What happened in 1945
100 entries recorded for 1945, listed by date. That was 81 years ago.
1945 at a glance
- Years ago
- 81 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1940s
- Generation born
- Silent Generation
- Entries here
- 100
- Breakdown
- 100 historical events
January
- January 1
World War II
World War II: In retaliation for the massacre of captured Americans by Waffen SS soldiers, U.S. Army personnel killed an estimated 80 Wehrmacht prisoners near Chenogne, Belgium.
- January 16
World War II
World War II: Adolf Hitler and his staff moved into the Führerbunker in Berlin, where he would eventually commit suicide.
- January 17
Raoul Wallenberg
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who had saved thousands of Jews from the Holocaust, was taken into Soviet custody during the Siege of Budapest and was never seen in public again.
- January 17
World War II
World War II: Australian troops advanced along the northern part of Bougainville Island (in present-day Papua New Guinea) and began fighting Japanese forces in the Battle of Tsimba Ridge.
- January 20
Béla Miklós
World War II: The provisional government of Béla Miklós in Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.
- January 20
Nazi Germany
World War II: Germany begins the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will take nearly two months.
- January 20
World War II
World War II: In an operation that took nearly two months to complete, Germany began the evacuation of at least 1.8 million people from East Prussia in anticipation of the advancing Soviet Red Army.
- January 26
Audie Murphy
Audie Murphy engaged in action at the Colmar Pocket that won him a Medal of Honor and made him one of the most famous and decorated U.S. soldiers of World War II.
- January 27
Red Army
The Soviet Red Army liberated about 7,000 prisoners left behind by the Nazis in Auschwitz concentration camp.
- January 30
World War II
World War II: Allied forces liberated more than 500 prisoners of war (pictured) from a Japanese POW camp near Cabanatuan in the Philippines.
February
- February 4
World War II
World War II: American forces liberated the Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila, the largest Japanese-run internment camp for enemy civilians in the Philippines.
- February 8
British Armed Forces
World War II: British and Canadian forces commence Operation Veritable to occupy land between the Maas and Rhine rivers.
- February 8
Mikhail Devyataev
World War II: Mikhail Devyataev escapes with nine other Soviet POWs from a Nazi concentration camp in Peenemünde, Usedom.
- February 9
World War II
World War II: Allied aircraft unsuccessfully attacked a German destroyer in Førde Fjord, Norway.
- February 12
Tornado outbreak of February 12, 1945
A devistating tornado outbreak across Mississippi and Alabama kills 45 people and injures 427 others.
- February 21
World War II
World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Japanese kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea and damage the USS Saratoga.
- February 21
Brazilian Expeditionary Force
World War II: the Brazilian Expeditionary Force defeat the German forces in the Battle of Monte Castello on the Italian front.
- February 23
Joe Rosenthal
American photographer Joe Rosenthal took the Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima during the Battle of Iwo Jima, an image that was later reproduced on the Marine Corps War Memorial.
- February 23
World War II
Second World War: An Allied bombing run on Pforzheim, Germany, killed approximately 31 percent of its population and destroyed about 83 percent of its buildings.
- February 26
World War II
World War II: US troops reclaim the Philippine island of Corregidor from the Japanese.
March
- March 3
Royal Air Force
World War II: In poor visibility, the RAF mistakenly bombs the Bezuidenhout area of The Hague, Netherlands, killing 511 people.
- March 3
Home Army
A Polish Home Army unit massacred at least 150 Ukrainian civilians in Pawłokoma, Poland.
- March 6
Petru Groza
Petru Groza of the Ploughmen's Front became the first prime minister of the Communist Party-dominated government of Romania.
- March 6
Cologne
World War II: Cologne is captured by American troops. On the same day, Operation Spring Awakening, the last major German offensive of the war, begins.
- March 7
World War II
World War II: At the beginning of the Battle of Remagen, Allied forces unexpectedly captured the Ludendorff Bridge, which possibly hastened the war's conclusion.
- March 7
9th Armored Division (United States)
World War II: The American 9th Armored Division unexpectedly captures an intact bridge over the Rhine.
- March 10
World War II
World War II: The United States Army Air Forces conducted a firebombing raid on Tokyo that killed at least 90,000 people.
- March 14
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force first used the Grand Slam, a 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) earthquake bomb, on a strategic railway viaduct in Bielefeld, Germany.
- March 27
World War II
World War II: The United States Army Air Forces began Operation Starvation, laying naval mines in many of Japan's vital water routes and ports to disrupt enemy shipping.
- March 30
Red Army
World War II: Soviet forces invade Austria and capture Vienna. Polish and Soviet forces liberate Danzig.
April
- April 6
World War II
Second World War: The Battle of Slater's Knoll on Bougainville Island concluded with a decisive victory for the Australian Army's 7th Brigade against the Imperial Japanese Army's 6th Division.
