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The Allies soundly defeat the Japanese at the Battle of the Coral Sea. It is the first naval battle in which the aircraft carriers neither sight each other nor directly attack each other. -
The United States Navy severely damages the Japanese Navy in the Battle of Midway, marking a turning point in the Pacific Theater of the war. -
The Manhattan Project, which will later be responsible for developing the atomic bombs that will bring the War in the Pacific to an end, is founded. -
Operation Overlord, or "D-Day", begins with Allied forces landing at Normandy to invade Germany. -
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act, or G.I. Bill of Rights, which provides benefits for war veterans, is passed. -
Representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and the Soviet Union meet to discuss the formation of the United Nations at the Dumbarton Oaks mansion in Washington, D.C. -
The Battle of the Bulge, a German offensive in the forests of the Ardennes region which will try Allied soldiers but eventually determine Germany's fate, begins. -
President Franklin D. Roosevelt suddenly passes away at the age of 63 from a cerebral hemorrhage. He is on his fourth term as President of the United States. -
Harry S. Truman is inaugurated as the thirty-third President of the United States on the same day that former President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies. -
Germany surrenders unconditionally on what is to become known as Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day. -
An American nuclear weapon is dropped over the city of Hiroshima in an attempt to cause Japan to surrender. Despite the resulting devastation, Japan refuses surrender. -
An American nuclear weapon is dropped over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. This time, Japan is more responsive to the idea of surrender. -
The Japanese formally surrender to the Allies on the battleship USS Missouri on what is to become known as Victory in Japan Day, or V-J Day. -
The charter for the United Nations is drawn at San Francisco. Many nations sign. -
The Soviet Union cuts off West Berlin from Soviet-dominated East Berlin and the rest of East Germany, which surrounds it. The United States begins the Berlin Airlift to bring supplies to West Berlin. -
The Korean War, in which Americans assist the capitalist South Koreans in fending off the communist North Koreans who wish to unify Korea, begins. -
President Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur from command of American troops in Korea after MacArthur insists on intensifying attacks on North Korea. -
The Korean War ends in an armistice, leaving the nation of Korea divided into a communist north and a capitalist south at the 38th Parallel.