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Allies invade Normandy, France
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US drops two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan surrendering from WW2.
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United Nations is established
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US enacts policy of aid for nations it deems threatened by communism in what became known as the Truman Doctrine. Cold War with Soviet Union begins.
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Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), independent executive bureau of the U.S. government established by the National Security Act of 1947.
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), established under the North Atlantic Treaty by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States. The treaty, one of the major Western countermeasures against the threat of aggression by the Soviet Union during the cold war, was aimed at safeguarding the freedom of the North Atlantic community.
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Cold war conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces on Korean Peninsula. President Truman, without the approval of Congress, commits American troops to battle.
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Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, limiting the president to two terms.
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Puerto Rico becomes a U.S. commonwealth.
