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The Japanese naval fleet is met with its first defeat to America in WWII at the Midway Islands in the Pacific.
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The first nuclear chain reaction is created at the University of Chicago during the Manhattan Project under the advisory of Enrico Fermi and Arthur Compton.
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The United States has its first major defeat of WWII in the European theater with the Battle for Kasserine Pass.
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Riots over racial injustice cause 40 deaths and 700 injuries in Detroit and Harlem.
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The Normandy Invasion aka D-Day began the invasion/retaking of France when 155,000 allied troops from twelve allied nations including America, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, and the United Kingdom. Soldiers stormed the beach which began the process towards the liberation of Paris.
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The G.I. Bill of Rights is signed, providing benefits to American veterans.
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A great tragedy occurs when two naval boats handling ammunition at the Port Chicago Naval Weapons Station in California explodes. The accident killed 320 people.
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30,000 U.S. Marines land in Iwo Jima. American troops invade Okinawa, beginning the Battle of Okinawa, which lasted until June 21.
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The Atomic bomb is condoned for use on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, the second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.
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The Philippines is released from dominance by the US after more than 425 years.
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The Truman Doctrine is implemented by President H. Truman to provide financial aid to Greece and Turkey in their battle against Communism.
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George C. Marshall proposes the Marshall Plan as a way of providing extended aid to European war recovery.
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The Soviet Union begins a land blockade of the Allied sectors in Berlin.
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Segregation ends in the US military, signed into effect by President Harry S. Truman.
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NATO, the North American Treaty Organization, is formed by the United States, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The treaty stated that an attack against one nation would be considered an attack against them all.
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The US withdraws its troops from Korea.
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The 1950 census counts a population in the US over 150 million people.
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The Korean War begins a three-year conflict when troops of North Korea, armed with Soviet weaponry, invade South Korea.
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The United States, Australia, and New Zealand the ANZUS Treaty, a mutual security pact.
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In the Pacific Ocean, at Eniwetok Atoll, Mike the first hydrogen bomb is exploded.
