What Day Was V-E Day (end of WWII in Europe)?

About this date

Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allied powers took effect, marking Victory in Europe (V-E) Day and the end of World War II on the European front, after nearly six years of war.

Celebrations broke out across Allied nations, though the war in the Pacific against Japan continued for several more months.

Because the surrender was signed in different locations with slightly different effective times, the Soviet Union has historically marked its own Victory Day commemoration one calendar day later, on May 9, a genuine and lasting East-West difference in how the same underlying surrender is dated.

Crowds celebrating in London, Paris, and other Allied capitals were captured in some of the most widely reproduced photographs of the entire war, symbolizing the relief following nearly six years of continuous conflict.