1942-1953

By BrickFosnight

  • Normandy Invasion

    Normandy Invasion
    The United States, British, and Canadian forces invaded five separate beaches in Normandy, France. They liberated northern France by the end of August.

  • Germany Surrenders

    Germany Surrenders
    On this date, the German High Command, General Alfred Jodl, signed the unconditional surrender of all German forces, East and West, at Reims, in northeastern France.

  • Hiroshima Bombing

    Hiroshima Bombing
    An American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, killing 80,000 people immediately. The bomb was known as "Little Boy."

  • Nagasaki Bombing

    Nagasaki Bombing
    An American B-29, named Bock's Car, dropped an atomic bomb over the city of Nagasaki, Japan. It was called "Fat Man," and it was 40% more powerful than "Little Boy."

  • Truman Doctrine

    Truman Doctrine
    President Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.

  • NATO

    NATO
    The North Atlantic Treaty Organization military alliance was created on this date. It sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in central and eastern Europe after World War II.

  • Korean War

    Korean War
    The Korean War began when 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People's Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south.

  • First Hydrogen Bomb

    First Hydrogen Bomb
    The United States detonated the first hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean. This test gave the U.S. an advantage in the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. "Ivy Mike" was the codename given to the test.