Born in 1945

What things cost in 1945

1945 figures are annual averages of the published monthly (or quarterly) values. “Today’s dollars” uses the Consumer Price Index for September 2026; “latest” is the most recent published price. Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, via FRED. Average retail prices are only published from 1976 on; 1945 has the CPI alone.

Who was in charge in 1945

United States

Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Harry S. Truman (President)

United Kingdom

George VI (King); Winston Churchill, then Clement Attlee (Prime minister)

Soviet Union

Joseph Stalin (General Secretary); Mikhail Kalinin (Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet); Joseph Stalin (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars)

Republic of China (1916–1949)

Chiang Kai-shek (Chairmen); Chiang Kai-shek, then T. V. Soong (Premier)

People's Republic of China

Mao Zedong (Chairman)

France

Charles de Gaulle (Chairmen); Charles de Gaulle (Prime minister)

Nazi Germany

Adolf Hitler (Führer); Karl Dönitz (President); Adolf Hitler, then Joseph Goebbels (Chancellor); Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (Leading Minister)

Allied-occupied Germany

Joseph T. McNarney, then Marie-Pierre Kœnig (Military governor)

Empire of Japan

Hirohito (Emperor); Kuniaki Koiso, then Kantarō Suzuki, then Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, then Kijūrō Shidehara (Prime minister)

From Wikipedia’s List of state leaders in the 20th century (1901–1950) (revision 1377869146), each name checked against Wikidata. Every country in 1945 →

Famous people born in 1945

• March 28 – Rodrigo Duterte, 16th President of the Philippines source
• October 27 – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 35th President of Brazil source
• 11 April: Winston Peters, politician. source
• June 19 – Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar politician and poet, Nobel Peace Prize recipient source
• 1 January – Rüdiger Safranski, German philosopher and author source
• November 12 - Neil Young, singer-songwriter, musician and film director source
• August 31 – Sir Van Morrison, Irish rock musician source
• 30 March – Eric Clapton, English rock guitarist source
• November 18 – Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan politician, 6th President of Sri Lanka source
• April 20 – Steve Spurrier, American football player and coach source
• January 3 – Stephen Stills, American rock singer-songwriter (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) source
• December 29 – Birendra of Nepal, King of Nepal (died 2001) source
• August 24 – Vince McMahon, American professional wrestling promoter, chairman and CEO of WWE source
• September 29 – Nadezhda Chizhova, Russian athlete source
• 24 March – Alexander Morton, actor source

What happened in 1945

• 14–16 January – Voters in El Salvador voted Salvador Castaneda Castro as President of El Salvador with 312,754 votes in a 99.70% margin. Osmín Aguirre y Salinas heavily rigged the election in favor of Castaneda Castro. source
• January 12 – WWII: The Soviet Union begins the Vistula–Oder Offensive in Eastern Europe, against the German Army. source
• 6 January – Five Hawker Hind aircraft leave Kabul for Jalalabad; they will carry out reconnaissance once every two weeks and return in April. source
• January 30 – Adolf Hitler makes his last public speech, on broadcast radio, expressing the belief that Germany will triumph. source
• 14 March - Establishment of TAP Portugal source
• January 21–22 (night) – At the Grünhagen railroad station, located in East Prussia at this date, two trains, heading for Elbing, collide. At dawn the station is reached by Soviet Army infantry and tanks which destroy the station, killing between 140 and 150 people. source
• 23 January - Annie Landau (born 1873), British-born educator, head of the Tehilla-Evelina de Rothschild Secondary School, recipient of the OBE. source
• March 2 – Former U.S. vice-president Henry A. Wallace starts his term of office as United States Secretary of Commerce, serving under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. source