On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
Portrait 1080 à 1920 PNG · created on your device
Molotoff on basic unanimity of conferees; stresses 5 points in proposed Charter; Charter powers over treaties discussed; Vandenberg supports Molotoff views on treaties revision
New York City's millions reacted in two sharply contrasting ways yesterday to the news of the unconditional surrender of the German armies. A large and noisy minority greeted it with the turbulent enthusiasm of New Year's Eve and Election Night rolled into one.
Czech-controlled Prague radio repts Gers in Prague and throughout Bohemia have accepted unconditional surrender; negotiations reptd under way with Czech Natl Council
with wife, children and staff, liberated by US troops near Salzburg
marines reach Dakeshi village, 1 mi from Naha; Jap losses noted; army units win ridge on approaches to Shuri; mop up Japanese penetrating US lines in eastern sector; retake Yonabaru and enter Kubishi; map
1945Keith Jarrett, American pianist and composer[â ]
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a group leader and solo performer in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music. His improvisations draw from the traditions of jazz and other genres, including Western classical music, gospel, blues, and ethnic folk music.
1945Frank Bourne, British soldier, last survivor of the Battle of Rorke's Drift (born 1854)[â ]
Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Edward Bourne OBE DCM was a decorated British soldier who participated in the defence of Rorke's Drift during the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War.
1945Julius Hirsch, German footballer (born 1892)[â ]
Julius Hirsch was a Jewish German Olympian international footballer who was executed at Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust. He helped the Karlsruher FV win the 1910 German football championship, and also played for the Germany national team, including at the 1912 Summer Olympics. He then joined SpVgg FĂŒrth, with whom he won the 1914 German football championship.
1945Wilhelm Rediess, German SS officer (born 1900)[â ]
Friedrich Wilhelm Rediess was a German Nazi official who served as the SS and police leader during the German occupation of Norway in the Second World War. He was also the commander of all SS troops stationed in occupied Norway and assumed command from 22 June 1940 until his death by suicide in 1945.
1945Bernhard Rust, German lieutenant and politician (born 1883)[â ]
Bernhard Rust was Minister of Science, Education and National Culture (Reichserziehungsminister) in Nazi Germany. A combination of school administrator and zealous Nazi, he issued decrees, often bizarre, at every level of the German educational system to immerse German youth in Nazi ideology. He also served as the party Gauleiter in Hanover and Brunswick from 1925 to 1940.
1945Josef Terboven, German lieutenant and politician (born 1898)[â ]
Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven was a German Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving Gauleiter of Gau Essen and the Reichskommissar for Norway during the German occupation.
1945World War II: The German Instrument of Surrender signed at Berlin-Karlshorst comes into effect.[â ]
The German Instrument of Surrender was a legal document effecting the unconditional surrender of the remaining German armed forces to the Allies, ending World War II in Europe. It was signed at 22:43 CET on 8 May 1945 and took effect at 23:01 CET on the same day.
1945End of the Prague uprising, celebrated now as a national holiday in the Czech Republic.[â ]
The Prague uprising was a partially successful attempt by the Czech resistance movement to liberate the city of Prague from German occupation in May 1945, during the end of World War II. The preceding six years of occupation had fuelled anti-German sentiment and the rapid advance of Allied forces from the Red Army and the United States Army offered the resistance a chance of success.
1945Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the SĂ©tif massacre.[â ]
The SĂ©tif and Guelma massacre was a series of massacres by French colonial authorities and pied-noir European settler militias on Algerian civilians in May and June 1945 around the towns of SĂ©tif and Guelma in French Algeria.
1945The Halifax riot starts when thousands of civilians and servicemen rampage through Halifax, Nova Scotia.[â ]
The Halifax VE-Day riots, 7â8 May 1945, in Halifax and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, began as a celebration of the World War II victory in Europe. This rapidly evolved into a rampage by several thousand servicemen, merchant seamen, and civilians, who looted the City of Halifax. Although a subsequent Royal Commission chaired by Justice Roy Kellock blamed lax naval authority and specifically Rear-Admiral Leonard W. Murray, it is generally accepted that the underlying causes were a combination of bureaucratic confusion, insufficient policing, and antipathy between the military and civilians, fueled by the presence of 25,000 servicemen who had strained Halifax wartime resources to the limit.