On this day

June 21, 1945

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from June 21, 1945

U.S. OKIMAWA GUNS HOLD FIRE AS AMERICANS DIG OUT FOE IN LAST THREE TINY POCKETS; FINAL RINGS SHRINK Mopping Up Is Pressed as Enemy Fights On in Coastal Traps 87,343 JAPANESE KILLED Count of Prisoners Now 2,565 --Tokyo Reports Big Allied Forces Massed to Strike Enemy Casualties Soaring Hill Position Surrounded U.S. OKINAWA GUNS SILENT IN CLEAN-UP Foe Reports New Forces Near

By Warren Moscow By Wireless To the New York Times

US artillery ceases firing, Okinawa, as Amers press mopping-up; Jap losses noted; 2,565 taken prisoner; Tokyo radio repts 2 Allied task forces prowling near Miyaka Is and 100 transports spotted anchored in Keramas; Amers attack 3 remaining Jap pockets at Ara Cape, Udo-Mabuni area and on top of Hill 81, Okinawa; map giving chronology of US campaign

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Notable Births

Robert Dewar

1945Robert Dewar, English-American computer scientist and academic (died 2015)[†]

Robert Berriedale Keith Dewar was an American computer scientist and educator. He helped to develop programming languages and compilers and was an outspoken advocate of freely licensed open-source software. He was a cofounder, CEO, and president of the AdaCore software company. He was also an enthusiastic amateur performer and musician, especially with the Village Light Opera Group in New York City.

Adam Zagajewski

1945Adam Zagajewski, Polish author and poet (died 2021)[†]

Adam Zagajewski was a Polish poet, novelist, translator, and essayist.

Historical Events

Battle of Okinawa

1945World War II: The Battle of Okinawa ends when the organized resistance of Imperial Japanese Army forces collapses in the Mabuni area on the southern tip of the main island.[†]

The Battle of Okinawa , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by the United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. The initial invasion of Okinawa on 1 April 1945 was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Kerama Islands surrounding Okinawa were preemptively captured on 26 March 1945 by the U.S. Army 77th Infantry Division. The 82-day battle on Okinawa lasted from 1 April 1945 until 22 June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Kadena Air Base on the island as a staging point for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, 340 mi (550 km) away.