August 1945

• Pierre Laval was brought to Paris to face trial. • Britain's new parliament with a Labour majority assembled for the first time to elect a new Speaker of the House of Commons. As Winston Churchill entered the House for the first time as an ex-prime minister, he was greeted by cheers and singing of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow", to which members of the Labour Party responded by singing "The Red Flag". When Douglas Clifton Brown was re-elected Speaker he said he was not quite sure whether he was becoming chairman of the House of Commons or director of a musical show. • Mel Ott of the New York Giants became the third member of the 500 home run club with a shot off Johnny Hutchings of the Boston Braves. • Born: Douglas Osheroff, physicist and Nobel laureate, in Aberdeen, Washington ==August 2, 1945 (Thursday)==

• In the heaviest raid of the war, 800 B-29s dropped more than 6,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Japanese cities and killed 80,000 people. • Paul Tibbets, pilot of the lead plane in the planned atomic bomb run, reported to General Curtis LeMay's Air Force headquarters on Guam and was briefed on the Hiroshima mission. • The Potsdam Conference concluded. • Born: Joanna Cassidy, actress, in Haddonfield, New Jersey • Died: Pietro Mascagni, 81, Italian composer ==August 3, 1945 (Friday)==

• The American government announced that every Japanese and Korean harbor of consequence had been mined, leaving Japan totally blockaded. • All Germans and Hungarians in Czechoslovakia were deprived of citizenship. ==August 4, 1945 (Saturday)==

• The Soviets gifted a plaque to the U.S. Ambassador to Moscow that was secretly bugged with The Thing, one of the earliest covert listening devices ever invented. It would hang in the Spaso House for seven years until its secret was discovered. • Paul Tibbets briefed his crewmates on the bombing mission to Hiroshima, saying the bombs would be immensely powerful and "something new in the history of warfare", but giving no specifics. • Born: Paul McCarthy, performance artist and sculptor, in Salt Lake City, Utah; Alan Mulally, CEO of the Ford Motor Company from 2006 to 2014, in Oakland, California ==August 5, 1945 (Sunday)==

• The U.S. Twentieth Air Force flew over twelve Japanese cities and dropped 720,000 pamphlets warning their populations to surrender or face devastation. • Paul Tibbets formally named the lead plane in the Hiroshima bombing mission the Enola Gay, after his mother. The B-29 that would take photos on the mission would be named Necessary Evil. • Born: Loni Anderson, actress, in Saint Paul, Minnesota (d.2025). ==August 6, 1945 (Monday)==

• Atomic bombing of Hiroshima: United States B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped a uranium-235 atomic bomb codenamed "Little Boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. local time, resulting in between 90,000 and 146,000 deaths in the short term. • In a routine release to the White House press corps of a little over 1,000 words in length, a statement from U.S. President Harry S. Truman informed the media that an atomic bomb with "more power than 20,000 tons of TNT" had been dropped on Hiroshima. The statement made no mention of radiation effects and the notion of an atomic bomb simply being a bigger version of a regular bomb persisted in the press for days afterward. • Died: Richard Bong, 24, United States Army major and highest-scoring air ace of WWII (killed in the crash of a test flight of an experimental aircraft); Hiram Johnson, 78, U.S. Senator from California ==August 7, 1945 (Tuesday)==

• Radio Tokyo reported unspecifically about an attack on Hiroshima. The Americans were unable to immediately assess the results for themselves because of impenetrable cloud over the detonation site. Late in the day, Imperial Japanese headquarters referred to a "new type of bomb" used on Hiroshima, admitting that "only a small number of the new bombs were released, yet they did substantial damage." • The Nakajima Kikka made its first flight • Born: Alan Page, jurist and Hall of Fame football player, in Canton, Ohio • Died: Jacques Vaillant de Guélis, 38, British/French Special Operations Executive agent, in England from injuries received in automobile accident in Germany ==August 8, 1945 (Wednesday)==

• Radio Tokyo gave its first full report on the Hiroshima bombing, concluding with the claim that the Americans had used methods which "have surpassed in hideous cruelty those of Genghis Khan." • The biographical war film Pride of the Marines starring John Garfield as U.S. Marine Al Schmid had a special world premiere in Schmid's home city of Philadelphia as part of "Al Schmid Day". More than 1,500 veterans of the Guadalcanal Campaign attended. • Died: Joseph Pujol, Le Pétomane, 88, French flatulist ==August 9, 1945 (Thursday)==

speech regarding the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, Japan. • Atomic bombing of Nagasaki: United States B-29 bomber Bockscar dropped a plutonium-239 atomic bomb codenamed "Fat Man" on the Japanese city of Nagasaki at 11:02 a.m. local time, resulting in between 39,000 and 80,000 deaths in the short term. • The Soviet–Japanese War began with the invasion of Manchukuo. • Mongolia declared war on Japan. • The Michigan train wreck killed 34 people at Michigan City, North Dakota. • Born: Tom O'Carroll, paedophilia advocate, in Warwickshire, England; Posy Simmonds, newspaper cartoonist and children's illustrator, in Berkshire, England • Died: Harry Hillman, 63, American athlete and winner of three gold medals at the 1904 Summer Olympics; Jun Tosaka, 44, Japanese philosopher, in Nagano prison ==August 10, 1945 (Friday)==

