On this day in history, May 8th, 1884, Harry S. Truman, the 33rd U.S. President, was born in Missouri. He became president upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945. Two weeks after becoming president, he was informed of the top secret Atomic bomb project. An Allied invasion of Japan was being planned which would cost a minimum of 250,000 American lives. Truman then authorized the dropping of the bomb. On August 6, 1945, the first bomb exploded over Hiroshima, followed by a second bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th. The next day, Japan sued for peace. Truman served as President until January of 1953. He was the last of only nine U.S. Presidents who did not attend college.
