What Happened in 1945

Coretta Scott Enrolls At Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio

Wanting a better life for their children, the Scotts sent all three to college. Coretta, who graduated at the top of her high school class in 1945,... Read more

Louis Armstrong forms six piece group called the All Stars

Following a highly successful small-group jazz concert at New York Town Hall on May 17, 1947, featuring Armstrong with trombonist/singer Jack... Read more

Operation Dracula

During World War II, Operation Dracula was the name given to an airborne and amphibious attack on Rangoon by British and Indian forces, part of the... Read more

Fidel Castro studies law at Havana University

In late 1945, Castro entered law school at the University of Havana. He became immediately embroiled in the political culture at the University,... Read more

The Architects' Collaborative (TAC) Formed

The Architects' Collaborative (TAC) was an American architectural firm formed by Walter Gropius and seven younger architects in 1945 in Cambridge,... Read more

Jackie Robinson plays for Kansas City Monarchs in Negro Leagues

In early 1945, while still at Sam Huston College, Robinson received an offer to play for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues. Robinson's... Read more

Frank Sinatra co-stars with Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh

When Sinatra returned to the Paramount in October 1944, 35,000 fans caused a near riot outside the venue because they were not allowed in. In... Read more

Unternehmen Bodenplatte

Unternehmen Bodenplatte (English: Operation Baseplate or Operation Ground Plate), launched on January 1, 1945, was an attempt by the Luftwaffe to... Read more

Operation Nordwind

Operation North Wind (Unternehmen Nordwind) was the last major German offensive of the Second World War on the Western Front. It began on 1 January... Read more

George Herbert Walker Bush Marries Barbara Pierce

On January 6, 1945, George Herbert Walker Bush, on leave from active duty in World War II, married former Smith College student Barbara Pierce. The... Read more

Hitler Agrees to Withdraw Forces from the Ardennes

While the German offensive had ground to a halt, they still controlled a dangerous salient in the Allied line. Patton’s Third Army in the south,... Read more

Sixth US Army Arrives at Lingayen Gulf

On 15 December 1944, landings against minimal resistance were made on the southern beaches of the island of Mindoro, a key location in the planned... Read more

Vistula–Oder Offensive

The Vistula-Oder Offensive was a successful Red Army operation on the Eastern Front in the European Theatre of World War II; it took place between... Read more

East Prussian Offensive

The East Prussian Offensive was a strategic offensive by the Red Army against the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front (World War II). It lasted... Read more

Operation Blackcock Begins

Operation Blackcock was the code name for the clearing of the Roer Triangle formed by the towns of Roermond, Sittard and Heinsberg. It was... Read more

Chełmno Extermination Camp is Abandoned by SS with the Approach of the Red Army

Beginning in September 1944, a group of Jewish prisoners, presumably brought from outside the Wartheland District, was forced to exhume and cremate... Read more

Bombing Raids on Montfort

Between Friday evening January 19 and Tuesday 23 January the Dutch village of Montfort was shelled or bombed on seven occasions, and was hit by... Read more

Franklin Roosevelt's fourth inauguration

The fourth inauguration was conducted without fanfare. Because of the expense and impropriety of festivity during the height of war, the oath of... Read more

Operation Matador (1945)

Operation Matador was an amphibious thrust, during the Burma Campaign in January 1945, to capture the strategic port of Kyaukpyu, located at the... Read more

Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp Liberated by the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red Army

The last selection took place on October 30, 1944. The next month, Heinrich Himmler ordered the crematoria destroyed before the Red Army reached... Read more

Eighth United States Army Lands at Nasugbu

On 31 Jan, MacArthur visited the US 1st Cavalry Division and gave Major General Mudge an order: "Go to Manila. Go around the Nips, bounce off the... Read more

Agatha Christie publishes Sparkling Cyanide

One year ago on November 2, seven people sat down to dinner at the Luxembourg. One of them, Rosemary Barton, never got up. She was thought to have... Read more

American Forces Arrive in Manila

By February 3, the American forces had begun to converge on Manila from different directions. With help of intelligence supplied by Filipino... Read more

Yalta Conference

The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, was the wartime meeting from 4 February 1945 to... Read more

37th Infantry Division Moves into Manila

The primarily US forces involved were represented by the 37th Infantry Division and the 1st Cavarly Division, smaller airborne units, forces... Read more