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In this battle, Americans and their Allies launched a primarily amphibious assault on the coast of Normandy, France. The successful surprise invasion of Normandy allowed the Allies to push into the heart of Europe and forced Hitler to fight an un-winnable war on two fronts - the Soviets in the East and the Americans and British in the West. Texas Aggie James Earl Rudder famously led a group of Army Rangers to capture the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc.
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This battle was fought between the Americans and Japanese on the island of Iwo Jima beginning on February 19, 1945. The Americans ultimately won this battle on March 26, 1945, when US Marines hoisted the American flag over Mount Suribachi, the volcano from which the Japanese had waged the battle. The battle was significant for the number of combat deaths (7000 Americans and 20,000 Japanese), for the island's strategic importance, and for the 27 Medals of Honor that were given to service members.
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President Roosevelt died of an alleged stroke on April 12, 1945. In 1970, Roosevelt's doctor Howard Bruenn was recorded claiming that Roosevelt had suffered from heart disease since 1944, and later historians have also hypothesized that Roosevelt died of a stroke induced by melanoma. After Roosevelt's death, Truman assumed office and would later oversee the first use of the atomic bomb as a weapon of war.
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On May 8th, 1945, World War II officially ended in Europe when Nazi Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel surrendered to the Soviets. On May 2nd, 1945, the Berlin officially fell to the Soviets. The Soviets invasion of Berlin cost them 304,887 casualties, which was far higher than the original allied estimate of 100,000. Aware of the advancing Allied Powers, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker just days earlier on April 30, 1945.
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Americans developed the first atomic bomb through the highly classified Manhattan Project. The first successful detonation occurred on July 16th, 1945 in the Alamogordo Bombing Range in New Mexico. Less than a month later, President Truman gave orders for the Army Air Force to nuke Japan. The Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb (code-named Little Boy) on Hiroshima on August 6th. Three days later, America dropped a second atomic bomb (code-named Fat Man) on the Japanese city Nagasaki.
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Emperor Hirohito announced that Japan would surrender to the US on August 15th, 1945. He would later sign the treaty on September 2nd, 1945 while aboard the USS Missouri. General Douglas MacArthur signed the treaty for the US. The signing of the treaty brought an end to six years of war in which 50 million people died.
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The British had ruled Israel (then called Palestine) since 1917, but relinquished control over the region in 1948 due to Jewish-Arab tensions. On May 14th, 1948, Israel officially became its own nation. This was the first fully liberated Jewish nation that had existed in 1900 years. War with neighboring Arab nations such as Egypt, Syria, and Jordan began after Britain's withdrawal, but they were ultimately defeated by the Israeli military. David Ben-Gurion became the first Israel Prime Minister.
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General Douglas MacArthur was a senior military commander during World War II and the Korean War. During the Korean War, MacArthur was the commander of the UN military forces defending South Korea. MacArthur made the mistake of criticizing the position of his commander-in-chief (President Truman). MacArthur wanted to pursue a strategy of all-out-war, but Truman elected to stop assaulting Chinese defenses, which MacArthur believed would compromise the US war aim of containment of communism.
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President Eisenhower served in office for two terms. He is known for being fiscally conservative. Eisenhower supported providing incentives for consumers to buy American-made products, reducing aid to foreign nations, increasing investment of consumers, and developing trade with other nations. Eisenhower left office on Jan 20, 1961, when President Kennedy assumed office.
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On July 7th, 1953, the Korean War armistice was signed, which temporarily ended the fighting. The war was never officially ended. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops would overtake North Korea and assimilate the region into the communist bloc. Known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea is ruled by the Kim family (first Kim Il-sung, then Kim Jong-il and currently Kim Jong-un).