Begum Khaleda Zia is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second female prime minister in the Muslim world after Benazir Bhutto. She is the widow of former president of Bangladesh and army commander, Ziaur Rahman. She has been the chairperson and leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) since 1984, which was founded by her husband, Zia, in 1978.

Notable Deaths

1945Korechika Anami, Japanese general and politician, 54th Japanese Minister of the Army (born 1887)^[†]

Korechika Anami was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II who was War Minister during the surrender of Japan.

1945Fred Hockley, English lieutenant and pilot (born 1923)^[†]

Sub-Lieutenant Frederick (Fred) Hockley RNVR (1923–1945) was an English Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm fighter pilot who was shot down over Japan while taking part in the last combat mission flown by British aircraft in the Second World War.

Historical Events

1945Emperor Hirohito broadcasts his declaration of surrender following the effective surrender of Japan in World War II; Korea gains independence from the Empire of Japan.^[†]

Hirohito , posthumously honored as Emperor Shōwa , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. He remains the longest-reigning emperor in Japanese history and one of the longest-reigning monarchs in the world. As emperor during the Shōwa era, Hirohito presided over Japan's rise in militarism, its imperial expansion in Asia, the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Second World War, as well as the nation's postwar economic miracle.

Headlines from August 15, 1945

Third Fleet Fells 5 Planes Since End

SECRETS OF RADAR GIVEN TO WORLD; Its Role in War and Uses for Peacetime Revealed in Washington and London SECRETS OF RADAR GIVEN TO WORLD How Radar Works Developed Abroad, Too Patent Struggle Coming Radar's Feats in War Nemesis of Submarine Role in the Pacific

Terms Will Reduce Japan To Kingdom Perry Visited; JAPAN'S AREA CUT TO OLD KINGDOM'S Big Cut in Population U.S. to Control Japan

ALL CITY 'LETS GO'; Hundreds of Thousands Roar Joy After Victory Flash Is Received TIMES SQ. IS JAMMED Police Estimate Crowd in Area at 2,000,000-- Din Overwhelming ALL CITY 'LETS GO' IN ROAR OF VICTORY Flags Everywhere in Evidence Crowds in Square All Day Many False Alarms Sounded

Two-Day Holiday Is Proclaimed; Stores, Banks Close Here Today; WAR WORKERS GET TWO PAID DAYS OFF Orders of the President Gratitude of Government State and City "Victory Days"

Notable Births

Notable Deaths

Historical Events