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The United States Marines land on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in the first American offensive of World War II.
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The development of the first atomic bomb is signed into an agreement between the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt
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The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. is dedicated on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
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The Tehran Conference is held for three days, concluding in an agreement between U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Josef Stalin about a planned June 1944 invasion of Europe with the code name Operation Overlord
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Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of France to begin the World War II invasion of Europe that would lead to the liberation of Paris. Operation Overlord gained footing quickly, pushing through the Atlantic Wall in the largest amphibious military operation in history.
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Two ships loading ammunition at Port Chicago Naval Weapons Station in California explode. The accident killed three hundred and twenty people.
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American troops invade Okinawa, beginning the Battle of Okinawa, which would continue until June 21
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President Roosevelt dies suddenly; Vice President Harry S. Truman assumes the presidency and role as commander in chief of World War II.
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The unconditional surrender of Germany at Reims, France concludes the military engagements of World War II in Europe.
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The island nation of the Philippines is given its independence by the United States.
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President Harry S. Truman gives the go-ahead for the use of the atomic bomb with the bombing of Hiroshima. Three days later, the second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. On August 15, Emperor Hirohito of Japan surrenders.
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The Truman Doctrine is announced to the U.S. Congress. When passed it would grant $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey to battle Communist terrorism
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Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposes aid extension to European nations for war recovery which would lead to Congressional approval of $12 billion over the following four years.
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The Soviet Union begins its land blockade of the Allied sectors of Berlin, Germany.
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the North American Treaty Organization, is formed by the United States, Canada, and ten Western European nations. The treaty stated that any attack against one nation would be considered an attack against them all.
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The Korean War begins its three-year conflict when troops of North Korea, backed with Soviet weaponry, invade South Korea. This act leads to U.S. involvement when two days later, the United States Air Force and Navy are ordered by President Truman to the peninsula.
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The inauguration of trans-continental television occurs with the broadcast of President Truman's speech at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco.
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At Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the first hydrogen bomb, named Mike, is exploded.
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The description of a double helix DNA molecule is published by British physicist Francis Crick and American scientist James D. Watson. They, along with New Zealand born scientist Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery in 1962.
