World War II

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12/26/1944.....U.S. troops hold Bastogne,stalling the German offensive in the Ardennes.

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01/09/1945.....U.S. troops land on Luzon in the Philippines.

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01/26/1945.....Japanese troops retreat to the coast of China.

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01/27/1945.....Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and Birknau extermination camps, uncovering evidence of the murder of approx. 1,000,000 people.

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01/28/1945.....In Western Europe, the Battle of the Bulge ends. Americans suffered 75,000 casualties and the Germans 80,000 to 100,000. The Germans cannot recover their military losses. Few people besides Hitler believe Germany can still win the war.

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02/04/1945.....The Yalta Conference begins. Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin discuss plans for Europe after the war, and Stalin agrees to declare war on Japan. In the Pacific, the Allies finally retake Manila.

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02/13/1945.....The Allies begin firebombing Dresden,Germany, killing at least 135,00.

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02/19/1945.....In the Pacific, U.S. Marines land on Iwo Jima

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02/20/1945.....In Europe, the Allies capture Saarbrucken.

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02/23/1945.....U.S. Marines take Mt. Suribachi on the Island of Iwo Jima. The photograph of the Stars and Stripes being raised upon the summit becomes the most legendary of the war.

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03/03/1945.....Finland declares war on Germany

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03/03/1945.....Finland declares war on Germany

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03/03/1945.....Finland declares war on Germany

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03/03/1945.....Finland declares war on Germany

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03/07/1945.....The Allies capture two significant targets in Germany, the Remagen bridge over the Rhine, and the city of Cologne.

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03/09/1945....U.S. firebombing of Tokyo kills about 85,000 Japanese.

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03/20/1945.....The Allies capture Mandalay, Burma

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03/26.1945.....U.S. troops complete the capture of Iwo Jima from the Japanese, at the cost of 28,000 American casualties.

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03/30/1945.....Soviet troops capture Danzig

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04/01/1945.....U.S. troops invade Okinawa, the first Japanese home island to be reached. Over 12,000 Americans were killed/38,000 wounded. In Europe, the Allies surround over 300,000 German troops in the Ruhr, and the final Allied offensive in northern Italy begins.