1945: A year that changed the world

Feb. 25, 1945: First U.S.firebombing of Tokyo.

March 26: End of fighting on Iwo Jima.

April 1: U.S. troops land on Japanese island of Okinawa.

April 6: Launch of Japanese kamikaze raids on Allied ships; 32 sunk, 368 damaged by July 30.

May 8: Victory in Europe Day, with surrender of German forces.

May 11: Australians take last Japanese base in New Guinea.

May 25: U.S. invasion plan for Japan issued.

June 22: U.S. Tenth Army completes capture of Okinawa.

June 26: United Nations charter signed.

July 16: First atomic bomb tested in New Mexico.

July 30: USS Independence sunk by Japanese after delivering atomic bomb parts.

Aug. 6: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Aug. 9: Second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

Aug. 10-15: Heavy air attacks on Tokyo.

Aug. 15 (Aug. 14 in U.S.): Victory in Japan Day: Japanese surrender.

Source: The World at Arms: The Reader’s Digest Illustrated History of World War II.