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On May 7, l945, World War II (WWII) came to an end when Germany surrendered; May 8, the next day, was declared V-E Day (Victory in Europe). Massive celebrations took place with dancing, singing and parties in the street. In London, cheering crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square and up the mall to Buckingham Palace, where King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, appeared on the balcony of the Palace. In the United States, President Harry Truman who celebrated his 61st birthday that day, dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor Franklin D. Roosevelt, since he had been so committed to ending the war. Roosevelt had died less than a month earlier, on April 12. In Brussels, Belgium, Frank R. Dahowski, Jr., born in 1910 and one of eight children of Frank and Sophie Dahowski, residents of Montague, Massachusetts, celebrated by embracing two children.

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