – Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of K ...
– WWII: ** The Bombing of Wesel begins, destroying 97% of the town over three days. ** American and Filipino ground forces land on
Corregidor Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...
Island in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. ** Combined American and Filipino forces recapture the
Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the enti ...
Peninsula. **
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
declares war on Germany. *
February 19 Events Pre-1600 * 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies. * 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of ...
20 – 980 (Actual figure is disputed) Japanese soldiers die as a result of being attacked by long saltwater
crocodile Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant me ...
s in Battle of Ramree Island, Ramree, Burma. *
February 19 Events Pre-1600 * 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies. * 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of ...
– WWII: Battle of Iwo Jima – About 30,000 United States Marine Corps, United States Marines land on Iwo Jima. * February 21 – The last V-2 rocket is launched from Peenemünde. * February 22 – WWII: ** Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Front: The Battle of Monte Castello ends, after nearly three months of fighting, Brazilian Expeditionary Force, Brazilian troops expel German forces from a pivot point in the Apennine Mountains#Northern Apennines, (Tuscan) North Apennines, where their artillery was impeding the advance of Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth British Army toward Bologna. ** Uruguay declares war on Germany and Japan. * February 23 – WWII: ** Battle of Iwo Jima: A group of United States Marine Corps, United States Marines reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island, and are photographed raising the flag of the United States, American flag. The photo, ''Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'' (taken by Joe Rosenthal), later wins a Pulitzer Prize. ** The 11th Airborne Division (United States), 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino people, Filipino guerrillas, free the captives of the Los Baños, Laguna, Los Baños internment camp. ** The capital of the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
, Manila, is liberated by combined American and Filipino ground troops. American and Filipino troops enter Intramuros. ** The German garrison in Poznań capitulates to
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
and Polish troops. ** Bombing of Pforzheim in World War II, Bombing of Pforzheim: The heaviest of a series of bombing raids on Pforzheim, Germany by Allied aircraft is carried out by the British
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
. As many as 17,600 people, or 31.4% of the town's population, are killed in the raid and about 83% of the town's buildings destroyed, two-thirds of its complete area and between 80 and 100% of the inner city. ** Turkey joins the war on the side of the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
. * February 24 – Egyptian Premier Ahmad Mahir Pasha is assassinated in Parliament after declaring war on Germany and Japan. * February 27 – The Bombing of Mainz in World War II, Bombing of Mainz results in 1,209 confirmed dead; 80% of the city is destroyed. * February 28 – In Bucharest, a violent demonstration takes place, during which the ''Bolşevic'' group opens fire on the army and protesters. In response, Andrei Y. Vishinsky, USSR vice commissioner of foreign affairs and president of the Allied Control Commission for Romania, travels to Bucharest to compel Nicolae Rădescu to resign as premier.


March

* March 1 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt gives what will be his last address to a joint session of the United States Congress, reporting on the
Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...
. * March 2 ** Former U.S. Vice-president Henry A. Wallace starts his term of office as United States Secretary of Commerce, serving under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. ** The rocket-propelled Bachem Ba 349 ''Natter'' is first test launched at Stetten am kalten Markt. The launch fails and the pilot, Lothar Sieber, dies. * March 3 – WWII: ** Finland declares war on the Axis powers. ** United States and Filipino troops take Battle of Manila (1945), Manila,
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. ** Pawłokoma massacre: A Polish Home Army unit massacres between 150 and 500 Ukrainian civilians in the Polish village of Pawłokoma. ** Bombing of the Bezuidenhout: The British
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
accidentally bombs the Bezuidenhout neighbourhood in The Hague, Netherlands, killing 511 people. * March 4 – In the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II), joins the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) as a truck driver/mechanic in London. * March 5 – WWII: Brazilian troops take Castelnuovo (Vergato), in the last operations of the Allied Spring 1945 offensive in Italy. * March 6 ** A Communist-led government is formed in Kingdom of Romania, Romania under Petru Groza, following
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
intervention. ** Resistance fighters accidentally ambush and attempt to execute SS general Hanns Albin Rauter, the arch-persecutor of the Dutch. * March 7 – WWII: At the end of Operation Lumberjack, American troops seize the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine at Remagen, Germany and begin to cross; in the next 10 days, 25,000 troops with equipment are able to cross. * March 8 ** Josip Broz Tito forms a Provisional Government of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. ** Nazi authorities kill 117 Dutch men, in reprisal for the attempted murder of Hanns Albin Rauter. ** Operation Sunrise (World War II), Operation Sunrise: Waffen-SS General Karl Wolff meets with Allen Welsh Dulles of the United States Office of Strategic Services at Lucerne, Switzerland, to negotiate the surrender of the Axis forces in Italy to the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
. * March 9–March 10, 10 – WWII: Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945), Bombing of Tokyo: USAAF B-29 Superfortress, B-29 bombers attack Tokyo, Japan, with Incendiary device, incendiary bombs, killing 100,000 citizens in the firebombing. It is the single most destructive conventional air attack of the war. * March 11 ** The
Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...
establishes the Empire of Vietnam, a puppet state which will last only until August 23, with Bảo Đại as its ruler. ** The 1945 Sammarinese general election, Sammarinese general election gives San Marino the world's first democratically elected communist government, which will hold power until 1957. * March 12 – WWII: Swinemünde is destroyed by the USAAF, killing an estimated 8,000 to 23,000 civilians, mostly refugees saved by Operation Hannibal. * March 15–March 31, 31 – WWII: The Soviet
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
carries out the Upper Silesian Offensive. * March 15 – The 17th Academy Awards ceremony is held, broadcast via radio in the United States for the first time. Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture goes to ''Going My Way''. * March 16 – WWII: ** The Battle of Iwo Jima unofficially ends. ** The Bombing of Würzburg in World War II, Bombing of Würzburg, as part of the Allied strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany, destroys 89% of the city and causes 4,000 deaths. * March 17 – WWII: Kobe, Japan Bombing of Kobe in World War II, is fire-bombed by 331 B-29 Superfortress, B-29 bombers, killing over 8,000 people. * March 18 – WWII: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin. * March 19 – WWII: **
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
orders that all industries, military installations, machine shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany be destroyed. ** Off the coast of Japan, bombers hit the aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13), USS ''Franklin'', killing about 800 of her crewmen and crippling the ship. * March 21 – WWII: ** British troops liberate Mandalay, British rule in Burma, Burma. ** Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgarian and Soviet troops successfully defend the north bank of the Drava River, as the Battle of the Transdanubian Hills concludes. * March 22 ** The Arab League is formed, with the adoption of a charter in Cairo, Egypt. ** The Hildesheim Cathedral, Cathedral and the historic city-centre of Hildesheim in Germany are destroyed in an Bombing of Hildesheim in World War II, air raid. * March 24 ** WWII: Operation Varsity – Two airborne divisions capture bridges across the Rhine, Rhine River to aid the Allied advance. ** The cartoon character Sylvester (Looney Tunes), Sylvester the cat debuts in ''Life with Feathers''. * March 26 – WWII: The Battle of Iwo Jima officially ends, with the destruction of the remaining areas of Japanese resistance, although there are Japanese holdouts here until 1949. * March 27 – WWII: ** The
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
begins Operation Starvation, laying naval mines in many of Japan's seaways. ** Argentina declares war on
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
and Empire of Japan, Japan. * March 29 ** WWII: The
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
almost destroys the 4th Army (Wehrmacht), German 4th Army, in the Heiligenbeil Pocket in
East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
. ** The "Clash of Titans": George Mikan and Bob Kurland duel at Madison Square Garden (1925), Madison Square Garden in New York, as Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, Oklahoma State University defeats DePaul University, DePaul 52–44 in basketball. * March 30 – WWII: ** The
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
pushes most of the Axis forces out of Hungary into Austria. ** American official Alger Hiss is congratulated in Moscow for his part in bringing the positions of the Western powers and the Soviet Union closer to each other, at the
Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...
.


