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Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.
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Time magazine prints its 1938 Man of the Year edition choosing Adolf Hitler for the title, but does not show the Nazi leader's face on the cover of the publication.
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Germany and the Soviet Union agree to a nonaggression pact leaving the Soviets free to strengthen their western frontier, and Hitler free to attack Poland.
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Germany invaded Poland, the act that started World War II.
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Britain forces retreat from France and Adolf Hitler's armies defeat French forces.
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The United States orders gasoline withheld from Japan sparking protest from the Japanese government.
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Germany invades the Soviet Union violating the Nonaggression Pact.
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt warns the Japanese government to cease all aggression toward neighboring countries or else face United States forces.
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Japan attacked fleets on Pearl Harbor.
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The Italian government officially surrenders to the Allied powers
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The Allied powers meet in Yalta to negotiate Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe.
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia.
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Italian insurgents capture Mussolini, murder him, and mutilate his body.
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Adolf Hitler commits suicide in Berlin.
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the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces.
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Allied leaders meet in Potsdam, Germany to send an ultimatum to Japan. Japanese military leaders ruling the government issue no surrender.
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The United States drops an atomic bomb—the first to be used in warfare—on Hiroshima, killing 75,000 people instantly, and injuring more than 100,000.
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Second atomic bomb is dropped.
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brought the hostilities of World War II to a close
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A formal surrender ceremony is conducted in Tokyo Bay on the U.S. battleship Missouri. World War II officially ends.
