Thrilling Events Of Year 1945
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Key Dates Of 1945
At A Glance
Jan. 9—Americans land in the
Langayen Gulf area on Luzon.
Jan. 19—Soviets capture War
n *.
Jan. 23—Burma-Ledo road is
jpened.
Feb. 5—Yanks enter Manila.
Feb. 7—“Big Three” rrieeting at
ifalta is announced.
Feb. 19—Marines land on Iwo
lima. Midnight curfew for all en
ertainment places announced by
>Vat^ Mobilization Director James
f*. Byrnes.
Inarch 1—Henry Wallace is ap
>roved as Secretary of Commerce.
March 3—Act of Chapultepec
tnanimously adopted. U. S. Ninth
Vrmy reaches Rhine.
March 17—Iwo Jima captured.
March 24 — Anglo-Americans
Irive across Rhine in force.
*pr. 1—U. S. Tenth Army in
vades Okinawa.
Apr. 5—Russia denounces neu
rality pact with Japan as Japa
lese cabinet falls.
Apr. 12 — President Roosevelt
ies at Warm Springs, Ga.
Apr. 26—U. S. and Soviet troops
aeet at Torgau. United Nations
pen conference at San Francisco.
Apr. 28—Italian partisans cap
ure and kill Mussolini and his
nisiress.
May 1—Nazis announce Hitler's
eath.
May 2—Berlin falls.
May 7 — Germany surrenders
nconditionally.
May 9—Resumption of horse
acing is approved.
May 23—Biddle, Perkins, Wick
rd replaced by Clark, Schwellen
achjf Anderson in Truman cabi
et changes.
June 21—Organized resistance
nds on Okinawa.
July 5 — Mac Arthur announces
U of Philippines occupied.
I July 14-15—U. S. fleet begins
rst heavy ship bombardment of
ipan with a shelling of northern
onshu and Hokkaido.
July 23—“The Big Three” con
rs at Potsdam.
July 26—Announcement of re
llts q| the British election July 5
tows a landslide for the Labor
irft*
July 28—U. S. Senate ratifies
Hied Nations charter 89 to 2.
Editors Proclaim President Truman
Is “Man Of The Year”
Dr. Lise Meitner Voted “Outstanding Woman”; General
Eisenhower Tops Military Personalities
By JOHN L. SPRINGER, 0*P) Newsfeatures Writer
- w
America’s “man of the year” for
turbulent 1945, the outstanding
newsmaker of the newsiest year
of the century is President Harry
S. Truman.
The former Senator from Mis
souri has served as President for
only nine months. In that time he
formally announced the complete
defeat of the Reich and the end of
the war with Germany. He stepped
easily into the “Big Three” and
emerged with greater stature from
the post V-E day parleys at Pots
dam. He announced the harness
ing of the atom. He told the news
Aug. 6—First atomic bomb is
dropped on Hiroshima.
Aug. 8—Russia declares war on
Japan.
Aug. 14 — Japan announces it
will surrender.
Aug. 29—Truman makes public
the report of Army and Navy in
vestigators on the Pearl Harbor
attack.
Sept. 2—Japan formally surren
ders aboard the 'T.S.S. Missouri in
Tokyo Bay.
Sept. 11—Tojo tries suicide.
Oct. 10—Detroit Tigers win the
World Series.
Oct. 15—Laval is executed.
Oct. 24—Quisling is executed.
Oct. 28—Shoe rationing ends.
Not. 1—All food rationing ends
—excepting sugar.
Nov. 10 — Attlee and Truman
meet in Washington.
Nov. 20—General Marshall and
Admiral King replaced by Gen
eral Eisenhower and Admiral
Nimitz. Trial begins of leading
Nazis on war crimes charges.
Nov. 21—General Motors work
ers strike for 30 per cent raise.
Dec. 3—Truman proposes “fact
finders” for labor troubles.
Dec. 9—General Patton breaks
his neck.
Dec. 14 — Josef Kramer, the
“Beast of Belsen,” and ten of his
gang hanged for war crimes.
Dec. 20—General Patton dies.
Dec. 27 — Foreign Ministers
meeting in Moscow ends.
" I
of Japan’s willingness to surren
der. He made news as he sought to
halt strikes across the country.
The nation’s newspaper editors, !
voting in a poll conducted by (/P)
Newfeatures, appraised this rec
ord and gave President Truman
the title of "man of the year” and j
an accolade as “outstanding poli
tical figure of the year” as well.
Editors also were asked to se
lect the "woman of the year” *ind
leading personalities in military
affairs, industry, labor, science,
literature and sports.
Lise Meitner Top Woman
Top choice as the No. 1 news
maker among women was Lise
Meitner, physicist, whose calcula
tions played an important part in
the development of the atom
bomb. Dr. Meitner worked at the
Kaiser Wilhelm Academy of Sci
ence in Berlin but was driven
from Germany. In Denmark she
broke a deadlock in atom bomb
experiments by participating in
preparation of a formula suggest
ing that many puzzling questions
could be answered by splitting a
uranium atom in two approxi
mately equal parts. This formula
was of prime help to the scientists
who developed the first atomic
bomb this year.
Among editors’ other choices of
the outstanding women were Mrs.
Franklin D. Roosevelt; Rep. Clare
Boothe Luce; and Eva Braun,
Adolf Hitler’s girl friend.
