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The battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa during the first half of were marked by spectacular carnage, and Americans were chastened by the knowledge that Japan had never surrendered to a foreign power and that no Japanese military unit had surrendered during World War II.

After Okinawa fell to US forces on June 22, , an invasion of the Japanese home islands was set to begin. But before the invasion was to take place, the most destructive war in history came to a shattering and rapid end.

On August 6, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, ultimately killing as many as , people. Two days later, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. Then, on August 9, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb over Nagasaki, ultimately killing approximately 70, Finally recognizing that victory was impossible, the Japanese government accepted Allied surrender terms without qualifications on August 14, That same day, President Harry S.

Truman announced from the White House that the Japanese acceptance met the terms laid down at the Potsdam Conference for unconditional surrender. In thousands of small towns like North Platte, Nebraska, similar scenes included fireworks, confetti, and impromptu parades down Main Street. Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan in early Located miles off the coast of Japan, the island of Iwo Jima had three airfields that could serve as a staging facility for a potential invasion of Getting the perfect shot in wartime is not only about weapons.

With over 30 countries involved in World War II and the loss of over 50 million lives, war photography captured the destruction and victories of the deadliest war in history. Lead by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, over one Here are major events from history that have inflicted a devastating toll on Victory had been declared over Japan and, as far as thousands of U.

The problem was, it had taken four years to get the estimated 7. It took 20 hours to complete the surrender documents Following the suicide of Adolf Hitler on April 30 and the collapse of the Nazi Party, the end of the war in Europe was clearly in sight. One of the most renowned kings in English history, Henry V led two successful invasions of France, cheering his outnumbered troops to victory at the Battle of Agincourt and eventually securing full control of the French throne.

His portrayal in three of Live TV. The war is over. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Grant hoped to control the strategic On May 8, , south of present-day Memphis, Tennessee, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, one of the first European explorers to ever do so.

After building flatboats, de Soto and his ragged troops crossed the great river under the cover of AIM was founded in by On May 8, , Edward George Honey, a journalist from Melbourne, Australia, living in London at the time, writes a letter to the London Evening News proposing that the first anniversary of the armistice ending World War I—concluded on November 11, —be commemorated by President Nixon, at a news conference, defends the U.

Nixon reaffirmed his promise to withdraw , Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. On May 8, , Harry S. Truman is born in Lamar, Missouri. The son of a farmer, Truman could not afford to go to college.

He joined the army at the relatively advanced age of 33 in to fight in World War I. After the war, he opened a haberdashery in Kansas City.