April

* April 1 – WWII: Battle of Okinawa: The Tenth United States Army lands on Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa. * April 4 – WWII: ** American troops liberate their first Nazi concentration camp, Ohrdruf concentration camp, Ohrdruf extermination camp in Germany. ** The
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
enters Bratislava and pushes to the outskirts of Vienna, taking it on April 13, after several days of intense fighting. * April 6 – WWII: ** Sarajevo is liberated from
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and the Independent State of Croatia (a fascist puppet state), by Yugoslav Partisans. ** The Battle of Slater's Knoll on Bougainville Island concludes, with a decisive victory for the Australian Army's 7th Brigade (Australia), 7th Brigade. ** Allied forces reach Merkers Adventure Mines, Merkers Salt Mines in Thuringia, where gold reserves of the Nazi German Reichsbank are stored. * April 7 – WWII: ** The only flight of the German ramming unit known as Sonderkommando Elbe takes place, resulting in the loss of some 24 B-17 Flying Fortress, B-17s and B-24 Liberator, B-24s of the United States Eighth Air Force. ** and nine other warships take part in Operation Ten-Go, a suicide attack on Allied forces engaged in the Battle of Okinawa. ''Yamato'' is sunk by U.S. Navy aircraft in the East China Sea north of Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa with the loss of 2,055 of 2,332 crew, together with five other Japanese warships. ** Kantarō Suzuki becomes Prime Minister of Japan. * April 8 – The SS begins to evacuate the Buchenwald concentration camp; inmates in the Buchenwald Resistance call for American aid, and overpower and kill the remaining guards. * April 9 ** WWII: The Battle of Königsberg, in
East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
, ends with Soviet forces capturing the city. ** Abwehr conspirators Wilhelm Canaris, Hans Oster and Hans von Dohnányi are hanged at Flossenberg concentration camp, along with pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer. ** Johann Georg Elser, would-be assassin of
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
, is executed at Dachau concentration camp. * April 10 – WWII: Visoko is liberated by the 7th, 9th and 17th Krajina Brigades from the Tenth Division of Yugoslav Partisans, Yugoslav Partisan forces. * April 11 – Buchenwald concentration camp is liberated by the United States Army. * April 12 **Vice President Harry S. Truman is First inauguration of Harry S. Truman, sworn in as the 33rd President of the United States, and that evening in the White House, following the sudden death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt earlier in the day. ** WWII: The Ninth United States Army, U.S. Ninth Army under General William H. Simpson crosses the Elbe, Elbe River astride Magdeburg, and reaches Tangermünde — only 50 miles from Berlin. * April 14 – WWII: ** The First Canadian Army assumes military control of the Netherlands, where German forces are trapped in the Atlantic Wall fortifications along the coastline. ** Razing of Friesoythe: The 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division deliberately destroys the German town of Friesoythe, on the orders of Major General Christopher Vokes. * April 15 – WWII: ** The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated by British and Canadian forces. ** The Canadian First Army reaches the coast in the northern Netherlands, and captures Arnhem. * April 16 – WWII: ** The Battle of Berlin begins, opening with the Battle of the Oder–Neisse and the Battle of the Seelow Heights. ** Canadian forces take Harlingen, Friesland, Harlingen and occupy Leeuwarden and Groningen in the Netherlands. ** is sunk by Soviet submarine L-3, Soviet submarine ''L-3'' in the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
while evacuating German troops and civilians as part of Operation Hannibal; 7,000–8,000 drown. ** Death marches (Holocaust), Death marches from Flossenbürg concentration camp begin. * April 17 – WWII: ** Brazilian Expeditionary Force, Brazilian forces liberate the town of Montese, Italy, from German forces. ** Inundation of the Wieringermeer in the Netherlands by occupying German forces. * April 18 – American war correspondent Ernie Pyle is killed by Japanese machine gun fire on the island of Iejima, Ie Shima off Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa. * April 19 – Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''Carousel (musical), Carousel'', a musical play based on Ferenc Molnár's ''Liliom'', opens on Broadway theatre, Broadway, and becomes their second long-running stage classic. * April 20 – WWII: On his 56th birthday,
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
leaves his ''
Führerbunker The ''Führerbunker'' () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters ...
'', to decorate a group of Hitler Youth soldiers in Berlin. It will be his last trip to the surface from his underground bunker. * April 22 – WWII: ** Heinrich Himmler, through Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg, puts forth an offer of German surrender to the Western Allies, but not the Soviet Union. **
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
finally concedes defeat in the ''Führerbunker'' after learning that SS-Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner cannot mobilize enough men to launch a counterattack on the
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
forces which have completely surrounded Berlin. * April 23 – WWII: ** Hermann Göring sends the Göring Telegram to Hitler, seeking confirmation that he should take over leadership of Germany, in accordance with the decree of June 29, 1941. Hitler regards this as treason. ** The main Flossenbürg concentration camp is liberated by the United States Army. * April 24 – Retreating Wehrmacht, German troops destroy all the bridges over the Adige in Verona, including the historic Castelvecchio Bridge, Ponte di Castelvecchio and Ponte Pietra (Verona), Ponte Pietra. * April 25 ** Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco. ** WWII – Elbe Day: United States and
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
troops link up at the Elbe, Elbe River, cutting Germany in two. * April 25–April 26, 26 – WWII: The last major strategic bombing raid by RAF Bomber Command, the destruction of the oil refinery at Tønsberg in southern Norway, is carried out by 107 Avro Lancasters. * April 26 – WWII: ** Battle of Bautzen (1945), Battle of Bautzen: The last "successful" German panzer-offensive in Bautzen ends with the city recaptured. ** The 3rd Infantry Division (United Kingdom), British 3rd Infantry Division, under Lashmer Whistler, General Whistler, captures Bremen. ** Nazi surrenders mean the British and Canadians now control the German border with Switzerland, from Basle to Lake Constance. * April 27 ** The last German formations withdraw from Finland to Norway. The Lapland War and thus, Military history of Finland during World War II, World War II in Finland, comes to an end and the ''Raising the Flag on the Three-Country Cairn'' photograph is taken. ** U.S. Ordnance troops find the coffins of Frederick William I of Prussia, Frederick the Great, Paul von Hindenburg, and his wife, in a salt mine in Germany. * April 28 ** The bodies of Benito Mussolini, his mistress, Clara Petacci, and other followers are hung by their heels at a gas station in the public square of Milan, Piazzale Loreto, following their execution by Italian partisans after an attempt to flee the country. ** The Canadian First Army captures Emden and Wilhelmshaven. * April 29 ** At the royal palace in Caserta, Lieutenant-Colonel Viktor von Schweinitz (representing General Heinrich von Vietinghoff) and SS-''Obersturmbannführer'' Eugen Wenner (representing Waffen-SS General Karl Wolff) sign an unconditional instrument of surrender for all Axis powers forces in Italy, taking effect on May 2. Italian General Rodolfo Graziani orders the ''Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano'' forces under his command to lay down their arms. ** Dachau concentration camp is surrendered to U.S. forces, who kill SS guards at the camp and the nearby hamlet of Webling. ** Brazilian Expeditionary Force, Brazilian forces liberate the commune of Fornovo di Taro, Italy, from German forces. ** Operations Manna and Chowhound, Operation Manna: British Avro Lancaster bombers drop food into the Netherlands to prevent the starvation of the civilian population. ** Soviet soldiers hoist the Red flag (politics), Red flag over the ''Reich Chancellery#New Reich Chancellery, Reich Chancellery'' in Berlin. **
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
marries his longtime mistress Eva Braun, in a closed civil ceremony in the Berlin ''
Führerbunker The ''Führerbunker'' () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters ...
'', and signs Last will and testament of Adolf Hitler, his last will and testament. * April 30 – Death of Adolf Hitler: Adolf Hitler and his wife of one day, Eva Braun, commit suicide as the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
approaches the ''Führerbunker'' in Berlin. ''Großadmiral''
Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelled Doenitz; ; 16 September 1891 24 December 1980) was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government fo ...
succeeds Hitler as President of Germany (1919–1945), President of Germany (''Reichspräsident'') and Joseph Goebbels succeeds as Chancellor of Germany (''Reichskanzler''), in accordance with Hitler's political testament of the previous day.


May

* May 1 – WWII: ** Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Reichssender Hamburg's Flensburg radio station announces that Hitler has died in battle, "fighting up to his last breath against Bolshevik, Bolshevism." ** Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda Goebbels, Magda commit suicide, after killing their Goebbels children, six children. Karl Dönitz appoints Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk as the new Chancellor of Germany, in the Flensburg Government. ** Troops of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav 4th Army, together with the Slovenes, Slovene 9th Corpus NOV, enter Trieste. ** Mass suicide in Demmin: An estimated 700–2,500 suicides take place, after 80% of the town has been destroyed by the Soviets during the past three days. * May 2 – WWII: ** The
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
announces the Battle of Berlin#Breakout and surrender, fall of Berlin. ** Lübeck is liberated by the British Army. ** The surrender of Axis troops in Italy comes into effect. ** A Holocaust Death marches (Holocaust)#Dachau to the Austrian border, death march from Dachau concentration camp, Dachau to the Austrian border is halted under two kilometers west of Waakirchen by the segregated, all-Nisei 442nd Infantry Regiment (United States)#522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army in southern Bavaria, saving several hundred prisoners. ** Troops of the New Zealand Army 2nd Division (New Zealand), 2nd Division enter Trieste a day after the Yugoslavs; the
German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
in Trieste surrenders to the New Zealand Army. ** Following the death or resignation of the Hitler Cabinet in Germany, the Schwerin von Krosigk cabinet first meets. ** Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is evacuated at about this date. ** Expatriate American poet Ezra Pound is arrested by the Italian resistance movement but soon released by them as of no interest; on May 5 he turns himself in to the United States Army and is imprisoned as a traitor. * May 3 – WWII: ** The prison ships ''Cap Arcona'' (5,000 dead), ''SS Thielbek (1940), Thielbek'' (2,750 dead) and ''SS Deutschland (1923), Deutschland'' (all survive) are sunk by the British
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
in Lübeck Bay. ** Rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and 120 members of his team surrender to U.S. forces (later going on to help start the U.S. space program). ** German Protestant theologian Gerhard Kittel is arrested by the French forces in Tübingen, Germany. * May 4 – WWII: ** German surrender at Lüneburg Heath: All German armed forces in northwest Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands surrender unconditionally to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, Bernard Montgomery, effective on May 5 at 08:00 hours British Double (and German) Summer Time. ** The Netherlands is liberated by British and Canadian troops. ** Denmark is liberated. ** Admiral
Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelled Doenitz; ; 16 September 1891 24 December 1980) was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government fo ...
orders all U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to bases in Norway. ** The Holy Crown of Hungary is found in Mattsee, Austria, by the 86th Infantry Division (United States), United States Army 86th Infantry Division. The U.S. government keeps the crown in Fort Knox for safekeeping from the Soviets until it is returned to Hungary on January 6 1978. ** German auxiliary cruiser Orion, German auxiliary cruiser ''Orion'' is sunk on her way to Copenhagen carrying refugees, with a loss of over 3,800 lives. * May 5 – WWII: ** Prague uprising: Prague rises up against occupying Nazi forces, encouraged by radio broadcasts (giving rise to the Battle for Czech Radio). ** The 11th Armored Division (United States), US 11th Armored Division liberates the prisoners of Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, Mauthausen concentration camp, including Simon Wiesenthal. ** Canadian soldiers liberate the city of Amsterdam from
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
occupation. ** A Japanese fire balloon kills six people, Elsie Mitchell and five children, near Bly, Oregon, when it explodes as they drag it from the woods. These are the only people killed by an enemy attack on the American mainland during WWII. * May 6 ** WWII: Mildred Gillars ("Axis Sally") delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops (the first was on December 11, 1941). ** Holocaust: Ebensee concentration camp in Austria is liberated by troops of the 80th Division (United States). * May 6–May 7, 7 – The government of the Independent State of Croatia, the Nazi-affiliated fascist puppet state established in occupied Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, flees Zagreb for a location near Klagenfurt in Austria, but is captured in the Bleiburg repatriations that then leads to mass executions. * May 7 – WWII: ** At 02:41, General Alfred Jodl signs the unconditional German Instrument of Surrender in SHAEF HQ at Reims, France, to end Germany's participation in the war. Surrender is effective on May 8 at 23:01 hours Central European Time (00:01 hours May 9 German Summer Time). ** Numerous RAF Avro Lancaster, Lancasters land in Germany to repatriate British prisoners of war. Some 4,500 ex-POWs are flown back to Great Britain over the next 24 hours. * May 8 – WWII: ** Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) is observed by the western European powers as
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
surrenders, marking the end of WWII in Europe. ** Shortly before midnight (May 9 Moscow time) the final German Instrument of Surrender is signed at the seat of the Soviet Military Administration in Berlin-Karlshorst, attended by Allied representatives. ** Canadian troops move into Amsterdam, after German troops surrender. ** The surrender of the Dodecanese is signed in Symi. ** The Prague uprising ends with a ceasefire. ** The Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth British Army, together with Slovene partisan troops and a motorized detachment of the Yugoslav 4th Army, arrives in Carinthia (state), Carinthia and Klagenfurt. The Croatian Armed Forces (Independent State of Croatia), Croatian Armed Forces of the Independent State of Croatia are ordered by their commanders not to surrender to the Yugoslav Partisans, but to attempt to retreat to Austria and surrender to the British, part of the events leading to the Bleiburg repatriations. ** Hermann Göring surrenders himself to the United States Army near Radstadt. * May 8–May 29, 29 – Sétif and Guelma massacre: in Algeria, thousands die as French troops and released Italian POWs kill an estimated 6,000 to 40,000 Algerian citizens. * May 9 – WWII: ** The
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
marks Victory in Europe Day, VE Day as the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
enters Prague. ** Vidkun Quisling and other members of the Collaborationism, collaborationist Quisling regime in Norway surrender to the Resistance (Milorg) and Norwegian police troops in Sweden during World War II, police at Møllergata 19 in Oslo, as part of the legal purge in Norway after World War II. ** General Alexander Löhr, Commander of German Army Group E near Topolšica, Slovenia, signs the capitulation of German occupation troops. ** Liberation of the German-occupied Channel Islands: British forces take the surrender of the occupying troops, with Royal Navy ships HMS Bulldog (H91), HMS ''Bulldog'' arriving in St Peter Port, Guernsey, and HMS Beagle (H30), HMS ''Beagle'' in St Helier, Jersey. * May 10 – WWII: Liberation of the German-occupied Channel Islands: Occupation of Sark ends, with British forces taking the surrender of the occupying troops and leaving them under the orders of Dame Sibyl Hathaway. * May 12 – Argentina, Argentinian labour leader José Peter declares the ''Meat Industry Workers Federation'' dissolved. * May 14–May 15, 15 – WWII: Battle of Poljana: The last battle of the War in Europe is fought at Poljana near Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia. * May 15 – WWII: Bleiburg repatriations#Surrender at Bleiburg, Surrender at Bleiburg – Retreating troops of the Croatian Armed Forces (Independent State of Croatia), Croatian Armed Forces of the former puppet Independent State of Croatia (intermingled with fleeing civilians) attempt to surrender to the British Army at Bleiburg, but are directed to surrender to Yugoslav Partisans, who open fire on them. The remainder, after orders are given by Josip Broz Tito, Tito, are force-marched through Croatia and Serbia, interned or massacred, with thousands dying. * May 16 – WWII: Liberation of the German-occupied Channel Islands: Occupation of Alderney ends, with British forces taking the surrender of the occupying troops, the civilian population having been evacuated. * May 23 ** The Flensburg Government is dissolved by the Allies, and President of Germany (1919–1945), German President
Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelled Doenitz; ; 16 September 1891 24 December 1980) was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government fo ...
and German Chancellor Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk are arrested by British RAF Regiment personnel at Flensburg. They are respectively the last German Head of state and Prime minister, Head of government until 1949. ** Heinrich Himmler, former head of the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
Schutzstaffel, SS, commits suicide in British custody. * May 28 – U.S.-born Irish-raised William Joyce ("Lord Haw-Haw") is captured on the German border. He is later charged in London with high treason for his English-language wartime broadcasts from German radio, convicted, and then hanged in January 1946. * May 29 ** German communists, led by
Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...
, arrive in Berlin. ** Dutch painter Han van Meegeren is arrested for collaboration with the Nazis, but the "Dutch Golden Age" paintings he has sold to Hermann Göring (Koch) are later proved to be his own fakes. * May 30 – The Iranian government demands that all Soviet and British troops leave the country. * May – Interpol (being headquartered in Berlin) effectively ceases to exist (it is recreated on June 3, 1946).


