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1945
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April 12
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Harry S. Truman becomes president upon the death of President Franklin
D. Roosevelt
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May 7
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V-E (Victory in Europe) Day: German armed forces surrender to Allies
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June 26
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Truman signs the United Nations Charter in a ceremony at San Francisco
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July 16
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The Manhattan Project scientists secretly detonate the first atomic bomb
at Trinity Site in New Mexico
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Aug. 6
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An American B-29 drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan; Truman
announces the existence of the A-bomb and demands Japanese surrender
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Aug. 8
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An American B-29 drops the second atomic bomb, this time on Nagasaki
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Aug. 14
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Emperor Hirohito announces Japan’s surrender; the following day, Truman
declares V-J (Victory over Japan) Day, ending World War II
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Aug. 18
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Truman authorizes full production of consumer goods and full autonomy
for unions
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1946
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Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam begins a guerrilla
war against France |
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The Philippines becomes an independent nation |
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March 5
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In a Fulton, Missouri, speech, Winston Churchill warns of an “iron curtain”
descending over Eastern Europe
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Aug. 1
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Truman signs the McMahon Act, establishing the civilian Atomic Energy
Commission to supervise the U.S. atomic arsenal
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1947
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Hollywood studios implement a blacklist naming
the Hollywood Ten – movie industry figures who refused to testify
before Congress on their alleged Communist affiliations |
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Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers becomes
the first black player in major league baseball |
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India and Pakistan gain independence from
Britain |
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March 12
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Truman proposes the Truman Doctrine – economic and military aid to countries
facing possible Communist takeover
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June 5
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Secretary of State George C. Marshall announces the Marshall Plan at
Harvard University commencement
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July 26
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Truman signs the National Security Act, placing the armed forces under
the administration of a single secretary of defense, establishing the
U.S. Air Force as a separate branch of the services, and creating the
Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council
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1948
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Communists seize control in Czechoslovakia |
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The National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP) ends its support for "separate but
equal” public accommodations, shifting to favor integration instead |
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May 14
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Truman extends U.S. diplomatic recognition to the new state of Israel
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July 25
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The Berlin Airlift begins to deliver supplies to West Berlin despite
a Soviet blockade
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July 26
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Truman issues an executive order ending racial segregation in the U.S.
armed forces
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Nov. 2
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President Truman wins a stunning upset in the presidential election over
Thomas Dewey
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Dec. 10
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After intense lobbying by U.S. delegate Eleanor Roosevelt, the UN General
Assembly approves the Universal Declaration on Human Rights
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1949
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Apartheid begins in South Africa |
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Jan. 20
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Truman is inaugurated for his first full term as president
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April 1
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Delegates from the United States and Western Europe sign the treaty forming
NATO
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May 12
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The Soviet government declares the end of the Berlin blockade
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May 23
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The United States and its allies preside over the formation of the Federal
Republic of Germany (West Germany)
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Aug. 5
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The United States halts aid to the Nationalist regime in China as Chiang
Kai-Shek’s forces evacuate to Taiwan; on October 1, Mao Tse-tung declares
the creation of the People’s Republic of China
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1950
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Jan. 31
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Truman authorizes development of the hydrogen bomb in response to Soviet
acquisition of atomic weapons
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Feb. 9
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Opening an infamous four-year witch hunt, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy
charges in a West Virginia speech that he has a list of 205 known Communists
in the State Department
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Feb. 14
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The U.S.S.R. and China sign a military alliance directed against the
United States and Japan
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June 27
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After the UN Security Council authorizes an action to repel the North
Korean invasion of South Korea, Truman orders U.S. air and naval forces
into the fighting; ground troops are deployed on June 30
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July 20
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The Senate Foreign Relations Committee concludes hearings on McCarthy’s
charges of Communist infiltration of the State Department, finding no
evidence to support the allegations
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1951
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The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is
published |
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UNIVAC, the first electronic digital computer
for commercial use, is introduced |
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Feb. 26
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The Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution takes effect, limiting
a president to a maximum tenure of two terms
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May 3
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U.S. military rule of Japan ends
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July 10
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Representatives of the UN, South Korea, and North Korea begin truce talks
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Sept. 4
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The first nationwide TV broadcast covers President Truman’s speech to
the Japanese peace treaty conference in San Francisco
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1952
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The Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, is published |
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Fulgencio Batista becomes dictator of Cuba
via military coup |
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July 16
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Truman signs legislation extending the GI Bill of Rights to veterans
of the Korean War
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Nov. 1
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The United States announces a successful test of the first hydrogen bomb
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