On this day
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speculation on outcome on eve of ballots counting; reduced Churchill majority seen; he, Attlee and Eden arrive to await returns
BERLIN, July 25--President Truman, it was learned tonight, is considering the possibility that this conference may keep him away from Washington until after Congress has recessed.
Allied carrier planes reptd to have bagged 20 warships, 84 cargo ships and 209 planes in 2-day strikes against Kure and other Inland Sea bases; US fliers raked Kure dist and Brit pilots hit Okayama-Fukuyama area and Shikoku eastern area; all damaged warships reptd caught at their anchorages
Mountbatten inclusion in Potsdam Conf seen as indication that USSR will join Allies in Pacific war
1945Helen Mirren, English actress[†]
Dame Helen Mirren is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of screen and stage, her accolades include an Academy Award, five Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, a BAFTA Film Award, three BAFTA Television Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. She is the only person to have achieved both the US and UK Triple Crowns of Acting, and has also received the BAFTA Fellowship, Honorary Golden Bear, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. Mirren was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003.
1945The Labour Party wins the United Kingdom general election of July 5 by a landslide, removing Winston Churchill from power.[†]
The Labour Party, often referred to as Labour, is a political party in the United Kingdom that sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. The party has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. It is one of the two dominant political parties in the United Kingdom; the other being the Conservative Party. Labour has been led by Keir Starmer since 2020, who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the 2024 general election. To date, there have been 12 Labour governments and seven different Labour Prime Ministers – MacDonald, Attlee, Wilson, Callaghan, Blair, Brown and Starmer.
1945World War II: The Potsdam Declaration is signed in Potsdam, Germany.[†]
The Potsdam Declaration, or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender, was a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S. Truman, United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and President of China Chiang Kai-shek issued the document, which outlined the terms of surrender for the Empire of Japan, as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference. The ultimatum stated that, if Japan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction."
1945World War II: HMS Vestal is the last British Royal Navy ship to be sunk in the war.[†]
HMS Vestal was a turbine-powered Algerine-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1943 and saw service in the Pacific War against the Empire of Japan. She was critically damaged by Japanese kamikaze aircraft in 1945 and was subsequently scuttled in waters close to Thailand.
1945World War II: The USS Indianapolis arrives at Tinian with components and enriched uranium for the Little Boy nuclear bomb.[†]
USS Indianapolis (CL/CA-35) was a Portland-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy, named for the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. Launched in 1931, she was the flagship of the commander of Scouting Force 1 for eight years, then flagship for Admiral Raymond Spruance from 1943 to 1945 while he commanded the Fifth Fleet in battles across the Central Pacific during World War II.