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The development of the first atomic bomb is signed into an agreement between the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt
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The United States Marines landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in the first American offensive of World War II.
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The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. is dedicated on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth.
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Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of France to begin the World War II invasion of Europe that would lead to the liberation of Paris.
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American troops invade Okinawa, beginning the Battle of Okinawa, which would continue until June 21.
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President Roosevelt dies
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The unconditional surrender of Germany at Reims,
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President Harry S. Truman gives the go-ahead for the use of the atomic bomb with the bombing of Hiroshima. Three days later, the second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki.
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The Truman Doctrine is announced to the U.S. Congress. When passed it would grant $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey to battle Communist terrorism
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The Soviet Union begins its land blockade of the Allied sectors of Berlin, Germany.
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the North American Treaty Organization, is formed by the United States, Canada, and ten Western European nations.
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The Korean War begins its three-year conflict when troops of North Korea, backed with Soviet weaponry, invade South Korea. This act leads to U.S. involvement when two days later.
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The description of a double helix DNA molecule is published by British physicist Francis Crick and American scientist James D. Watson.