During New York City’s 1945 V-J Day celebrations, Times Square hosted an estimated two million people. The crowd gathered after President Harry S. Truman announced Japan’s surrender in a radio address on August 14, 1945.
Times Square’s electronic news ticker, then known as the “zipper,” displayed a headline announcing the Japanese surrender. The announcement triggered spontaneous celebrations across New York City, including dancing, cheering, kissing, and the tossing of ticker tape and fabric scraps into the streets.
The crowd estimate is often associated with the celebrations that filled Times Square during the evening. V-J Day was observed on different dates in different places because news crossed time zones, and the formal surrender ceremony did not take place until September 2, 1945, aboard USS Missouri.
The famous photograph of a sailor kissing a woman in a white uniform was also taken in Times Square during these celebrations. The woman, Greta Zimmer Friedman, was a dental assistant rather than a nurse, a common misconception about the image.