June

* June 1 – The British take over Lebanon and Syria. * June 5 – The Allied Control Council, the military occupation governing body of Germany, formally takes power. * June 7 – King Haakon VII of Norway returns to Norway five years to the day after leaving for exile in Britain. * June 11 ** William Lyon Mackenzie King is re-elected as Canadian prime minister. ** The Franck Committee recommends against a surprise nuclear bombing of Japan. * June 12 – The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav Army leaves Trieste, leaving the New Zealand Army in control. * June 21 – WWII: The Battle of Okinawa ends, with U.S. occupation of the island until 1972. * June 24 – WWII: A Moscow Victory Parade of 1945, victory parade is held in Red Square in Moscow. * June 25 – Seán T. O'Kelly is elected the second President of Ireland. * June 26 – The United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco. * June 29 – Czechoslovakia cedes Carpathian Ruthenia to the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. * June 30 – John von Neumann's ''First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC'' is distributed, containing the first published description of the logical design of a computer, with Stored-program computer, stored-program and instruction data stored in the same address space within the memory (von Neumann architecture).


July

* July 1 – WWII: Germany is Inner German border, divided between the Allied occupation forces. * July 2 – The 1945 Sheikh Bashir Rebellion breaks out in Burao and Erigavo in British Somaliland, led by Sheikh Bashir, a Somalis, Somali religious leader. * July 4 – Brazilian cruiser Bahia, Brazilian cruiser ''Bahia'' is sunk by an accidentally induced explosion, killing more than 300 and stranding the survivors in shark-infested waters. * July 5 ** The 1945 United Kingdom general election is held, though some constituencies delay their polls for local holiday reasons. Counting of votes and declaration of results are delayed until July 26 to allow for voting by the large number of service personnel still overseas. ** John Curtin, 14th Prime Minister of Australia, dies in office from heart failure at the age of 60. He is briefly replaced by his deputy Frank Forde, who serves as the 15th Prime Minister until a Australian Labor Party, Labor Party 1945 Australian Labor Party leadership election, leadership election is held to replace Curtin. ** WWII: The
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
are declared liberated. * July 6–July 7, 7 – Schio massacre: 54 prisoners, mostly fascist sympathisers, are killed by members of the Italian resistance movement in Schio. * July 8 – WWII: Harry S. Truman is informed that Japan will talk peace if it can retain the reign of the Emperor. * July 12 – Ben Chifley is 1945 Australian Labor Party leadership election, elected leader of the Australian Labor Party, Labor Party, and consequently becomes the 16th Prime Minister of Australia, defeating Frank Forde as well as Norman Makin and H.V. Evatt. As a result, Forde becomes the shortest serving Prime Minister in Australian history; nevertheless, he retains his post as Deputy Leader. * July 14 – WWII: Italy declares war on Japan. * July 16 ** The Trinity (nuclear test), Trinity Test, the first of an nuclear weapon, atomic bomb, using about six kilograms of plutonium, succeeds in unleashing an explosion equivalent to that of 22 kilotons of TNT. ** A train collision near Munich, Germany kills 102 war prisoners. * July 17–August 2 – WWII: Potsdam Conference – At Potsdam, the three main Allied leaders hold their final summit of the war. President Truman officially informs Stalin that the U.S. has a powerful new weapon. * July 21 – WWII: President Harry S. Truman approves the order for atomic bombs to be used against Japan. * July 23 – WWII: French marshal Philippe Pétain, who headed the Vichy France, Vichy government during WWII, goes on trial for treason. * July 26 **
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
resigns as
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
, after his Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party is soundly defeated by the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party in the 1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945 general election. Clement Attlee becomes the new Prime Minister. It is the first time that Labour has governed Britain with a majority in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. ** The Potsdam Declaration demands Japan's unconditional surrender; Article 12, permitting Japan to retain the reign of the Emperor, has been deleted by President Truman. * July 27 – WWII: Bombing of Aomori in World War II, Bombing of Aomori – Two USAAF B-29 Superfortress, B-29s drop a total of 60,000 Airborne leaflet propaganda, leaflets on the city of Aomori (city), Aomori, Japan, warning civilians of an air raid and urging them to leave immediately. * July 28 - WWII: Japan ambiguously rejects the Potsdam Declaration. * July 29 ** The BBC Light Programme radio station is launched in the United Kingdom, aimed at wikt:mainstream, mainstream light entertainment and music. ** WWII: Bombing of Aomori in World War II, Bombing of Aomori: The Japanese city of Aomori (city), Aomori is firebombed by 63 USAAF B-29 Superfortress, B-29 heavy bombers, killing 1,767 civilians and destroying 18,045 homes. * July 30 – WWII: Heavy cruiser is hit and sunk by torpedoes from the in the Philippine Sea. Some 900 survivors jump into the sea and are adrift for up to four days. Nearly 600 die before help arrives. Captain Charles B. McVay III of the cruiser is later court-martialed and convicted; in 2000, he is posthumously exonerated.


August

* August 6 – WWII: Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Atomic bombing of Hiroshima: United States Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''Enola Gay'' drops a uranium-235 atomic bomb, codenamed "Little Boy", on the Japanese city of Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. local time, resulting in between 90,000 and 146,000 deaths. * August 7 – U.S. President Harry Truman announces the successful atomic bombing of Hiroshima, while he is returning from the Potsdam Conference aboard the U.S. Navy heavy cruiser , in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. * August 8 ** The United Nations Charter is ratified by the United States Senate, and this nation becomes the third to join the new international organization. ** WWII: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan. * August 9 – WWII: ** Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Atomic bombing of Nagasaki: United States Boeing B-29 Superfortress, B-29 ''Bockscar'' drops a plutonium-239 atomic bomb, codenamed "Fat Man", on the Japanese city of Nagasaki at 11:02 a.m. local time, resulting in between 39,000 and 80,000 deaths. ** The Soviet–Japanese War opens: The
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
begins its army offensive against Japan, in the northern part of the Japanese-held Chinese region of Manchuria. * August 10 – WWII: Japan offers to surrender to the Allies, "provided this does not prejudice the sovereignty of the Emperor". * August 11 ** WWII: The
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
reply to the Japanese surrender offer by stating that Emperor Hirohito will be subject to the authority of the Supreme Allied Commander, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces. **
The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...
: Kraków pogrom – Róża Berger is shot dead by Polish militia. * August 11–August 25, 25 – Soviet troops complete the occupation of Sakhalin. * August 13 – The Zionism, Zionist World Congress approaches the British government to discuss the founding of the country of Israel. * August 14 – WWII: Emperor Hirohito accepts the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. His recorded announcement of this is smuggled out of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. At 19:00 hrs in Washington, D.C. (23:00 GMT), U.S. President Harry S. Truman announces the Japanese surrender. * August 15 ** WWII: *** Bombing of Kumagaya in World War II, Bombing of Kumagaya, Japan, by the United States using conventional bombs, beginning at 00:23. *** Hirohito surrender broadcast ''(Gyokuon-hōsō)'': Emperor Hirohito's announcement of the unconditional surrender of Japan is broadcast on the radio a little after noon (12:00 Japan Standard Time is 03:00 GMT). This is probably the first time an Emperor of Japan has been heard by the common people. Delivered in formal Classical Japanese language, classical Japanese, without directly referring to surrender and following official censorship of the country's weak position, the recorded speech is not immediately easily understood by ordinary people. The Allies call this day Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day). This ends the period of Japanese militarism, Japanese expansionism, and begins the period of the Occupation of Japan. Korea gains independence. ** The August Revolution in Vietnam begins, with the Viet Minh taking over the capital Hanoi, taking advantage of the collapse of Japanese power. ** The Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization is founded, as a specialized agency of the United Nations. * August 17 ** Philippines President Jose P. Laurel, José P. Laurel issues an Executive Proclamation putting an end to the Second Philippine Republic, thus ending his term as President of the Philippines. ** Proclamation of Indonesian Independence: Indonesian nationalists Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declare the independence of the Republic of Indonesia, with Sukarno as president and Mohammad Hatta as vice-president, igniting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch Empire. * August 18 – WWII: Death of Subhas Chandra Bose: Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose is killed as a result of his overloaded Japanese plane crashing in Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese Taiwan. * August 19 – Chinese Civil War: Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek meet in Chongqing to discuss an end to hostilities between the Chinese Communist Party, Communists and the Kuomintang, Nationalists. * August 23 – Soviet–Japanese War:
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
orders the detention of Japanese prisoners of war in the Soviet Union. * August 25 – Bảo Đại abdicates as Emperor of Vietnam, ending 2,000 years of dynastic and monarchic rule in the country and 143 years of the Nguyễn dynasty. * August 30 – WWII: Vietnam's capital Hanoi is taken by the Viet Minh, which ends the French occupation in what becomes North Vietnam, and thus the southern provinces become South Vietnam. This ends the August Revolution. * August 31 ** WWII: Allied troops arrest German field marshal Walther von Brauchitsch. ** A team at
American Cyanamid American Cyanamid Company was a leading American conglomerate which became one of the nation's top 100 manufacturing companies during the 1970s and 1980s, according to the Fortune 500 listings at the time. It started in fertilizer, but added ...
's Lederle Laboratories, Pearl River, New York, led by Yellapragada Subbarow, announces they have obtained folic acid in a pure crystalline form. This vitamin is abundant in green leaf vegetables, liver, kidney, and yeast.


September

* September 2 – World War II ends: ** Japanese general Tomoyuki Yamashita surrenders to Filipino and American forces at Kiangan, Ifugao. ** The final official Japanese Instrument of Surrender is accepted by the Supreme Allied Commander, General
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...
, and Admiral of the Fleet, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz for the United States, and delegates from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, China, and others from a Japanese delegation led by Mamoru Shigemitsu, on board the American battleship USS ''USS Missouri (BB-63), Missouri'' in Tokyo Bay. ** General
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...
is given the title of Supreme Commander Allied Powers, and is also tasked with the occupation of Japan. ** The North Vietnam, Democratic Republic of Vietnam is officially established, by Ho Chi Minh. * September 4 – WWII: Japanese forces surrender on Wake Island, after hearing word of their country's surrender. * September 5 ** Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese American suspected of being wartime radio propagandist "Tokyo Rose", is arrested in Yokohama. ** Russian code clerk Igor Gouzenko comes forward with numerous documents implicating the Soviet Union in many spy rings in North America, both in the United States and in Canada. * September 8 – U.S. troops occupy United States Army Military Government in Korea, southern Korea, while the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
occupies the Soviet Civil Authority, north, with the dividing line being the 38th parallel of latitude. This arrangement proves to be the indirect beginning of a divided Korea, which will lead to the Korean War in 1950. * September 9 – Chairman of the Nationalist Government of China Chiang Kai-shek officially accepts the Japanese capitulation at Nanking. * September 10 – Vidkun Quisling is sentenced to death as a Nazi collaborator in Norway. * September 11 ** Hideki Tojo, Japanese prime minister during most of WWII, attempts suicide to avoid facing a war crimes tribunal. ** ''Radio Republik Indonesia'' starts broadcasting. ** The Batu Lintang camp in Sarawak, Borneo is liberated by Australian forces. * September 12 – The Japanese Army formally surrenders to the British in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
. * September 18 ** Tropical cyclone, Typhoon Makurazaki kills 3,746 people in Japan. ** The Japanese Army in Central China officially surrenders to the Chinese, in Wuhan. * September 20 – Mahatma Gandhi, Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru demand that all British troops depart India. * September 24 – Postwar anti-Jewish violence in Slovakia: The Topoľčany pogrom is carried out in Czechoslovakia.


