1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
On Aug. 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Since then, both Aug. 14 and 15 have been known as “Victory-over-Japan Day,” or simply “V-J Day.” The Potsdam Declaration, issued by Allied leaders on July 26, 1945, called on Japan to surrender and if so, promised a peaceful government according to “the freely expressed will of the Japanese people.” The Japanese government in Tokyo refused to surrender, and on Aug. 6 the American B-29 plane Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, followed by a second bomb on Nagasaki three days later. The following day, the Japanese government issued a statement accepting the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. On Sept. 2, Allied supreme commander Gen. Douglas MacArthur, along with the Japanese foreign minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, and the chief of staff of the Japanese army, Yoshijiro Umezu, signed the official surrender aboard the USS Missouri, effectively ending World War II.
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