During the year 1944-1945, World War II was still happening (the War would end in 1945). In the US, FDR and Vice President Wallace are re-elected.

 

On June 6th, the Allies storm the beach at Normandy (D-Day). The Battle of the Bulge occurred when fighting broke out on the Allied front in Belgium.

 

The GI Bill of Rights is passed in the US.

 

Anne Frank and her family are sent to concentrations camps in 1944. Anne will die in 1945.

 

Other important events that occurred in 1944 are the creation of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the proposal by the US, USSR and Britain to create the United Nations at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference.

 

The Academy Award for Best Picture in 1944 went to Casablanca and the Nobel Peace Prize went to the International Red Cross.

 

In 1945, the Yalta Conference, made up of FDR, Winston Churchill and Stalin, plan the final defeat of Germany. This occurs in February.

 

On April 30th, 1945, Adolf Hitler commits suicide and on May 7th, Germany surrenders. May 8th becomes V-E Day, or Victory in Europe.

 

However, on April 12, FDR dies and his new Vice President, Harry S Truman, becomes President.

 

The Manhattan Project tested their first atomic bomb on July 16; the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th, respectively. Japan surrendered on September 2nd, or V - J Day.

 

The United Nations was also established this year. Also in 1945, the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator), the first all-electronic computer, was finished, microwave was invented, and the slinky was marketed as a toy.

 

(Sources can be found on the "Additional Information" page.