• The Japanese government announced that a message had been sent to the Allies accepting the terms of the Potsdam Declaration provided that it "does not comprise any demand that prejudices the prerogatives of the Emperor as sovereign ruler." • The Chinese Civil War resumed with the beginning of the Opening Campaign. • Died: Robert H. Goddard, 62, American engineer, physicist and inventor of the world's first liquid-fueled rocket ==August 11, 1945 (Saturday)==

• The Soviet Invasion of South Sakhalin began when Soviet forces invaded the Japanese territorial portion of the island of Sakhalin. • U.S. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes replied to Japan's offer with a refusal to compromise on the demand that the surrender be unconditional. • The violent events referred to as the Kraków pogrom occurred in the Soviet-occupied city of Kraków, Poland. • "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" by Johnny Mercer hit #1 on the Billboard singles charts. • Died: Róża Berger, 56, only victim of the Kraków pogrom (shot by security forces) ==August 12, 1945 (Sunday)==

• Soviet forces advanced onto the Korean Peninsula. • Died: Karl Leisner, 30, German Roman Catholic priest, in a sanatorium at Planegg (Munich), of tuberculosis exacerbated by imprisonment in Dachau concentration camp ==August 13, 1945 (Monday)==

• The Southern Jiangsu Campaign began as part of the Chinese Civil War. • The World Zionist Congress demanded that 1 million Jews be admitted to Palestine. ==August 14, 1945 (Tuesday)==

• Emperor Hirohito accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and recorded a radio message to the Japanese people saying that the war should end and that they must "bear the unbearable." The recording was smuggled out of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. That night the Kyūjō incident occurred, an effort by a group of officers to steal the recording and stop the move to surrender. The attempt would fail and the conspirators would commit suicide. At 19:00 hrs in Washington, D.C. (23:00 GMT), U.S. President Harry S. Truman announced the Japanese surrender. • The August Revolution began when the Viet Minh launched an uprising against French colonial rule in Vietnam. • Alfred Eisenstaedt took the V-J Day in Times Square photograph of an American sailor kissing a woman in a white dress during V-J Day celebrations in New York City. • Born: Steve Martin, comedian, actor, writer, producer and musician, in Waco, Texas; Wim Wenders, filmmaker, playwright, author and photographer, in Düsseldorf, Germany ==August 15, 1945 (Wednesday)==

• Hirohito surrender broadcast (Gyokuon-hōsō): Emperor Hirohito's announcement of the unconditional surrender of Japan was broadcast on the radio a little after noon (12:00 Japan Standard Time is 03:00 GMT). This was probably the first time an Emperor of Japan had been heard by the common people. Delivered in formal classical Japanese, without directly referring to surrender and following official censorship of the country's weak position, the recorded speech was not immediately easily understood by ordinary people. The Allies called this day Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day). This ended the period of Japanese expansionism, and began the period of the Occupation of Japan and set the stage for Korean independence. • Bombing of Kumagaya, Japan, by the United States using conventional bombs, beginning at 00:23. • The Philippines Campaign ended in decisive Allied victory. • The Battle of Baoying began in central Jiangsu, China as part of the Chinese Civil War. • The British government revealed details of one of the biggest secrets of the war, radar. • 89-year old Philippe Pétain was sentenced to death in Paris court for treason, but Charles de Gaulle gave him a reprieve on account of his age. • Died: Korechika Anami, 58, Japanese general and War Minister (seppuku); Matome Ugaki, 55, Japanese admiral (killed attempting a final kamikaze mission) ==August 16, 1945 (Thursday)==

• Emperor Hirohito issued a decree at 4:00 p.m. local time ordering all Japanese forces to cease fire. The Japanese cabinet resigned. • Winston Churchill made a speech in the House of Commons referring to an "iron curtain" descending across Europe. • The Battle of Yongjiazhen began as part of the Chinese Civil War. • Died: Takijirō Ōnishi, 54, Japanese admiral (seppuku) ==August 17, 1945 (Friday)==

• Indonesia declared its independence. The Indonesian National Revolution began afterwards. • Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni became Prime Minister of Japan. He ordered the Imperial Army to obey the Emperor's call to lay down their arms. • The Battle of Tianmen was fought as part of the Chinese Civil War, resulting in communist victory. • George Orwell's allegorical and dystopian novella Animal Farm was published in England. ==August 18, 1945 (Saturday)==

• Sukarno became 1st President of Indonesia. • The Soviet Invasion of the Kuril Islands began, opening with the Battle of Shumshu. • U.S. Army photographer Anthony J. Marchione became the last American to die in WWII when the B-32 he was flying in over Tokyo was damaged by enemy fire. • Died: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, 48, Indian nationalist, in what is generally believed to be a plane crash in Formosa, although alternative theories persist. ==August 19, 1945 (Sunday)==

• The Soviet assault on Maoka began. • The Battle of Yongjiazhen ended in communist victory. • Born: Ian Gillan, rock singer and songwriter (Deep Purple), in Chiswick, London, England • Died: Tomás Burgos, 69, Chilean philanthropist ==August 20, 1945 (Monday)==

• Vidkun Quisling went on trial in Oslo. • British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin condemned Soviet policy in Eastern Europe as "one kind of totalitarianism replaced by another." ==August 21, 1945 (Tuesday)==