October

* October – Arthur C. Clarke puts forward the idea of a Geosynchronous satellite, geosynchronous communications satellite, in a ''Wireless World'' magazine article. * October 1–October, 15 – Operation Backfire (WWII), Operation Backfire: Three V-2 rocket, A4 rockets are launched near Cuxhaven, in a demonstration to Allied forces. * October 2 – George Albert Smith becomes President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. * October 4 – The Partizan Belgrade sports club is founded in Belgrade, Serbia. * October 5 – Hollywood Black Friday: A strike by the Set Decorator's Union in Hollywood results in a riot. * October 8–October 15, 15 – Hadamar Trial: Personnel of the Hadamar Euthanasia Centre, now in the American zone of Allied-occupied Germany, are the first to be tried for systematic extermination in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. * October 9 – Former prime minister Pierre Laval is sentenced to death, for collaboration with the Nazis in Vichy France. * October 10 – The Nazi Party is dissolved by the Allied Powers. * October 14 – Czechoslovakia: A new provisional national assembly is elected. * October 15–October 21, 21 – The Pan-African Congress#5th Pan-African Congress, Fifth Pan-African Congress is held in Manchester. * October 16 – The Food and Agriculture Organization is established at a meeting in Quebec City, as a specialized agency of the United Nations. * October 17 – A massive number of people, headed for the General Confederation of Labour (Argentina), gather in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires to demand Juan Perón's release. This is known to the Peronism, Peronists as the ''Día de la lealtad'' (Loyalty Day (Argentina), Loyalty Day) and considered the founding day of Peronism. * October 18 – Isaías Medina Angarita, president of
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, is overthrown by a Coup d'état, military coup. * October 19 – Members of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, Indonesian People's Army attack Anglo-Dutch forces in Indonesia. * October 20 – Mongolians vote for independence from China. * October 21 – Women's suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in the 1945 French legislative election, French Legislative Election for the first time. * October 22 – Rómulo Betancourt is named provisional president of
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
. * October 24 ** The United Nations is founded by ratification of United Nations Charter, its Charter, by Enlargement of the United Nations#1945 (original members), 29 nations. ** The International Court of Justice ("World Court") is established by the United Nations Charter. ** Norwegian Nazi leader Vidkun Quisling is Execution by firing squad, executed by firing squad, for treason against Norway. * October 25 ** WWII: Japanese armed forces in Taiwan surrender to the Allies. ** Getúlio Vargas is deposed as president in Brazil; José Linhares is named temporary president. ** Osijek prison massacre by Yugoslav secret police. * October 27–November 20 – Indonesian National Revolution: Battle of Surabaya – Pro-independence Indonesian soldiers and militia fight British and British Indian troops in Surabaya. * October 29 ** Getúlio Vargas resigns as president of Brazil. ** At Gimbels Department Store in New York City, the first ballpoint pens go on sale at $12.50 each. * October 30 – The undivided country of British India, India joins the United Nations.


November

* November 1 ** International Labour Organization's new constitution comes into effect. ** Telechron introduces the model 8H59 Musalarm, the first clock radio. * November 5 – Colombia joins the United Nations. * November 6 – Indonesians reject an offer of autonomy from the Netherlands, Dutch. * November 9 – Soo Bahk Do and Moo Duk Kwan martial arts are founded in Korea. * November 10 – Indonesian National Revolution: Battle of Surabaya – Following the killing of British officer Brigadier Aubertin Walter Sothern Mallaby, A. W. S. Mallaby on October 30, the British Indian Army (in support of its allied Dutch colonial administration) begins an advance on Surabaya in the Dutch East Indies against Indonesian nationalists; although most of the city is retaken in 3 days of heavy fighting, the strength of the resistance leads to today being celebrated as Heroes' Day#Indonesia, Heroes' Day (Hari Pahlawan) in Indonesia. * November 11 – 1945 Yugoslavian parliamentary election: Marshal Josip Broz Tito and the People's Front (Yugoslavia), People's Front win a decisive majority (90%) in the Yugoslavian Assembly. * November 15 ** Harry S. Truman, Clement Attlee and William Lyon Mackenzie King, Mackenzie King share nuclear information with the U.N. and call for a United Nations Atomic Energy Commission. ** An offensive is begun in Manchuria by the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalists) against further infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party. * November 16 ** Charles de Gaulle is unanimously elected president of France by the Provisional Government of the French Republic, provisional government. ** The United States controversially imports 88 German scientists to help in the production of rocket technology. ** The foundation of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is agreed at a meeting in London. * November 18 – The Tudeh Party of Iran, Tudeh party starts a bloodless coup, and will form Azerbaijan People's Government, Azerbaijan within days. Soviet troops prevent Iranian troops from getting involved. * November 20 – The Nuremberg trials begin: Trials against 22 Nazis for List of war crimes#1939–1945: World War II, war crimes of World War II start at the Palace of Justice, Nuremberg. * November 26 – U.S. Ambassador to China Patrick J. Hurley resigns after he is unable to broker a deal between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Tse-tung. * November 28 ** The 1945 Balochistan earthquake causes a tsunami and kills 4,000. ** British fascist John Amery pleads guilty to treason, and is condemned to death. * November 29 ** The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is declared (this day is celebrated as Republic Day until the 1990s). Josip Broz Tito, Marshal Tito is named president. ** Assembly of the world's first general purpose electronic computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator Analyzer and Computer (ENIAC), is completed in the United States, covering of floor space, and the first set of calculations is run on it.


December

* December 2 ** General Eurico Gaspar Dutra is elected president of Brazil. ** French banks (Banque de France, BNP Paribas, BNCI, BNP Paribas, CNEP, Crédit Lyonnais, and Société Générale) are nationalized. * December 3 – Communism, Communist demonstrations in Athens presage the Greek Civil War. * December 4 – The United States Senate approves the entry of the United States into the United Nations by a vote of 65–7. * December 5 – Flight 19 of United States Navy Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers disappears on a training exercise from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale. * December 9 – American General George S. Patton is involved in a car accident in Germany, resulting in his death on December 21. * December 27 – Twenty-one nations ratify the articles creating the World Bank.


Date unknown

* A team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (led by Charles D. Coryell, Charles Coryell) discovers chemical element 61, the only one still missing between 1 and 96 on the periodic table, which they will name promethium. Found by analysis of fission products of irradiated uranium fuel, its discovery is not made public until 1947. * The first geothermal milk pasteurization is done in Klamath Falls, Oregon, United States.


Births


January

*
January 1 January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the ye ...
** Pietro Grasso, Italian politician ** Jacky Ickx, Belgian racing driver * January 3 – Stephen Stills, American rock singer-songwriter (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) * January 4 ** Sima Bina, Iranian vocalist ** Richard R. Schrock, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate * January 5 ** Lynn Di Nino, American artist ** Júlio Isidro, Portuguese television presenter ** Robert Pindyck, American economist * January 7 – Shulamith Firestone, Canadian American feminist, writer (d. 2012) * January 10 – Sir Rod Stewart, British rock singer *
January 12 Events Pre-1600 * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire. * 1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already rei ...
– André Bicaba, Burkinabé sprinter * January 14 – Einar Hákonarson, Icelandic painter * January 15 ** Vince Foster, American deputy White House counsel during the first term of President Bill Clinton (d. 1993) ** Princess Michael of Kent, German-born member of the British Royal Family *
January 17 Events Pre-1600 * 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey. * 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people ...
– Javed Akhtar, Indian political activist, poet, lyricist and screenwriter *
January 20 Events Pre-1600 * 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. * 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom. * 1156 & ...
– Robert Olen Butler, American writer *
January 21 Events Pre-1600 * 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa. * 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when ...
** Arthur Beetson, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2011) ** Martin Shaw, British actor *
January 24 Events Pre-1600 * 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula. * 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt. *1438 – The Counc ...
– Subhash Ghai, Indian film director, producer and screenwriter * January 25 – Leigh Taylor-Young, American actress *
January 26 Events Pre-1600 * 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph. * 1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people. * 1564 – The Council of T ...
** Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist (d. 1987) ** Graham Williams (rugby union), Graham Williams, New Zealand rugby union player (d. 2018) *
January 27 Events Pre-1600 * 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent. * 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to bec ...
– Harold Cardinal, Cree political leader, writer and lawyer (d. 2005) * January 28 ** Karen Lynn Gorney, American actress (''Saturday Night Fever'') ** Chuck Pyle, American country-folk singer-songwriter (d. 2015) * January 29 ** Jim Nicholson (Northern Ireland politician), Jim Nicholson, Northern Irish politician ** Tom Selleck, American actor (''Magnum, P.I.'') *
January 31 Events Pre-1600 * 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades. *1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the ...
– Joseph Kosuth, American artist


February

* February 1 – Yasuhiro Takai, Japanese professional baseball player (d. 2019) *
February 3 Events Pre-1600 *1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states. * 1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire. * 1488 – ...
** Bob Griese, American football player ** Philip Waruinge, Kenyan boxer *
February 4 Events Pre–1600 * 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrelling ...
** John P. Jumper, Retired United States Air Force general * February 5 – Sarah Weddington, American attorney (d. 2021) * February 6 – Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1981) *
February 7 Events Pre-1600 * 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor. * 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II. *1301 &nda ...
– Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player *
February 9 Events Pre-1600 * 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. * 1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland. *1539 – The first recorded race is held ...
** Mia Farrow, American actress ** Yoshinori Ohsumi, Japanese cell biologist *
February 10 Events Pre-1600 *1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end. * 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, sparki ...
– Koo Bon-moo, South Korean business executive (d. 2018) * February 12 ** Luiz Carlos Alborghetti, Italian-Brazilian radio commenter, showman and political figure (d. 2009) ** Maud Adams, Swedish actress ** David D. Friedman, American economist *
February 13 Events Pre-1600 * 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome. * 1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th. * 1462 – The ...
– Simon Schama, English historian * February 14 ** Adiss Harmandian, Lebanese-Armenian pop singer (d. 2019) ** Prince Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein, Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein * February 15 – Douglas Hofstadter, American cognitive scientist *
February 16 Events Pre-1600 * 1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire. * 1270 – Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of K ...
** Pete Christlieb, American jazz musician ** Elliot Mintz, American consultant * February 17 – Brenda Fricker, Irish actress * February 18 – Hashem Mahameed, Israeli politician (d. 2018) * February 22 – Oliver (singer), Oliver, American singer (''Good Morning Starshine'') (d. 2000) * February 24 – Barry Bostwick, American actor * February 25 – Roy Saari, American swimmer (d. 2008) * February 26 – Marta Kristen, Norwegian actress (''Lost In Space'') * February 27 – Carl Anderson (singer), Carl Anderson, American singer, actor (''Jesus Christ Superstar'') (d. 2004) * February 28 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (d. 2011)