- April 7
World War II
World War II: U.S. forces sank the Japanese battleship Yamato during Operation Kikusui I in the East China Sea.
- April 9
Heavy cruiser
The German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer (pictured), the most successful capital-ship surface raider of the Second World War, was sunk by British bombers in port in Kiel.
- April 14
World War II
World War II: The German town of Friesoythe was razed by the 4th Canadian Division on the orders of Major General Christopher Vokes.
- April 15
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
- April 16
World War II
Second World War: British and Canadian forces concluded the Liberation of Arnhem in the Netherlands from German occupation.
- April 16
Red Army
World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
- April 16
United States Army
World War II: The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz).
- April 18
Italian resistance movement
Italian resistance movement: In Turin, despite the harsh repressive measures adopted by Nazi-fascists, a great pre-insurrectional strike begins.
- April 18
Bomber
World War II: Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.
- April 20
World War II
World War II: U.S. troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union.
- April 22
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
World War II: Sachsenhausen concentration camp is liberated by soldiers of the Red Army and Polish First Army.
- April 22
Jasenovac concentration camp
About 600 prisoners of the Jasenovac concentration camp in the Independent State of Croatia revolted, but only 80 managed to escape while the remainder were killed by the Ustaše regime.
- April 23
World War II
World War II: The US Army's 90th Infantry Division liberated Flossenbürg concentration camp (pictured) in Germany, freeing 1,500 prisoners.
- April 27
World War II
World War II: The photograph Raising the Flag on the Three-Country Cairn (pictured) was taken after German troops withdrew to Norway at the end of the Lapland War.
- April 28
World War II
World War II: Benito Mussolini, the deposed fascist dictator of Italy, was executed by partisans in Giulino.
- April 29
World War II
World War II: The U.S. Army liberated Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, and killed German prisoners of war.
- April 30
World War II
World War II: As Allied forces closed in on Berlin, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler committed suicide in the Führerbunker with Eva Braun one day after their marriage.
May
- May 1
World War II
Second World War: British and Indian forces conducted a successful airborne assault on a Japanese artillery battery during the advance to liberate Rangoon, Burma.
- May 2
World War II
World War II: General Helmuth Weidling, the German commander of Berlin, surrendered to Soviet forces led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov, ending the Battle of Berlin.
- May 3
World War II
Second World War: The German ocean liner Cap Arcona, afloat in the Bay of Lübeck with thousands of concentration camp survivors on board, was attacked and sunk by the Royal Air Force.
- May 5
World War II
World War II: American and German troops fought side-by-side at the Battle for Castle Itter, defending a prison against Waffen-SS forces.
- May 5
Battle of Castle Itter
World War II: Battle of Castle Itter, one of only two battles in that war in which American and German troops fought cooperatively.
- May 5
Mauthausen concentration camp
The Mauthausen and Gusen concentration camps were liberated by the United States Army.
- May 5
Fu-Go balloon bomb
World War II: A Fu-Go balloon bomb launched by the Japanese Army kills six people near Bly, Oregon.
- May 5
Prague uprising
World War II: The Prague uprising begins as an attempt by the Czech resistance to free the city from German occupation.
- May 8
Sétif
A parade in Sétif, French Algeria, celebrating the end of World War II in Europe became a riot and was followed by reprisals, carried out by colonial authorities over the following weeks, that killed thousands.
- May 15
Battle of Poljana
World War II: The Battle of Poljana, the final skirmish in Europe, is fought near Prevalje, Slovenia.
- May 15
British Army
The British Army directed fleeing Croatian soldiers to surrender to the Yugoslav Partisans, beginning the Bleiburg repatriations.
- May 16
Levant Crisis
Beginning of the Levant Crisis between Britain and France in Syria. The latter try to quell nationalist protests but backs down after threat of military action by the British.
June
- June 7
Haakon VII
King Haakon VII of Norway returns from exactly five years in exile during World War II.
- June 14
Philippine Army
World War II: Filipino troops of the Philippine Commonwealth Army liberate the captured in Ilocos Sur and start the Battle of Bessang Pass in Northern Luzon.
- June 26
United Nations Conference on International Organization
At a conference in San Francisco, delegates from 50 nations signed a charter establishing the United Nations.
July
- July 4
Brazilian cruiser Bahia
The Brazilian cruiser Bahia (pictured) was accidentally sunk by one of its own crewmen, killing more than 300 people.
- July 10
United States Marine Corps
Three African-American United States Marines who repeatedly raped local women in Katsuyama near Nago, Okinawa were killed by the residents and had their bodies hidden in a nearby cave for over 50 years.
- July 16
Nuclear weapon
The United States conducted the first detonation of a nuclear weapon during the Trinity test (pictured).
- July 28
North American B-25 Mitchell
A B-25 bomber crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City, killing 14 people and causing an estimated $1 million in damage.
August
- August 2
Potsdam Conference
World War II: The Potsdam Conference ends.
