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President Franklin D. Roosevelt suddenly suffers a cerebral hemorrhage and dies, leaving his vice president, Harry Truman, to assume the presidency. Truman has only been vice president for 82 days, and has had little communication with Roosevelt about the administration's policies. After taking his oath of office, Truman tells reporters, "Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now."
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approximately 1 million German soldiers lay down their arms as the terms of the German unconditional surrender, signed at Caserta on April 29, come into effect. Many Germans surrender to Japanese soldiers—Japanese Americans.
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In a speech made at Harvard University, Secretary of State George Marshall proposes the Marshall Plan, a $13 billion foreign aid package designed to help Europe recover from the devastation of World War II.
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American scientists successfully test the first atomic bomb in New Mexico.
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The United States, dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, during the final stage of World War II. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.
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Vietnamese nationalist Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam's independence from France. Ho's Vietnamese Declaration of Independence quotes the American Declaration of 1776 to assert that "All men are created equal"
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As World War II ended, Iran’s problems intensified. While the last American troops left the country on January 1, 1946, and Britain announced that it would meet a March 1 deadline, Moscow refused to withdraw its forces.
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Concerned about the possibility of a Communist victory in the upcoming Italian elections, the US government undertakes a campaign to get Italian-Americans to write letters urging their relatives in Italy to vote against the Communists.
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After the United States, Britain, and France introduce the Deutsche Mark to serve as a single currency for their three zones of occupation in western Germany, the Soviets impose the Berlin blockade, cutting off rail and road access to the capital city, which is located in the middle of the Soviet zone of eastern Germany.
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For the second time in four years, China shells the islands of Quemoy and Matsu in the Taiwan Strait, seeking to intimidate the nearby Republic of China (a.k.a. Taiwan), which owns the islands. The United States once again provides support for Taiwan's defense.