Eisenhower Leads Military
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was
acclaimed the outstanding mili
tary personality for the second
consecutive year. The architect of
the Anglo-American victories in
Europe was followed in the voting
by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, su
preme commander in the Pacific;
Gen. George C. Marshall, Army
chief of staff; and Adm. Chester
W. Nimitz, commander of the Pa
cific fleet.
Eric A. Johnston, president of
the United States Chamber of
Commerce and world “good will”
traveler for American business
who was elected this year as head
of the Motion Picture Producers
and Distributors Association of
America, was chosen as top man
in business. Runners-up were An
drew J. Higgins, who built thou
sands of invasion boats during the
war and then closed up his busi
ness when postwar labor strife be
gan; and Sewell Avery, chairman
of the board of the Montgomery
Ward mail order house.
The 1945 field in science was
monopolized by the atom smash
ers. For the designation as out
standing, a majority of the editors
grouped the entire body of scien
tists who contributed to the first
atomic bomb. Of those mentioned
individually, however, the most
conspicuous was Dr. J. R. Oppen
heimer, University of California
physicist credited by the War De
partment with putting the atom’s
energy to work for war.
Votes for individuals in this
classification went to Dr. Meitner;
Dr. Vannevar Bush, director of
the Office Scientific Research and
Development; Dr. Ernest O. Law
rence of the University of Califor
nia; and Maj. Gen. Leslie R.
Groves, who was in charge of the
bomb-making project.
Labor Title To Reuther
Walter L. Reuther. leader of the
United Automobile Workers’
strike against General Motors in
one of the greatest tests of worker
vs. management strength in his
tory, emerged as the news-worth
iest labor man of the year. Editors
chose him by a wide margin over
John L. Lewis of the United Mine
Workers.
Ernie Pyle, veteran war corre
spondent who was killed on Ie is
land off Okinawa in April, retain
ed for the second year his position
in editors’ eyes as the outstanding
personality in literature. A collec
tion of his dispatches, "Br^Ve
Men,” is still on best - sell - Jpl'
Hope Heads Entertainers
Bob Hope, sharp-tongued radio
and screen comedian, also was a
second-time winner in the enter
taining field. The sweeping and
uninterrupted victories of the
Army football team won recogni
tion in the naming of "Doc”
Blanchard, flashy backfield star at
the Point, as the No. 1 sports fig
ure.
The late President Roosevelt’s
newsmaking qualities were re
membered by many editors and he
was rated second to Mr. Truman
Tax Cut Incentive
To Business
WASHINGTON, Dec. 31—up)—
The government tomorrow hands
the country a six billion dollar tax
incentive to be expended in busi
ness activity in 1946. The tax law,
providing the first general cut in
taxes since 1929, was written de
liberately to encourage spending
in reconversion to high peacetime
production.
Corporations will get a total tax
cut of three billion, one hundred
thirty-six million; individuals will
get two billion, eight hundred mil
lion through cuts ranging from
one hundred per cent for some
twelve million low income persons
to ten per cent or more for the
average taxpayer.
LAMBERT VOSS.
PASSES AWAY
Lambert Voss passed away at
the Maynard Columbus Hospital
last Saturday. Everyone in the
community is familiar with the
courteous old gentleman who has
assisted in the U. S. Post Office
since 1930, when William Arthurs
was postmaster. Mr. Voss, who
was born in Holland, came to
Alaska about thirty years ago, did
longshoring, and was caretaker of
the cemetery for many years.
Mr. Voss was a kindly old man,
who was always doing little deeds
of thoughtfulness for those around
him, and will be missed by the
community. He had considerable
property, which is believed to
have been willed to the Catholic
Church, although no will has been
found to date.
Funeral services will be held
from the Catholic Church at nine
o’clock on Wednesday morning.
—
SEATTLE-NOME AIR CARGO
APPLICATION FILED
The Anchorage office of the
C.A.A. has had an application
| from Roy H. Curtiss to establish
j a cargo carrying airline direct
from Seattle to Nome, via Ketch
ikan, Juneau, Anchorage and Fair
banks. No date has been set for
the hearing.
BACK TO
I CIVILIAN STATUS
Returning to civilian status are
John McLuke of Nome, who has
been discharged from service at
Fort Richardson; others from this
fort are Pfc. Billy Neekek of Point
Barrow, Garfield Okitkon in serv
; ice since 1942, Pfc. Frank Overton
of Wales, Pfc. Sam Sango of Igloo,
; Pfc. Woard Slwooko of St. Law
rence Island and Happy Wemark
of Wales, who has been in service
since 1941.
Sgt. Lyman Maidon received his
discharge from Seymour Johnson
Field in North Carolina.
MRS. P. J. CUTTING OPENS
ANCHORAGE REALTY OFFICE
Mrs. P. J. Cutting has opened a
i ne$v real estate office in Anchor
age, in the McCutcheon Bldg. Mrs.
Cutting was secretary to Judge
Morison here before her marriage
and more recently has been man
ager of the Mt. McKinley Ice
Cream Co. in Fairbanks.
in the “man of the year” classi
! fication. Others who won votes in
I eluded Gen. MacArthur, Gen. Ei
J senhower, and Premier Joseph
Stalin of Russia. As outstanding
political figure, Mr. Roosevelt
placed third behind Mr. Truman
and Clement R. Attlee, Great
Britain’s new prime minister.