VJ Day 80

This Autumn marks the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day, when Imperial Japan officially offered its surrender to mark the beginning of the end of World War II. The formal ceremony occurred on 2nd September 1945, but the announcement on 15th August prompted widespread celebrations around the world. Read on to learn more about what happened on VJ Day and the events that led up to that moment.

Image: Raimundo79 / Shutterstock.com

VJ Day 80

Young people in the US celebrate VJ Day while holding newspapers with the headline 'WAR ENDS'

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A ceremony to celebrate the liberation of Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Cenotaph in 1945

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A photograph of The Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki, Japan on the 9th August 1945

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Torii, Nagasaki, Japan

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An atomic bomb test detonation on the Marshall Islands in 1946

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Wojtek the bear with a Polish soldier

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AC W P Ince of British Guiana, AC E Johnson of Jamaica and AC S E Johnson of Jamaica) during a passing out parade of West Indians at a Royal Air Force station in Yorkshire

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Lieutenant Onoda

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VE Day 80

A crowd in London celebrate VE Day. One holds up a newspaper with the headline 'IT'S V-E DAY!' while several others make V symbols with their fingers

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People in London crowd the streets and surround a double-decker bus on VE Day 1945

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King George VI waves to the crowd from the balcony at Buckingham Palace during the VE Day celebrations, accompanied by Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.

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A German U-Boat surrender to the US Navy

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