On this day in 1945, Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces the news of his country's unconditional surrender in World War II over a radio broadcast to the Japanese people. The day became known as "Victory Over Japan" day, or VJ Day.
Earlier, the governments of the United States and Great Britain (together with China) issued an ultimatum to the Japanese government in late July 1945: unconditional surrender or risk total annihilation.
The Japanese didn't think this was initially a great idea and, as a result, the US bomber Enola Gay dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, another such bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The threat of further nuclear attacks drove Japanese officials on August 10 to accept the terms put forth by the Potsdam Declaration and submit their unconditional surrender.
The Japanese people were disillusioned and profoundly saddened by their Emperor/God's announcement of defeat and surrender, never believing it was possible.
In the meantime, American's celebrated the end of the war as the famous photo above symbolizes.
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