1942-1953

  • Battle of Midway

  • Detroit, Michigan race riots

  • Allied invasion of Italy

  • D-Day (also known as Operation Overlord)

  • U.S. presidential election, 1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt reelection for a fourth term

  • Battle of Okinawa

  • President Roosevelt dies, Vice President Truman becomes the 33rd President

  • Germany surrenders, end of World War II in Europe

  • Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

  • United Nations Charter signed in San Francisco, establishing the United Nations

  • United States Atomic Energy Act of 1946

  • The Marshall Plan

  • Jackie Robinson breaks color barrier in baseball

  • World Series is broadcast live on television for the first time

  • U.S. presidential election, 1948: Harry S. Truman is elected president for a full term

  • Berlin Blockade

  • Germany divided into East and West

  • Korean War begins

  • General Douglas MacArthur fired by President Truman for comments about using nuclear weapons on China

  • Immigration and Nationality Act

  • In the United States presidential election, Dwight D. Eisenhower elected as president, Richard Nixon elected as vice president

  • Shah of Iran returns to power in CIA-orchestrated coup known as Operation Ajax