( 2 Sep, 2014) Victory over Japan - September 2, 1945 Published By : upscgk.com Victory Day, also known as VJ Day, marks the anniversary the Allies’ victory over Japan during World War II. It followed the dropping of the devastating atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Victory Day is a state holiday in Rhode Island in the United States on the second Monday each year. Victory Day marks the anniversary the Allies’ victory during World War II. Victory Day, or VJ Day, commemorates the anniversary of Japan’s surrender to the Allies in 1945, ending World War II. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9, and the Soviet Union’s invasion of Manchuria in the previous week made the surrender inevitable. President Harry S Truman’s announcement of the surrender set off street celebrations from coast to coast in the United States. The official end of the war did not occur until September 2, 1945, when General Douglas MacArthur accepted the Japanese surrender from General Yoshijiro Umezu aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. President Truman declared September 2 as the official VJ Day in 1945. In the newspapers across world that day, there were hundreds of photos of soldiers and civilians rejoicing together. VJ Day is a legal state holiday only in the state of Rhode Island. Rhode Island has celebrated this day since 1948. One of the most famous photographs in the 20th century symbolizes the joyous atmosphere of street celebrations throughout the United States when President Truman announced Japan’s surrender in 1945. The candid photo was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt and published in LIFE magazine. It features a sailor presumably returning home from the war and kissing a woman at Times Square on August 14, 1945. Since then, about 11 men and three women have all claimed to be one of the two the people in that photo.