March

* March 1 – Dirk Benedict, American actor * March 3 – George Miller (director), George Miller, Australian film director * March 4 ** Dieter Meier, Swiss singer, writer ** Tommy Svensson, Swedish football manager, player * March 7 – Arthur Lee (musician), Arthur Lee, American musician (d. 2006) * March 8 ** Micky Dolenz, American actor, director and rock musician (The Monkees) ** Anselm Kiefer, German painter * March 9 ** Katja Ebstein, German singer ** Dennis Rader, American serial killer * March 10 – Nobuhiko Higashikuni, Japanese Imperial prince (d. 2019) * March 13 ** Othman Abdullah (Malaysian footballer), Othman Abdullah, Malaysian footballer (d. 2015) ** Anatoly Fomenko, Russian mathematician * March 14 – Michael Martin Murphey, American country singer-songwriter * March 17 – Katri Helena, Finnish singer * March 18 ** Michael Reagan, American television personality, political commentator and Republican strategist ** Marta Suplicy, Brazilian politician and psychologist * March 20 ** Jay Ingram, Canadian television host, author and journalist ** Bobby Jameson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015) ** Pat Riley, American basketball coach * March 21 – Charles Greene (athlete), Charles Greene, American Olympic athlete (d. 2022) * March 26 – Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (d. 2004) * March 27 – Władysław Stachurski, Polish football player, manager (d. 2013) * March 28 ** Rodrigo Duterte, 16th President of the Philippines ** Raine Loo, Estonian actress * March 29 ** Walt Frazier, African-American basketball player ** Willem Ruis, Dutch game show host (d. 1986) * March 30 – Eric Clapton, English rock guitarist * March 31 ** Nana Ampadu, Ghanaian musician (d. 2021) ** Edwin Catmull, American computer scientist, President of Walt Disney Animation Studios


April

* April 2 ** Jürgen Drews, German singer ** Linda Hunt, American actress * April 4 – Daniel Cohn-Bendit, French political activist * April 5 ** Cem Karaca, Turkish musician (d. 2004) ** Tommy Smith (footballer, born 1945), Tommy Smith, English footballer (d. 2019) * April 11 – Christian Quadflieg, German actor * April 12 – Lee Jong-wook, South Korean Director-General of the World Health Organization (d. 2006) * April 13 ** Lucha Corpi, Mexican poet ** Tony Dow, American actor, producer and director (d. 2022) ** Lowell George, American rock musician (''Little Feat'') (d. 1979) * April 14 ** Ritchie Blackmore, English rock guitarist ** Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa * April 20 – Naftali Temu, Kenyan Olympic long-distance runner (d. 2003) * April 21 – Ana Lúcia Torre, Brazilian actress * April 24 – Larry Tesler, American computer scientist (d. 2020) * April 25 – Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish rock songwriter (ABBA) * April 29 – Tammi Terrell, African-American soul singer (d. 1970) * April 30 – Lara Saint Paul, Eritrean-born Italian singer (d. 2018)


May

* May 1 – Rita Coolidge, American pop singer * May 3 – Jeffrey C. Hall, American geneticist and chronobiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize laureate * May 4 ** David Magson, mathematician and businessman ** Narasimhan Ram, Indian journalist * May 6 – Bob Seger, American rock singer * May 7 – Robin Strasser, American actress * May 8 – Keith Jarrett, American musician * May 9 – Jupp Heynckes, German footballer and manager * May 13 – Tammam Salam, 34th Prime Minister of Lebanon * May 14 – Yochanan Vollach, Israeli footballer and president of Maccabi Haifa, Chief executive officer, CEO * May 15 – Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, heir to the Portuguese crown * May 17 – Tony Roche, Australian tennis player * May 19 – Pete Townshend, English rock guitarist, lyricist (The Who) * May 20 – Anton Zeilinger, Austrian quantum physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate * May 21 ** Richard Hatch (actor), Richard Hatch, American actor (''Battlestar Galactica'') (d. 2017) ** Ernst Messerschmid, German physicist, astronaut * May 22 – Victoria Wyndham, American actress (''Another World (TV series), Another World'') * May 23 ** Lauren Chapin, American child actress, evangelist ** Doris Mae Oulton, Canadian community developer * May 24 – Priscilla Presley, American actress, businesswoman * May 28 ** Patch Adams, American physician, comedian, social activist, clown and author ** John Fogerty, American rock singer (Creedence Clearwater Revival) * May 29 ** Gary Brooker, English rock keyboardist and singer-songwriter (Procol Harum) (d. 2022) ** Jean-Pierre Van Rossem, Belgian businessman, fraudster and politician (d. 2018) * May 30 ** Andrea Bronfman, American philanthropist (d. 2006) ** Gladys Horton, American singer (The Marvelettes) (d. 2011) * May 31 ** Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German film director (d. 1982) ** Laurent Gbagbo, President of Côte d'Ivoire


June

* June 1 – Frederica von Stade, American mezzo-soprano * June 2 – Jon Peters, American film producer * June 3 – Hale Irwin, American professional golfer * June 4 – Anthony Braxton, American composer and musical instrumentalist * June 5 ** John Carlos, American athlete ** Théophile Georges Kassab, Catholic prelate (d. 2013) ** Nechama Rivlin, Israeli socialite, 10th First lady of Israel (d. 2019) * June 6 – David Dukes, American actor (d. 2000) * June 7 – Wolfgang Schüssel, Chancellor of Austria * June 9 – Nike Wagner, German woman of the theater * June 10 – Benny Gallagher, Scottish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, half of duo Gallagher and Lyle * June 11 – Adrienne Barbeau, American actress, television personality and author (''Maude (TV series), Maude'') * June 12 – Pat Jennings, Northern Irish footballer * June 14 – Jörg Immendorff, German painter * June 15 ** Françoise Chandernagor, French writer ** Miriam Defensor Santiago, Filipino politician (b. 2016) * June 16 ** Claire Alexander, Canadian ice hockey player ** Ivan Lins, Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian musician * June 17 ** P. D. T. Acharya, Secretary General, Indian Lok Sabha ** Art Bell, American radio talk show host (''Coast to Coast AM'') (d. 2018) ** Ken Livingstone, British politician ** Eddy Merckx, Belgian cyclist * June 19 ** Radovan Karadžić, Serbian politician ** Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar politician and poet, Nobel Peace Prize recipient * June 20 – Anne Murray, Canadian singer * June 21 ** Roberto D'Angelo, Italian slalom canoeist ** Luis Castañeda Lossio, Peruvian politician ** Thiagarajan, Indian actor, director and producer ** Nirmalendu Goon, Bangladeshi poet ** Marijana Lubej, Slovenian sprinter * June 22 ** Juma Kapuya, Tanzanian politician ** Dieter Versen, German football defender * June 23 ** Ana Chumachenco, Italian violinist ** Kim Småge, Norwegian novelist, crime fiction writer, writer of short stories and children's writer * June 24 ** George Pataki, List of Governors of New York, Governor of New York ** Ali Akbar Velayati, Iranian physician, politician * June 25 ** Baba Gana Kingibe, Nigerian politician ** Mohammed Bakar, Malaysian footballer ** Chaiyasit Shinawatra, commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army ** Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, American politician ** Guillermo Mendoza, Mexican cyclist ** Lali Armengol, Spanish playwright, professor and theater director * June 26 – Paul Chun, Hong Kong actor * June 27 ** Ami Ayalon, Israeli politician ** Catherine Lacoste, French amateur golfer ** Lu Sheng-yen, Taiwanese leader of the ''True Buddha School'' ** Norma Kamali, American fashion designer ** Jose Miguel Arroyo, First Gentleman of the Philippines * June 28 – Raul Seixas, Brazilian rock singer (d. 1989) * June 29 – Chandrika Kumaratunga, 5th President of Sri Lanka * June 30 ** Kevin Jackman, Australian rules footballer ** Jerry Kenney, American Major League Baseball infielder ** Sean Scully, Irish-American-based painter, printmaker ** James Snyder Jr., American author, attorney and politician


July

* July 1 ** Jane Cederqvist, Swedish freestyle swimmer ** Visu, Indian writer, director, stage, actor and talk-show host (d. 2020) ** Billy Rohr, American Major League Baseball player ** Debbie Harry, American rock singer (''Blondie (band), Blondie'') * July 2 – Linda Warren, American author * July 3 – Thomas Mapfumo, Zimbabwean musician * July 4 ** Tiong Thai King, Malaysian politician ** Steinar Amundsen, Norwegian sprint canoeist * July 5 ** Nurul Islam Nahid, Bangladeshi politician ** Miroslav Mišković, Serbian business magnate, investor * July 6 – Burt Ward, American actor (''Batman (TV series), Batman'') * July 7 ** Heloísa Pinheiro, Brazilian model, businesswoman ** Moncef Marzouki, Tunisian politician; List of Presidents of Tunisia, 4th President of Tunisia ** Li Chi-an, North Korean football striker ** Matti Salminen, Finnish bass singer * July 8 – Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss Federal Councilor * July 9 ** Dean Koontz, American writer ** Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, Iranian politician, engineer * July 10 ** Zlatko Tomčić, Croatian politician ** Daniel Ona Ondo, Gabonese politician ** Virginia Wade, English professional tennis player ** Ron Glass, African-American actor (d. 2016) * July 11 – Richard Wesley, American playwright, screenwriter * July 12 ** Leopoldo Mastelloni, Italian actor, comedian and singer ** Thor Martinsen, Norwegian ice hockey player * July 13 ** Robert H. Foglesong, U.S. general ** Danny Abramowicz, American football player, coach * July 14 – Antun Vujić, Croatian politician, philosopher, political analyst, lexicographer and author * July 15 ** Hong Ra-hee, South Korean billionaire businesswoman, philanthropist ** Jürgen Möllemann, German politician (d. 2003) ** Jan-Michael Vincent, American actor (d. 2019) * July 16 ** Victor Sloan, Irish artist ** Çetin Tekindor, Turkish actor ** Roy Ho Ten Soeng, Dutch politician ** Jos Stelling, Dutch film director, screenwriter * July 17 ** Eduardo Olivera, Mexican modern pentathlete ** Kim Won-hong, North Korean politician, military leader ** Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia * July 19 ** Oleg Fotin, Russian swimmer ** Richard Henderson (biologist), Richard Henderson, Scottish molecular biologist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate ** Uri Rosenthal, Dutch politician * July 20 ** Kim Carnes, American singer-songwriter (''Bette Davis Eyes'') ** Lothar Koepsel, German sailor ** Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Zimbabwean politician and diplomat * July 21 ** John Lowe (darts player), John Lowe, English darts player ** Barry Richards, South African batsman * July 24 – Azim Premji, Indian businessman * July 26 ** Betty Davis, American funk and soul singer ** Helen Mirren, British actress * July 28 – Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis, American cartoonist (''Garfield'') * July 30 ** Patrick Modiano, French novelist, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate ** David Sanborn, American saxophonist


