-
On December 2nd, 1942 under the bleachers of the University of Chicago stadium, physicist Enrico Fermi created the first nuclear chain reaction as a part of a top-secret nuclear bomb development project known as the Manhattan Project. This was the first step of US development of the atomic bomb
-
On June 6th, 1944 allied forces under US General Dwight. D. Eisenhower and British General Bernard Montgomery landed on the beaches of Normandy, France in what was the largest amphibious landing in the history of the world. This began the beginning of the end of the war in Europe.
-
The Nazi concentration camp of Majdanek was liberated. This was the first concentration camp to be liberated by Allied forces.
-
On May 8th, 1945, German troops across Europe finally surrendered to the allies. This day marked the end of the war in Europe.
-
On August 6th, 1945 the Enola Gay, piloted by General Paul Tibbets Jr, dropped the first-ever nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Hundreds of thousands of people would die as a result of this and the world would be forever changed by the destruction this weapon produced.
-
The second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. This bomb, nicknamed Fat Man, was larger and more destructive than Little Boy and ultimately led to the surrender of Japan.
-
On September 2nd, 1945 Japanese Emperor Hirohito signed the surrender of Japan onboard the USS Missouri, This officially ended the US involvement in WWII -
The countries of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States all signed a peace treaty called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
-
The Korean War was the war between North and South Korea. It began when communist North Korea invaded non-communist South Korea and US troops joined with South Korea to fight against communism. The war lasted for 3 years, but no treaty was ever actually signed and the peninsula is still divided.
-
On February 22nd, 1951, the 22nd Amendment was ratified by Congress and then put into effect. This amendment placed a two-term limit on the presidential office. This was created after FDR served a total of four terms during WW2
