nJuly 13
n Washington intercepts and decodes a cable
from Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo to his Ambassador
in Moscow that states, “Unconditional
surrender is the only obstacle to peace….”
nJuly 15
nPresident Truman
lands at Antwerp on his way to Potsdam meeting. Byrnes has convinced him to drop Article 12
of the Potsdam Declaration, which had provided assurance that the Emperor
would be allowed to retain his throne as a constitutional
monarch.
nJuly 16
nTrinity test, a
plutonium implosion device, takes place at 5:29:45 a.m.
mountain war time at Alamogordo, New Mexico. It is the world’s first atomic detonation.