29 Jul 1945 – A Japanese sub sank the American cruiser Indianapolis, killing 883 seamen in the worst loss in the history of the US navy. In preparation for a proposed invasion of the Japan, scheduled for 1 Nov, US forces bombed the Japanese home...
Following WWII, the US moved quickly to demobilize the vast military it had constructed during the conflict. By 1948, less than 550,000 men remained in the Army. Relations between the Russians and Americans deteriorated rapidly. In 1947, the...
On 13 July 1943, during WWII, the Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle in history, involving some 6,000 tanks, 2 million men, and 5,000 aircraft, ended with the German offensive repulsed by the Soviets at heavy cost. In early July, Germany and...
On 22 June 1944, during WWII, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the GI Bill, an unprecedented act to compensate military members –known as GIs–for their efforts in WW II. As the last of his sweeping New Deal reforms, Roosevelt created...
8 May 1945 marks VE Day—the day WWII ended in Europe as the Germans surrendered. But that wasn’t the only thing that happened of note on 8 May in our nation’s history. On 8 May 1792, Congress passes the second portion of the Militia Act, requiring...