On this day, Aug. 14 ...

1945: President Harry S. Truman announces that Imperial Japan surrendered unconditionally, ending World War II.

Also on this day:

President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Social Security Bill in Washington on Aug. 14, 1935. (AP Photo)

  • 1935: The Social Security Act becomes law. 
  • 1947: Pakistan becomes independent of British rule.
  • 1997: Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh is sentenced to death.
  • 1980: Actress-model Dorothy Stratten, 20, is shot to death by her estranged husband and manager, Paul Snider, who then kills himself.
  • 2003: A huge blackout hits the northeastern United States and part of Canada; 50 million people lose power.
  • 2008: President George W. Bush signs consumer-safety legislation that bans lead from children's toys, imposing the toughest standard in the world.