* 1939 – 1945, the Second Battle of the Atlantic.

* 1945 – World War II: Sarajevo is liberated from German and Croatian forces by the Yugoslav Partisans.

* 1945 – World War II: the Battle of Slater's Knoll on Bougainville comes to an end.

* 1945 – Neal Boortz, American radio personality

* 1945 – U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies while in office ; vice-president Harry Truman is sworn in as the 33rd President.

* 1945 – Lee Jong-wook, Korean Director-General of the World Health Organization ( d. 2006 )

* 1945 – World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for one day.

* 1945 – Annie Dillard, American writer

* 1945 – Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter, musician, and activist ( d. 2001 )

* 1945 – Michael J. Smith, American astronaut ( d. 1986 )

* 1871 – Theodore Dreiser, American author ( d. 1945 )

* 1905 – Aris Velouchiotis, Greek military leader ( d. 1945 )

* 1945 – Jan Sloot, Dutch inventor ( d. 1999 )

* 1945 – World War II: Hiroshima, Japan is devastated when the atomic bomb " Little Boy " is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay.

* 1945 – Ron Jones, English director ( d. 1993 )

* 1945 – Andy Messersmith, American baseball player

* 1945 – World War II: Nagasaki, Japan is devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar.

* 1945 – World War II: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and begins the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation.

* 1945 – Barbara Delinsky, American author

* 1945 – Aleksandr Gorelik, Russian figure skater ( d. 2012 )

* 1945 – Posy Simmonds, English cartoonist

* 1866 – Giovanni Agnelli, Italian businessman, founded Fiat S. p. A ( d. 1945 )

* 1945 – Lars Engqvist, Swedish politician

* 1945 – Robin Jackman, English cricketer

* 1897 – Karl-Otto Koch, German SS officer ( d. 1945 )

Among notable recipients below flag rank are: X-1 test pilot Chuck Yeager and X-15 test pilot Robert M. White, who both received the DSM as U. S. Air Force majors ; Air Force Major Rudolf Anderson, the U-2 pilot shot down during the Cuban Missile Crisis ; director Frank Capra, decorated in 1945 as an Army colonel ; actor James Stewart, decorated in 1945 as an Army Air Forces colonel ( later Air Force Brigadier General ); Col. Wendell Fertig, who led Filipino guerrillas behind Japanese lines ; Col. ( later Major General ) John K. Singlaub, who led partisan forces in the Korean War ; and Maj. Maude C. Davison, who led the " Angels of Bataan and Corregidor " during their imprisonment by the Japanese, and Colonel William S. Taylor, Program Manager Multiple Launch Rocket System.

* 1945 – William Sleator, American science fiction author

* 1911 – William Darby, American World War II Army officer ( d. 1945 )

Henry Ford's siblings include Margaret Ford ( 1867 – 1938 ); Jane Ford ( c. 1868 – 1945 ); William Ford ( 1871 – 1917 ) and Robert Ford ( 1873 – 1934 ).

* 1945 – William Joyce ( Lord Haw-Haw ) is charged with treason for his pro-German propaganda broadcasting during World War II.

* 1903 – William Grover-Williams, English-French racing driver and WWII resistance fighter ( d. 1945 )

* 1880 – William J. Simmons, American Ku Klux Klan leader ( d. 1945 )

General William Joseph Donovan | William J. Donovan reviews Operational Group members in Bethesda, Maryland prior to their departure for China in 1945

Prince William Forest Park ( then known as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area ) was the site of an OSS training camp that operated from 1942 to 1945.

It was purchased by the Museum from William Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland in 1945 with the aid of a bequest from James Rose Vallentin.

* 1877 – Francis William Aston, English chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate ( d. 1945 )

* 1945 – Lord Haw Haw ( William Joyce ) is sentenced to death in London.

* January 16 – William Grover-Williams, French race car driver and war hero ( d. 1945 )

* March 26 – Prince William of Wied, sovereign Prince of Albania ( d. 1945 )

* September 1 – Francis William Aston, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate ( d. 1945 )

* William J. Simmons, founder of the second Ku Klux Klan ( d. 1945 )

** William Henry Howell, American physiologist ( d. 1945 )

In 1945, Mayor William O ' Dwyer picked Impellitteri to run for President of the City Council on the Tammany Hall slate.

* Why Abstract ?, with Hilaire Hiler and William Saroyan, New York: New Directions, 1945.

In 1945, Davis married artist William Grant Sherry, who also, when necessary, worked as a masseur.

* Modern Women in Love ( 1945 ) edited with William J. Blake

* William Oliver Swofford ( 1945 – 2000 ), pop singer in the 1960s and 70s ( under the name Oliver ), known for his hits Good Morning Starshine ( featured in the Broadway musical Hair ) and Jean, the theme song of the Oscar-winning film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.