1942-1953

  • AUG 7, 1942

    The United States Marines land on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in the first American offensive of World War II.
  • AUG 13, 1942

    The 'Manhattan Project' commences, under the direction of US General Leslie Groves: its aim - to deliver an atomic bomb
  • JUN 10, 1943

    FDR becomes 1st US President to visit a foreign country during wartime
  • MAY 15, 1944

    Eisenhower, Montgomery, Churchill & George VI discuss D-Day plan
  • SEP 1, 1945

    V-J Day, formal surrender of Japan aboard USS Missouri marks the end of WW II (US date, 2nd September in Japan)
  • NOV 12, 1948

    Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo sentenced to death by war crimes tribunal
  • APR 4, 1949

    The North American Treaty Organization, is formed by the United States, Canada, and ten Western European nations. The treaty stated that any attack against one nation would be considered an attack against them all.
  • SEP 24, 1952

    American fast food restaurant chain "KFC" [Kentucky Fried Chicken] opens its first franchise in Salt Lake City, Utah
  • JAN 7, 1953

    US President Harry Truman announces American development of the hydrogen bomb
  • JUL 27, 1953

    North Korea and the United Nations sign armistice to stop fighting and divide Korea at the 38th parallel