Date in year · 1945 · The 1940s

April 20, 1945

On April 20, 1945, world War II: U.S. troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union. Bernard Arcand, Eddy Baldewijns, Gopalkrishna Gandhi would arrive in the same year.

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Births

0

Deaths

1

Year

1945

1940s

Around 1945

The year in brief

1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1945th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 945th year of the 2nd millennium, the 45th year of the 20th century, and the 6th year of the 1940s decade.

Read the full year of 1945 →

What happened

On April 20, 1945

  1. 1945 World War II: U.S. troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union.

    1939–1945 global conflict

    World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war.

  2. 1945 World War II: Führerbunker: On his 56th birthday Adolf Hitler makes his last trip to the surface to award Iron Crosses to boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth.

    Subterranean bunker complex for Adolf Hitler

    The Führerbunker was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters used by Adolf Hitler during World War II.

  3. 1945 Twenty Jewish children used in medical experiments at Neuengamme are killed in the basement of the Bullenhuser Damm school.

    Series of human experiments in Nazi Germany

    Nazi Germany conducted medical experiments on prisoners in its concentration camps mainly between 1942 and 1945. There were 15,754 documented victims, of various nationalities and ages, although the true number is believed to be more. About a quarter of documented victims were killed and survivors generally experienced severe permanent injuries.

Farewells

Died on April 20, 1945

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1945

The class of 1945

Others born in 1945

Bernard Arcand 1945– Canadian anthropologist and author (died 2009)
Eddy Baldewijns 1945– Belgian politician
Gopalkrishna Gandhi 1945– Indian civil servant and politician, 22nd Governor of West Bengal
Demetrio Stratos 1945– Greek-Egyptian singer-songwriter (died 1979)
Jim Gordon 1945– American rock drummer and convicted murderer (died 2023)
Wolfgang Schüssel 1945– Austrian lawyer and politician, 26th Chancellor of Austria

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