Japan’s ceasefire, Allied landings, POW rescues, and the formal surrender aboard USS Missouri on September 2, 1945, marked the end of World War II. 

By August 1945, the Japanese Empire was on the verge of defeat but still refused to surrender. However, a new weapon, unlike any other, would soon help lead to the end of World War II and have ripple effects for decades to come.

The Axis powers are finally defeated in 1945—Nazi Germany in May and Imperial Japan in August. 

 The "Manhattan Project," the largest, most secretive wartime project in history, explored the possibility of splitting the atom to create an "atomic bomb."

On June 6, 1944, the Allies launched the long-anticipated invasion of Normandy, France. Soldiers from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and other Allied nations faced Hitler's formidable Atlantic Wall as they landed on the beaches of Normandy.