April 25, 1945

1945Stu Cook, American bass player Creedence Clearwater Revival, songwriter, and producer^[†]

Stuart Alden Cook is an American retired bass guitarist, best known for being a member of the rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1945Richard C. Hoagland, American theorist and author^[†]

Richard Charles Hoagland is an American author, former science advisor for CBS News and a proponent of various conspiracy theories about NASA, lost alien civilizations on the Moon, and on Mars and other related topics. Hoagland has been documented to misappropriate others' professional achievements and has been described as a conspiracy theorist and pseudoscientist.

1945World War II: United States and Soviet reconnaissance troops meet in Torgau and Strehla along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two. This would be later known as Elbe Day.^[†]

World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

1945World War II: Liberation Day (Italy): The National Liberation Committee for Northern Italy calls for a general uprising against the German occupation and the Italian Social Republic.^[†]

Liberation Day, also known as the Anniversary of Italy's Liberation, Anniversary of the Resistance, or simply 25 April, is a national holiday in Italy that commemorates the liberation of Italy from Nazi German occupation and Fascist collaborationism, in the latter phase of World War II. That is distinct from Republic Day, which takes place on 2 June and commemorates the 1946 Italian institutional referendum.

1945United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco.^[†]

The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place towards the end of World War II, from 25 April to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, California, United States. At this convention, the delegates reviewed and rewrote the Dumbarton Oaks agreements of the previous year. The convention resulted in the creation of the United Nations Charter, which was opened for signature on 26 June, the last day of the conference. The conference was held at various locations, primarily the War Memorial Opera House, with the Charter being signed on 26 June at the Herbst Theatre in the Veterans Building, part of the Civic Center. A square adjacent to the Civic Center, called "UN Plaza", commemorates the conference.

1945World War II: The last German troops retreat from Finnish soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military actions of the Second World War end in Finland.^[†]

During World War II, the Lapland War saw fighting between Finland and Nazi Germany – effectively from September to November 1944 – in Finland's northernmost region, Lapland. Though the Finns and the Germans had been fighting together against the Soviet Union since 1941 during the Continuation War (1941–1944), peace negotiations between the Finnish government and the Allies of World War II had been conducted intermittently during 1943–1944, but no agreement had been reached. The Moscow Armistice, signed on 19 September 1944, demanded that Finland break diplomatic ties with Germany and expel or disarm any German soldiers remaining in Finland.