- August 6
World War II
World War II: The U.S. Army Air Force bomber Enola Gay dropped the Little Boy atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan (mushroom cloud pictured), killing about 70,000 people instantly.
- August 9
World War II
World War II: The USAAF bomber Bockscar dropped a Fat Man atomic bomb (replica pictured) on Nagasaki, Japan.
- August 9
Nagasaki
World War II: Nagasaki is devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. Thirty-five thousand people are killed outright, including 23,200–28,200 Japanese war workers, 2,000 Korean forced workers, and 150 Japanese soldiers.
- August 11
Kraków
Amid rumors of kidnappings of children by Jews in Kraków, a crowd of Poles took part in a pogrom, resulting in at least one death.
- August 12
Smyth Report
An official administrative history of the Manhattan Project, written by American physicist Henry DeWolf Smyth, was released to the public days after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- August 14
Kenji Hatanaka
Kenji Hatanaka (pictured) and other Japanese military officers launched an attempted coup d'état to prevent the surrender of Japan.
- August 16
Stanley Internment Camp
The Stanley Internment Camp in Hong Kong was liberated following the announcement of the surrender of Japan in World War II.
- August 17
Animal Farm
Animal Farm, George Orwell's satirical allegory of Soviet totalitarianism, was first published.
- August 17
Proclamation of Indonesian Independence
The independence of Indonesia was proclaimed, igniting a revolution against the Dutch Empire.
- August 18
World War II
World War II: Amid a Soviet invasion of Japanese-held Sakhalin, Japanese police massacred 18 Koreans in Kamishisuka.
- August 21
Harry Daghlian
American physicist Harry Daghlian accidentally dropped a tungsten carbide brick onto a plutonium bomb core, exposing himself to neutron radiation and later becoming the first Manhattan Project fatality due to a criticality accident.
September
- September 2
United States Navy
On the deck of the U.S. Navy battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, representatives from the Empire of Japan and the Allied powers signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender , formally ending World War II.
- September 3
Victory over Japan Day
A three-day celebration begins in China, following the Victory over Japan Day on September 2.
- September 10
Mike the Headless Chicken
Mike the Headless Chicken was decapitated on a farm in Colorado; he survived another 18 months as part of sideshows before choking to death.
- September 11
Imperial Japanese Army
The Japanese-run camp at Batu Lintang in Borneo was liberated by the Australian 9th Division, averting the planned massacre of its 2,000-plus Allied POWs and civilian internees by four days.
- September 24
Topoľčany pogrom
Dozens of Jews were injured in the Topoľčany pogrom, one of the worst episodes of anti-Jewish violence in postwar Czechoslovakia.
- September 30
Bourne End rail crash
The Bourne End rail crash, in Hertfordshire, England, kills 43.
October
- October 18
Soviet Union
The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- October 18
Venezuela
A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, stages a coup d'état against president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day.
- October 18
Argentina
Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón marries actress Eva Duarte.
- October 22
Cigar Factory
Workers at the Cigar Factory in Charleston, South Carolina, began a labor strike against the American Tobacco Company that lasted more than five months.
- October 24
Charter of the United Nations
The Charter of the United Nations entered into force after being ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council and a majority of the other signatories.
- October 25
Geography of Taiwan
Fifty years of Japanese administration of Taiwan formally ends when the Republic of China assumes control.
November
- November 10
Indonesian National Revolution
Indonesian National Revolution: Following the killing of Brigadier A. W. S. Mallaby on 30 October, British forces retaliated by attacking Surabaya (present-day logo depicted).
- November 13
FC Dynamo Moscow
FC Dynamo Moscow opened their exhibition tour of the United Kingdom with a 3–3 draw against Chelsea, breaking the attendance record for a British club football match.
- November 20
Nuremberg trials
The Nuremberg trials (defendants pictured) of 24 leading Nazis involved in the Holocaust and various war crimes during World War II began in Nuremberg, Germany.
- November 21
Manzanar
Manzanar (pictured), a camp in California for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, was closed.
- November 27
CARE International
A consortium of twenty-two U.S. charities founded CARE with the mission of delivering food aid to Europe in the aftermath of World War II.
- November 29
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia is declared.
December
- December 12
People's Republic of Korea
The People's Republic of Korea is outlawed in the South, by order of the United States Army Military Government in Korea.
- December 15
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers
The US-led occupying forces ordered the government of Japan to cease state support for Shinto.
- December 17
Flag of Kurdistan
The modern flag of Kurdistan was raised for the first time in Mahabad, Iran.
Questions about 1945
What happened in 1945?
This site records 100 entries for 1945, including World War II on January 1. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1945?
81 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1945 turns 81 this year.
Which century is 1945 in?
1945 falls in the 20th century, in the 1940s.
Which generation was born in 1945?
Silent Generation (1928–1945). Children of the Depression and war years.
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