August

* August 1 – Douglas D. Osheroff, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate * August 4 – Alan Mulally, American businessman, CEO of the Ford Motor Company * August 5 – Loni Anderson, American actress (''WKRP in Cincinnati'') * August 9 – Posy Simmonds, English cartoonist * August 12 – J. D. McClatchy, American poet and literary critic (d. 2018) * August 14 ** Steve Martin, American actor and comedian ** Valeriy Shmarov, Ukrainian politician (d. 2018) ** Eliana Pittman, Brazilian singer, actress ** Wim Wenders, German film director, producer * August 15 ** Bobby Treviño, Mexican baseball player (d. 2018) ** Miyuki Matsuhisa, Japanese artistic gymnast ** Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh politician, Prime Minister of Bangladesh * August 19 – Ian Gillan, English rock singer (Deep Purple) * August 22 ** David Chase, American writer, director and television producer ** Ron Dante, American rock singer-songwriter and record producer (The Archies) *August 24 – Vince McMahon, Vincent K. "Vince" McMahon, American professional wrestling promoter, chairman and CEO of WWE * August 25 – Daniel Hulet, Belgian cartoonist (d. 2011) * August 26 – Tom Ridge, American politician * August 27 – Marianne Sägebrecht, German film actress * August 29 ** Alyosha Abrahamyan, Armenian football player (d. 2018) ** Wyomia Tyus, American Olympic athlete * August 31 ** Sir Van Morrison, Irish rock musician ** Itzhak Perlman, Israeli-born American violinist, conductor


September

* September 1 – Mustafa Balel, Turkish writer * September 5 ** K. N. T. Sastry, Indian film critic, director and writer (d. 2018) ** Al Stewart, Scottish singer-songwriter (''Year of the Cat'') * September 6 – Victor Ramahatra, 5th Prime Minister of Madagascar * September 7 – Jacques Lemaire, Canadian ice hockey coach * September 8 ** Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, American musician (Grateful Dead) (d. 1973) ** Rogatien Vachon, Canadian ice hockey player * September 10 – José Feliciano, Puerto Rican-American singer ("Feliz Navidad (song), Feliz Navidad") * September 11 – Franz Beckenbauer, German footballer, coach * September 12 – Richard Thaler, American economist * September 14 – Benjamin Harjo Jr., Native American artist * September 15 – Jessye Norman, American soprano (d. 2019) * September 16 – Pat Stevens, American voice actress (d. 2010) * September 17 ** Phil Jackson, American basketball coach ** Bruce Spence, Australian actor * September 18 ** John McAfee, British-American computer programmer and businessman (d. 2021) ** P. F. Sloan, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015) * September 21 ** Shaw Clifton, Northern Ireland-born General of the Salvation Army ** Kay Ryan, American poet * September 22 – Gonzaguinha, Brazilian singer, composer (d. 1991) * September 24 – John Rutter, English choral composer, conductor * September 26 – Bryan Ferry, English singer-songwriter and musician (Roxy Music) * September 27 – Jack Goldstein, Canadian artist (d. 2003) * September 29 – Nadezhda Chizhova, Russian athlete * September 30 ** Ehud Olmert, 12th Prime Minister of Israel ** Ralph Siegel, German record producer, songwriter


October

* October 1 ** Rod Carew, Panamanian-American baseball player ** Donny Hathaway, African-American soul singer-songwriter (d. 1979) ** Ram Nath Kovind, 14th President of India * October 2 ** Regina Torné, Mexican actress, singer and television presenter ** Don McLean, American singer-songwriter ("American Pie (song), American Pie") * October 3 – Viktor Saneyev, Soviet athlete (d. 2022) * October 6 – Ivan Graziani, Italian singer-songwriter (d. 1997) * October 9 ** Vijaya Kumaratunga, Sri Lankan actor and politician (d. 1988) ** Archbishop Nikon of Boston, Albanian bishop (d. 2019) * October 12 ** Aurore Clément, French actress ** Dusty Rhodes (wrestler), Dusty Rhodes, American wrestler (d. 2015) * October 18 ** Norio Wakamoto, Japanese voice actor ** Yıldo, Turkish showman, footballer * October 19 ** Angus Deaton, Scottish-born economist, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences ** John Lithgow, American actor (''Third Rock from the Sun'') * October 22 – Yvan Ponton, Canadian actor, sportscaster * October 23 – Kim Larsen, Danish rock musician (d. 2018) * October 24 ** Eugenie Scott, American Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education ** Sean Solomon, American Principal Investigator of NASA's MESSENGER mission to Mercury (planet), Mercury and director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution for Science * October 25 ** Peter Ledger, Australian artist (d. 1994) ** David Schramm (astrophysicist), David Schramm, American astrophysicist and educator (d. 1997) ** Keaton Yamada, Japanese voice actor * October 26 ** Pat Conroy, American author (d. 2016) ** Jaclyn Smith, American actress, businesswoman (''Charlie's Angels'') * October 27 ** Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, List of Presidents of Brazil, 35th President of Brazil ** Carrie Snodgress, American actress (d. 2004) * October 29 ** Ching Li, Taiwanese actress (d. 2017) ** Melba Moore, African-American singer, actress * October 30 – Henry Winkler, American actor, producer and director (''Happy Days'')


November

* November 3 – Gerd Müller, German footballer (d. 2021) * November 5 – Jacques Lanctôt, Canadian terrorist * November 7 ** Bob Englehart, American editorial cartoonist ** Waljinah, Javanese singer * November 9 – Charlie Robinson (actor), Charlie Robinson, African-American actor (d. 2021) * November 11 – Daniel Ortega, 58th and 62nd President of Nicaragua * November 12 – Neil Young, Canadian singer-songwriter, musician * November 15 – Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Norwegian-born rock singer (ABBA) * November 17 ** Elvin Hayes, American basketball player ** Abdelmadjid Tebboune, President of Algeria * November 18 ** Wilma Mankiller, Chief of the Cherokee Nation (d. 2010) ** Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan politician, 6th President of Sri Lanka * November 21 – Goldie Hawn, American actress * November 22 – Kari Tapio, Finnish singer (d. 2010) * November 23 – Dennis Nilsen, Scottish serial killer (d. 2018) * November 24 – Nuruddin Farah, Somali novelist * November 25 – Mary Jo Deschanel, American actress * November 26 – John McVie, English rock musician (Fleetwood Mac) * November 27 ** Barbara Anderson (actress), Barbara Anderson, American actress ** James Avery, African-American actor (d. 2013) * November 30 ** Roger Glover, English rock musician (Deep Purple) ** Radu Lupu, Romanian classical pianist (d. 2022)


December

* December 1 – Bette Midler, American actress, comedian and singer * December 2 – Tex Watson, American multiple murderer, 'Manson Family' member * December 3 – Bozhidar Dimitrov, Bulgarian historian, politician and polemicist (d. 2018) * December 4 – Geoff Emerick, English recording engineer (d. 2018) * December 7 – Clive Russell, English actor * December 8 – Julie Heldman, American tennis player * December 11 – Sharafuddin of Selangor, Sultan of Selangor * December 12 ** René Pétillon, French satirical, political cartoonist (d. 2018) ** Portia Simpson-Miller, 2-time Prime Minister of Jamaica ** Kathy Garver, American actress, author and online radio hostess ** Heather North, American actress (d. 2017) * December 15 ** Michael King (historian), Michael King, New Zealand popular historian, author and biographer (d. 2004) ** Thaao Penghlis, Australian actor * December 16 – Patti Deutsch, American voice actress (d. 2017) * December 17 – Ernie Hudson, African-American actor * December 18 – Carolyn Wood (swimmer), Carolyn Wood, American professional swimmer * December 19 – Elaine Joyce, American actress, game show panelist * December 20 ** Peter Criss, American rock drummer (Kiss (band), KISS) ** Sivakant Tiwari, senior legal officer of the Singapore Legal Service (d. 2010) * December 21 – Mari Lill, Estonian actress * December 22 – Diane Sawyer, American news journalist * December 23 – Donald A. Ritchie, American historian * December 24 ** Lemmy, British singer, bassist (Motörhead) (d. 2015) ** Nicholas Meyer, American screenwriter, producer, director and novelist ** Sharafuddin of Selangor, Sultan of Selangor ** Steve Smith (comedian), Steve Smith, Canadian actor, comedian and writer * December 25 – Noel Redding, English musician (d. 2003) * December 30 – Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, English-born pop singer, actor (The Monkees) (d. 2012) * December 31 ** Barbara Carrera, Nicaraguan-American actress ** Vernon Wells (actor), Vernon Wells, Australian actor ** Connie Willis, American fiction writer


Deaths


January

* January 2 – Bertram Ramsay, Sir Bertram Ramsay, British admiral (b. 1883) * January 3 – Edgar Cayce, American mystic (b. 1877) * January 4 – Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno, 3-time President of Costa Rica (b. 1859) *
January 6 Events Pre-1600 * 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will ...
** Josefa Llanes Escoda, Filipino women's suffrage advocate, founder of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (b. 1898) ** Vladimir Vernadsky, Soviet mineralogist, geochemist (b. 1863) * January 7 ** Alexander Stirling Calder, American sculptor (b. 1870) ** Thomas McGuire, American World War II fighter ace (killed in action) (b. 1920) ** Prince Rainer of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (killed in action) (b. 1900) * January 9 – Jüri Uluots, Estonian statesman (b. 1890) * January 10 – Pēteris Juraševskis, 8th Prime Minister of Latvia (b. 1872) *
January 12 Events Pre-1600 * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire. * 1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already rei ...
– Teresio Olivelli, Italian Roman Catholic soldier and venerable (b. 1916) * January 15 – Pedro Abad Santos, Filipino politician, brother of José Abad Santos (b. 1876) *
January 16 Events Pre-1600 * 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire. * 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Sp ...
– José Fabella, Filipino physician (b. 1889) *
January 19 Events Pre-1600 * 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. * 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender a ...
** Petar Bojović, Serbian field marshal (b. 1858) ** Gustave Mesny, French Army general (b. 1886) *
January 20 Events Pre-1600 * 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. * 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom. * 1156 & ...
– Federico Pedrocchi, Italian artist, writer (killed on active service) (b. 1907) *
January 21 Events Pre-1600 * 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa. * 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when ...
– Archibald Murray, Sir Archibald Murray, British Army general (b. 1860) * January 22 – Else Lasker-Schüler, German poet, author (b. 1869) *
January 23 Events Pre-1600 * 393 – Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor. * 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao. * 1264 & ...
** Eugen Bolz, German politician, 20 July Plotter (executed) (b. 1881) ** Nikolaus Gross, German Roman Catholic layman, martyr and blessed (b. 1898) ** Newton E. Mason, United States Navy rear admiral (b. 1850) *
January 30 Events Pre-1600 * 1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen. *1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom. 1601–1900 * 1607 – An estimat ...
** William Goodenough, Sir William Goodenough, British admiral (b. 1867) ** Pedro Paulet, Peruvian scientist (b. 1874) *
January 31 Events Pre-1600 * 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades. *1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the ...
– Eddie Slovik, American soldier (executed for desertion) (b. 1920)


