August 6 and 9, 1945 - Atomic bombing of Japan

On August 6, 1945 the 20th Air Force dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.  On August 9, 1945 another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.  On August 15, 1945 Emperor Hirohito announced the unconditional surrender of Japan.  The surrender ceremony was held on September 2, 1945 on the battleship USS Missouri.  Isolated units of the Japanese armed forces continued to resist surrender into the 1970's.  Hiroo Onoda, who had been in hiding in the Philippines, was the last soldier to surrender in February 1974.