Charlotta (Lotta) Jansson

A large crowd in Times Square, NYC celebrates the surrender of Nazi Germany, May 7th, 1945. Two days later, halfway around the world, at around 1 a.m., there were crackles heard on the radio. Reports were flooding in saying that Nazi Germany had officially surrendered to the Soviet Union. The entire country erupted and took to the streets. By the time Joseph Stalin addressed the nation 22 hours later, the entire country had run out of vodka. A few months later, on August 14th, another large crowd would gather in Times Square. This time to celebrate the surrender of Japan, effectively ending World War 2. It was here that photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt would take his iconic photo of the sailor embracing and kissing a dental assistant. Before Japan had surrendered, the U.S. military had ordered over 1.5 million Purple Hearts medals in anticipation of an extremely difficult land invasion, which was called Operation Downfall. That stock of Purple Hearts along with newly-minted medals are still being used today.