February

* February (or March) – Anne Frank, German-born Jewish diarist, writer (typhus in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp) (b. 1929) * February 1 ** Ivan Bagryanov, 30th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (executed) (b. 1891) ** Teresa Bogusławska, Polish poet and resistance worker (meningitis) (b. 1929) ** Dobri Bozhilov, 29th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (executed) (b. 1884) ** Bogdan Filov, Bulgarian archaeologist, historian and politician, 28th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (executed) (b. 1883) ** Petar Gabrovski, former acting Prime Minister of Bulgaria (executed) (b. 1898) ** Johan Huizinga, Dutch cultural historian (b. 1872) ** Prince Kiril of Bulgaria (executed) (b. 1895) * February 2 ** Adolf Brand, German campaigner for homosexuality (air raid victim) (b. 1874) ** Alfred Delp, German Jesuit priest and philosopher of the German Resistance, 20 July plotter (executed) (b. 1907) ** Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German politician, civil servant, executive and economist, 20 July plotter (executed) (b. 1884) ** Gustav Heistermann von Ziehlberg, German general, 20 July plotter (executed) (b. 1898) ** Joe Hunt, American tennis champion (military aircraft crash) (b. 1919) *
February 3 Events Pre-1600 *1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states. * 1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire. * 1488 – ...
– Roland Freisler, Nazi Party, Nazi German judge (air raid victim) (b. 1893) * February 5 ** Denise Bloch, French World War II heroine (executed) (b. 1915) ** Aurelio Craffonara, Italian painter, illustrator (b. 1875) ** Lilian Rolfe, French World War II heroine (executed) (b. 1914) ** Violette Szabo, French/British World War II heroine (executed) (b. 1921) * February 6 – Robert Brasillach, French writer (executed) (b. 1909) *
February 7 Events Pre-1600 * 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor. * 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II. *1301 &nda ...
– Karl Schwitalle, German Olympic weightlifter (killed in action) (b. 1906) *
February 8 Events Pre-1600 * 421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. * 1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir. * 1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of ...
– Robert Mallet-Stevens, French architect, designer (b. 1886) *
February 10 Events Pre-1600 *1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end. * 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, sparki ...
– Anacleto Díaz, Filipino jurist (murdered during the Battle of Manila) (b. 1878) * February 11 – Al Dubin, Swiss-born American songwriter (b. 1891) * February 12 – Antonio Villa-Real, Filipino jurist (murdered during the Battle of Manila) (b. 1878) *
February 13 Events Pre-1600 * 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome. * 1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th. * 1462 – The ...
– Maria Orosa, Filipino technologist, chemist, humanitarian and WWII heroine (air raid victim) (b. 1893) * February 15 – Helmut Möckel (politician), Helmut Möckel, German youth leader, politician (automobile accident) (b. 1909) * February 17 – Gabrielle Weidner, Belgian World War II heroine (b. 1914) * February 18 – Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Soviet general (died of wounds) (b. 1906) *
February 19 Events Pre-1600 * 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies. * 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of ...
** John Basilone, American war hero (killed in action) (b. 1916) ** Heinrich Jasper, German politician (b. 1875) * February 21 – Eric Liddell, British Olympic athlete (in internment camp) (b. 1902) * February 22 – Sara Josephine Baker, American physician (b. 1873) * February 23 ** Serafino Mazzolini, Italian politician, lawyer and journalist (b. 1890) ** José María Moncada, 19th President of Nicaragua (b. 1870) ** Aleksei Nikolaevich Tolstoy, Russian writer (b. 1883) * February 24 – Josef Mayr-Nusser, Italian Roman Catholic layman, martyr and blessed (b. 1910) * February 25 – Mário de Andrade, Brazilian writer, photographer (b. 1893)


March

* March 1 ** Fritz Goerdeler, German resistance member (executed) (b. 1886) ** Lothar Sieber, German test pilot (killed in aviation accident) (b. 1922) * March 2 – Emily Carr, Canadian painter (b. 1871) * March 3 ** Gheorghe Avramescu, Romanian general (in custody) (b. 1884) ** Aleksandra Samusenko, Soviet WWII tank commander (died of wounds) (b. 1922) * March 4 ** Charles W. Bryan, American politician (b. 1867) ** Lucille La Verne, American actress (b. 1872) ** Mark Sandrich, American film director (b. 1900) * March 5 ** Rupert Downes, Australian general (killed in military aircraft accident) (b. 1885) ** Albert Richards (artist), Albert Richards, British war artist (killed in action) (b. 1919) ** George Alan Vasey, George Vasey, Australian general (killed in military aircraft accident) (b. 1895) ** Hasso von Boehmer, German lieutenant colonel, July 20 plotter (executed) (b. 1904) * March 7 – Ralph Ignatowski, American WWII hero (killed in action) (b. 1926) * March 8 – Sadasue Senda, Imperial Japanese Army lieutenant general, battle of iwo jima (killed in action) (b. 1892) * March 12 – Friedrich Fromm, German Nazi official (executed) (b. 1888) * March 14 **Antônio Francisco Braga, Brazilian composer (b. 1868) **Mary Helen Young, Scottish nurse and resistance fighter during World War II (born 1883) * March 15 – Sava Caracaș, Romanian general (b. 1890) * March 18 – William Grover-Williams, British/French racing driver, war hero (executed) (b. 1903) * March 19 – Marcel Callo, French Roman Catholic layman, martyr and blessed (in concentration camp) (b. 1921) * March 20 ** Dorothy Campbell, Scottish golfer (b. 1883) ** Lord Alfred Douglas, English poet (b. 1870) ** Maria Lacerda de Moura, Brazilian feminist, anarchist, teacher, journalist and teacher (b. 1887) * March 22 ** Eliyahu Bet-Zuri, Israeli assassin (executed) (b. 1922) ** Eliyahu Hakim, Israeli assassin (executed) (b. 1925) ** Enrico Caviglia, Italian marshal (b. 1862) ** Branca de Gonta Colaço, Portuguese writer, scholar and linguist (b. 1880) ** Heinrich Maier, Austrian Roman Catholic priest and blessed (b. 1908) ** Takeichi Nishi, Japanese equestrian gold medalist (1932), tank commander at Battle of Iwo Jima (killed in action) (b. 1902) * March 23 – Élisabeth de Rothschild, French WWII heroine (b. 1902) * March 26 ** David Lloyd George, British politician and statesman, 51st
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
(b. 1863) ** Ichimaru Toshinosuke, Japanese naval aviator, commander at Battle of Iwo Jima (b. 1891) ** Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Imperial Japanese Army general, commander of the battle of Iwo Jima (probably killed in action) (b. 1891) ** Boris Shaposhnikov, Soviet military leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1882) * March 27 – Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil, Turkish author (b. 1867) * March 29 – Ferenc Csik, Hungarian swimmer (air raid victim) (b. 1913) * March 30 ** Élise Rivet, French nun, war heroine (murdered in concentration camp) (b. 1890) ** Maurice Rose, American general (killed in action) (b. 1899) * March 31 ** Hans Fischer, German chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (suicide) (b. 1881) ** Harriet Boyd Hawes, American archaeologist (b. 1871) ** Torgny Segerstedt, Swedish newspaper editor, publicist (b. 1876) ** Maria Skobtsova, Soviet Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox nun and saint (killed by poison) (b. 1891) ** Natalia Tulasiewicz, Polish teacher and Roman Catholic blessed (murdered in concentration camp) (b. 1906)


April

* April 7 ** Seiichi Itō, Japanese admiral (lost in action) (b. 1890) ** Aruga Kōsaku, Japanese admiral (lost in action) (b. 1897) * April 9 ** Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian (executed) (b. 1906) ** Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral, head of the Abwehr (executed) (b. 1887) ** Hans von Dohnanyi, Hungarian-born German lawyer, member of the German Resistance, 20 July Plotter (executed) (b. 1902) * April 10 ** Gloria Dickson, American actress (fire victim) (b. 1917) ** Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, Dutch artist and printer (b. 1882) * April 11 – Frederick Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard, British colonial administrator (b. 1858) * April 12 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, American political leader and statesman, 32nd President of the United States (b. 1882) * April 13 – Ernst Cassirer, German philosopher (b. 1874) * April 15 – Joachim Albrecht Eggeling, German SS general (suicide) (b. 1884) * April 18 ** John Ambrose Fleming, Sir Ambrose Fleming, British electrical engineer and physicist (b. 1849) ** Ernie Pyle, American journalist (killed in action) (b. 1900) ** William, Prince of Albania (b. 1876) * April 21 – Walter Model, German field marshal (suicide) (b. 1891) * April 22 – Käthe Kollwitz, German artist (b. 1867) * April 23 – Klaus Bonhoeffer, German resistance fighter, 20 July Plotter (executed) (b. 1901) * April 24 – Ernst-Robert Grawitz, German SS Reichsphysician (suicide) (b. 1899) * April 28 ** Executed: *** Hermann Fegelein, German SS general (b. 1906) *** Benito Mussolini, Italian politician, journalist, 27th Prime Minister of Italy and Duce, Duce of Fascism (b. 1883) *** Clara Petacci, mistress of Benito Mussolini (b. 1912) *** Nicola Bombacci, Italian Fascist politician (b. 1879) *** Roberto Farinacci, Italian Fascist politician (b. 1892) *** Alessandro Pavolini, Italian Fascist politician (b. 1903) * April 29 – Achille Starace, Italian Fascist politician (executed) (b. 1889) * April 30 ** Luisa Ferida, Italian actress (executed) (b. 1914) **
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
, Austrian-born German politician, Führer, Führer of Germany (suicide) (b. 1889) ** Eva Braun, wife of Adolf Hitler (suicide) (b. 1912)


May

* May 1 ** Joseph Goebbels, Chancellor of Germany for 1 day and Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Reich Minister of Propaganda (suicide) (b. 1897) ** Magda Goebbels, wife of Joseph Goebbels (suicide) (b. 1901) * May 2 ** Martin Bormann, Nazi Party leader and private secretary to Adolf Hitler (presumed suicide) (b. 1900) ** Wilhelm Burgdorf, German general (suicide) (b. 1895) ** Hans Krebs (Wehrmacht general), Hans Krebs, German general (suicide) (b. 1898) ** Prince Waldemar of Prussia (1889–1945), Prince Waldemar of Prussia (haemophilia) (b. 1889) * May 3 – Mario Blasich, Italian physician, politician (b. 1878) * May 4 – Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (b. 1880) * May 6 – Xhem Hasa, Albanian nationalist (b. 1908) * May 7 – Vladimir Boyarsky, Soviet army officer (b. 1901) * May 8 ** Francis Bruguière, American photographer (b. 1875) ** Julius Hirsch, German footballer (killed in Auschwitz concentration camp) (b. 1892) ** Wilhelm Rediess, SS and Police Leader of Nazi-occupied Norway (suicide) (b. 1900) ** Bernhard Rust, education minister of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
(presumed suicide) (b. 1883) ** Josef Terboven, ''Reichskommissar'' of Nazi-occupied Norway (suicide) (b. 1898) * May 9 – Gustav Becking, German musicologist (b. 1894) * May 10 – Konrad Henlein, Sudeten German Nazi leader (suicide) (b. 1898) * May 11 – Kiyoshi Ogawa, Japanese kamikaze pilot (b. 1922) * May 14 ** Joseph Barthélemy, French jurist, politician and journalist (b. 1874) ** Heber J. Grant, 7th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1856) * May 15 ** Kenneth J. Alford, British soldier and composer (b. 1881) ** Charles Williams (British writer), Charles Williams, British author (b. 1886) * May 16 **Shintarō Hashimoto, Japanese admiral (killed in action) (b. 1892) **Kaju Sugiura, Japanese admiral (killed in action) (b. 1896) * May 18 – William Joseph Simmons, American founder of the second Ku Klux Klan (b. 1880) * May 19 – Philipp Bouhler, German Nazi leader and general (suicide) (b. 1899) * May 21 – Prince Kan'in Kotohito, Japanese prince, member of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office (b. 1865) * May 23 – Heinrich Himmler, German politician, Reichsführer-SS (suicide) (b. 1900) * May 24 – Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal (suicide) (b. 1892) * May 25 ** Rafael Estrella Ureña, Dominican lawyer and politician, acting President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1889) ** Ishii Kikujirō, Japanese diplomat and politician (killed in bombing raid) (b. 1866) * May 31 ** Odilo Globocnik, Austrian Nazi leader (suicide) (b. 1904) ** Curt von Gottberg, German SS general (suicide) (b. 1896)


