1945
Liberation of the camps
As Allied armies advanced across Europe in the spring of 1945, they walked into places whose names would become synonyms for horror…
Trinity test lights the New Mexico desert
At 5:29 a.m.
Hiroshima bombed
At 8:15 a.m.
Indonesia proclaims independence
Two days after Japan's surrender, Sukarno stood on a veranda in Jakarta and read a brief declaration of Indonesian independence.
V-E Day
Germany signed unconditional surrender at Reims and Berlin.
Hitler kills himself in the bunker
With Soviet tanks a few blocks from the Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun, wrote a testament blaming the Jews, and shot himself in the mouth.
Nagasaki bombed
Three days after Hiroshima, with no Japanese surrender yet in hand, a plutonium bomb destroyed the port city of Nagasaki.
Yalta Conference carves up postwar Europe
Roosevelt dies at Warm Springs
UN Charter signed in San Francisco
Battle of Okinawa
Dresden firebombed
Iwo Jima flag raising
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1945?
Saeculum lists 13 events from 1945. The most significant is Liberation of the camps: As Allied armies advanced across Europe in the spring of 1945, they walked into places whose names would become synonyms for horror.
What era was 1945 part of?
1945 falls within the Modern Era (1901-2000). World wars, cold war, and the splitting of the atom.
Which regions saw notable events in 1945?
The events from 1945 span Europe, North America, East Asia and Southeast Asia.