Dashed left edge = started before July 1945 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond July 1945
Events in July 1945 6
1871 – 1945Paul Valéry (1871-1945)Died 20 July 1945, aged 73Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher regarded as one of the leading figures of French symbolist literature. His works include the long poem "Le Cimetière marin" and extensive philosophical notebooks. He was a member of the Académie française.
1879 – 1945Alla Nazimova (1879-1945)Russian-born actress and producer, a star of Ibsen on Broadway and of silent film, and owner of the Garden of Allah.
1945Alla Nazimova dies in Los AngelesAlla Nazimova dies aged 66.
1945Trinity nuclear testThe first detonation of an atomic bombScientists of the Manhattan Project detonated a plutonium implosion device in the New Mexico desert, the first successful test of a nuclear weapon. The explosion confirmed the weapon's viability weeks before atomic bombs were used against Japan. Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer led the effort.
1945Potsdam ConferenceAllied leaders set terms for postwar Germany and JapanTruman, Churchill (replaced mid-conference by Attlee), and Stalin met near Berlin to finalize occupation policy for Germany and issue an ultimatum demanding Japan's unconditional surrender. The conference also confirmed the Oder-Neisse line as Poland's western border. Disagreements here foreshadowed the Cold War split.
1945Labour landslide and Attlee becomes prime ministerBritain votes out Churchill after victory in EuropeDespite Churchill's wartime leadership, the Labour Party under Clement Attlee won a decisive general election victory, promising a welfare state and nationalization. The result stunned many observers abroad given Churchill's stature. Attlee's government went on to create the National Health Service.