On 15 August 1945, Emperor Hirohito of Japan announced the country's unconditional surrender via radio broadcast, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima (6 August) and Nagasaki (9 August) and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan.
The formal surrender was signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945 — now known as V-J Day. World War II, the deadliest conflict in human history with an estimated 70–85 million deaths, was over.