June

* June 4 – Georg Kaiser, German dramatist (b. 1878) * June 7 – Kitaro Nishida, Japanese philosopher (b. 1870) * June 8 ** Robert Desnos, French poet, resistance fighter (typhoid) (b. 1900) ** Karl Hanke, German Nazi general and last Reichsführer-SS (killed) (b. 1903) * June 11 – Lurana W. Sheldon, American author and editor (b. 1862) * June 12 – Theodore Hardeen, Hungarian-born American magician and stunt performer, founder of the Magician's Guild (b. 1876) * June 13 – Minoru Ōta, Japanese admiral (suicide) (b. 1891) * June 15 ** Nikola Avramov, Bulgarian painter (b. 1897) ** Carl Gustaf Ekman, Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1872) ** Amélie Rives Troubetzkoy, American author (b. 1863) ** Aris Velouchiotis, Greek World War II resistance leader (b. 1905) * June 16 ** Nikolai Berzarin, Soviet Red Army general (b. 1904) ** Nils Edén, 15th Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1871) * June 18 ** Florence Bascom, American geologist and educator (b. 1862) ** Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., American general (killed in action at Okinawa) (b. 1886) ** Friedrich, Prince of Wied, German prince (b. 1872) * June 20 ** Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, British politician (b. 1858) ** Luís Fernando de Orleans y Borbón, Spanish prince (b. 1888) * June 22 ** Isamu Chō, Japanese general (ritual suicide) (b. 1895) ** Mitsuru Ushijima, Japanese general (ritual suicide) (b. 1887) * June 24 – José Gutiérrez Solana, Spanish painter (b. 1886) * June 27 – Emil Hácha, 3rd President of Czechoslovakia, State President of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (b. 1872) * June 30 ** Germogen (Maximov), Russian Orthodox Metropolitan (b. 1861) ** Gabriel El-Registan, Soviet poet (b. 1899)


July

* July 1 – Félix Evaristo Mejía, Dominican diplomat, educator and writer (b. 1866) * July 2 – Óscar R. Benavides, Peruvian field marshal, diplomat, politician and President of Peru (b. 1876) * July 5 – John Curtin, 14th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1885) * July 7 – Peter To Rot, Papuan Roman Catholic layman, martyr and blessed (b. 1912) * July 9 – Luigi Aldrovandi Marescotti, Italian politician, diplomat (b. 1876) * July 12 ** Boris Galerkin, Russian mathematician (b. 1871) ** Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, German field marshal (brain tumor) (b. 1895) * July 13 – Alla Nazimova, Russian-born American actress (b. 1879) * July 17 – Ernst Busch (field marshal), Ernst Busch, German field marshal, as prisoner of war (b. 1885) * July 20 – Paul Valéry, French poet (b. 1871) * July 24 – Arnold von Winckler, German general (b. 1856) * July 25 – Malin Craig, United States Army general (b. 1875) * July 28 – Margot Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith (b. 1864) * July 29 – Maria Pierina, Maria Pierina De Micheli, Italian Roman Catholic religious sister, mystic and blessed (b. 1890) * July 31 – Artemio Ricarte, Filipino general (b. 1866)


August

* August 1 – Blas Cabrera Felipe, Spanish physicist (b. 1878) * August 2 – Pietro Mascagni, Italian composer (b. 1863) * August 3 – Roman Kochanowski, Polish painter, illustrator (b. 1857) * August 4 – Gerhard Gentzen, German mathematician and logician (starvation in prison camp) (b. 1909) * August 5 – Nat Jaffe, American swing jazz pianist (b. 1918) * August 8 – Le Pétomane, Joseph Pujol, Le Pétomane, French flatulist (b. 1857) * August 7 – Jacques Vaillant de Guélis, British/French WWII hero (injuries received in automobile accident) (b. 1907) * August 9 ** Harry Hillman, American track athlete (b. 1881) ** Jun Tosaka, Japanese philosopher (in prison) (b. 1900) * August 10 – Robert H. Goddard, American rocket scientist (b. 1882) * August 12 – Karl Leisner, German Roman Catholic priest and blessed (b. 1915) * August 15 ** Korechika Anami, Japanese general (ritual suicide) (b. 1887) ** Matome Ugaki, Japanese admiral (killed in action) (b. 1890) * August 16 – Takijirō Ōnishi, Japanese admiral (ritual suicide) (b. 1891) * August 18 ** Subhas Chandra Bose, Leader of Indian National Army (Third-degree burns from aircrash) (b. 1897) ** Sarala Devi Chaudhurani, Indian educationist (b. 1872) * August 19 – Tomás Burgos, Chilean philanthropist (b. 1875) * August 22 – Mustafa Al-Maraghi, Egyptian reformer (b. 1881) * August 24 – Shizuichi Tanaka, Japanese general (suicide) (b. 1887) * August 25 ** John Birch (missionary), John Birch, American missionary for whom the John Birch Society is named (killed in action) (b. 1918) ** Willis Augustus Lee, American admiral, Olympic shooter (b. 1888) ** Thomas F. Woodlock, editor of ''The Wall Street Journal'' and Interstate Commerce Commission commissioner (b. 1866) * August 26 ** Pio Collivadino, Argentinian painter (b. 1869) ** Franz Werfel, Austrian writer (b. 1890) * August 27 – Blessed María Pilar Izquierdo Albero, Spanish Roman Catholic religious professed (b. 1906) * August 29 – Fritz Pfleumer, German engineer, inventor (b. 1881) * August 30 – Florencio Harmodio Arosemena, 6th President of Panama (b. 1872) * August 31 ** Stefan Banach, Polish mathematician (b. 1892) ** Pope Macarius III of Alexandria, Egyptian patriarch, saint (b. 1872)


September

* September 6 ** Witold Leon Czartoryski, Polish nobleman (b. 1864) ** John S. McCain Sr., American admiral (b. 1884) * September 9 – Aage Bertelsen, Danish painter (b. 1873) * September 12 – Hajime Sugiyama, Japanese general (suicide) (b. 1880) * September 15 ** Richard Friedrich Johannes Pfeiffer, German physician and bacteriologist (b. 1858) ** André Tardieu, 3-time prime minister of France (b. 1876) ** Anton Webern, Austrian composer (b. 1883) ** Zhang Mingqi, Qing dynasty politician (b. 1875) * September 16 – John McCormack (tenor), John McCormack, Irish tenor (b. 1884) * September 18 ** José Agripino Barnet, Cuban politician and diplomat, acting President of Cuba (b. 1864) ** Blind Willie Johnson, American gospel blues singer (b. 1897) * September 20 ** Augusto Tasso Fragoso, Brazilian soldier, statesman and Interim President of Brazil (b. 1869) ** Eduard Wirths, German doctor, chief SS doctor at
Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. I ...
(suicide) (b. 1909) * September 24 – Hans Geiger, German physicist, inventor (b. 1882) * September 25 – Plutarco Elías Calles, Mexican general and president (1924-1928), known as ''Jefe Maximo'' ("Maximum Boss") (b. 1877) * September 26 ** Béla Bartók, Hungarian composer (b. 1881) ** Kiyoshi Miki, Japanese philosopher (b. 1897)


October

* October 1 – Walter Bradford Cannon, American physiologist (b. 1871) * October 6 ** Leonardo Conti, German physician, Nazi officer (suicide) (b. 1900) ** Hans Vogel, chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) (b. 1881) * October 8 – Felix Salten, Austrian author (b. 1869) * October 10 – Joseph Darnand, Vichy French politician (executed) (b. 1897) * October 12 – Dmytro Antonovych, Soviet politician (b. 1877) * October 13 – Milton S. Hershey, American chocolate tycoon (b. 1857) * October 15 – Pierre Laval, French politician, 2-time Prime Minister of France (executed) (b. 1883) * October 18 – Frederick Hovey, American tennis player (b. 1868) * October 19 ** Plutarco Elías Calles, Mexican general, politician and 40th President of Mexico (b. 1877) ** N. C. Wyeth, American illustrator (b. 1882) * October 21 ** Henry Armetta, Italian actor (b. 1888) ** Felicija Bortkevičienė, Lithuanian politician and publisher (b. 1873) * October 24 – Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian Nazi collaborator (executed) (b. 1887) * October 25 – Robert Ley, German Nazi politician (suicide) (b. 1890) * October 26 ** Adolf von Brudermann, Austro-Hungarian general (b. 1854) ** Paul Pelliot, French explorer (b. 1878) * October 30 – Xian Xinghai, Chinese composer (b. 1905) * October 31 ** Henry Ainley, British actor (b. 1879) ** Ignacio Zuloaga, Basque Spanish painter (b. 1870)


November

* November 8 – August von Mackensen, German field marshal (b. 1849) * November 11 – Jerome Kern, American composer (b. 1885) * November 13 – Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair, Sir Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair, British admiral (b. 1865) * November 16 – Sigurður Eggerz, Minister for Iceland during World War I and 2nd Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1875) * November 17 – Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1882) * November 20 – Francis William Aston, British chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877) * November 21 ** Robert Benchley, American humorist, theater critic and actor (b. 1889) ** Ellen Glasgow, American novelist (b. 1873) ** Alexander Patch, United States Army lieutenant general, World War II army commander (b. 1889) ** Jimmy Quinn (footballer, born 1878), Jimmy Quinn, Scottish footballer (b. 1878) * November 23 – Charles Coborn, British singer (b. 1852) * November 27 – Josep Maria Sert, Spanish Catalan muralist (b. 1874) * November 28 – Dwight F. Davis, American tennis player (b. 1879) * November 30 – Shigeru Honjō, Japanese general (suicide) (b. 1876)


December

* December 1 – Anton Dostler, German general (b. 1891) * December 3 – George McKay (actor), George McKay, Soviet-born American actor (b. 1884) * December 4 ** Thomas Hunt Morgan, American biologist, geneticist, embryologist and Nobel Prize in Physiology recipient (b. 1866) ** Richárd Weisz, Hungarian Olympic champion wrestler (b. 1879) * December 5 – Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1864) * December 8 – Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Italian actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1886) * December 12 – Prince Frederick of Schaumburg-Lippe (b. 1868) * December 13 ** Juana Bormann, German Nazi concentration camp guard (executed) (b. 1893) ** Henri Dentz, French general (b. 1881) ** Irma Grese, German warden at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (executed) (b. 1923) ** Josef Kramer, German commandant of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (executed) (b. 1906) ** Elisabeth Volkenrath, German supervisor at Nazi concentration camps (executed) (b. 1919) * December 14 – Forrester Harvey, Irish actor (b. 1884) * December 16 ** Giovanni Agnelli, Italian entrepreneur, founder of Fiat (b. 1866) ** Fumimaro Konoe, Japanese general, politician and 23rd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1891) * December 21 – George S. Patton, American general (injuries from automobile accident) (b. 1885) * December 22 – Otto Neurath, Austrian philosopher, political economist (b. 1892) * December 25 – Duy Tân, Emperor of Vietnam (b. 1900) * December 26 – Roger Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes, British admiral (b. 1872) * December 28 – Theodore Dreiser, American novelist (b. 1871)


Nobel Prizes

* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Wolfgang Pauli * Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Artturi Ilmari Virtanen * Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Physiology or Medicine – Sir Alexander Fleming, Ernst Chain, Howard Florey * Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Gabriela Mistral * Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – Cordell Hull


References


Further reading

* Ian Buruma. ''Year Zero: A History of 1945'' (Penguin Press; 2013) 368 pages; covers liberation, revenge, decolonization, and the rise of the United Nations
excerpt
* International News Service, ''It Happened In 1945 The Essential Year Book'' (1946) * Keith Lowe. ''Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II'' (2012
excerpt and text search
* McDannald, A. H. ed. ''The Americana Annual 1946'' (1946) events of 194
online
encyclopedia yearbook global coverage in 950pp * Walter Yust, ed. ''10 Eventful Years, 1937 – 1946'' Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 1947, 4 vol., encyclopedia yearboo
online
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