December 23rd, 1945 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Princess Elizabeth is to be become the President of the Prince of Wales' General Hospital, London.
THAILAND: The first post-war Thai boxing tournament takes place in the Rajadamnern Stadium in Bangkok.
JAPAN: The US Eighth Army takes over the Toho Theatre in Tokyo, one of Japan's largest and most modern, for use as a GI Movie and show house. More...
U.S.A.: Eisenhower confirms the death sentence on Private Eddie Slovik for desertion.
1948 (FRIDAY)
JAPAN: In Tokyo, TOJO Hideki, former Japanese premier and chief of the Kwantung Army, is executed along with six other top Japanese leaders for their war crimes. Seven of the defendants were also found guilty of committing crimes against humanity, especially in regard to their systematic genocide of the Chinese people. On 12 November, death sentences were imposed on TOJO and the six other principals, such as MATSUI Iwane , who organized the Rape of Nanking, and KIMURA Heitaro, who brutalized Allied prisoners of war. Sixteen others were sentenced to life imprisonment, and the remaining two of the original 25 defendants were sentenced to lesser terms in prison. In addition to the central Tokyo trial, various tribunals sitting outside Japan judged some 5,000 Japanese guilty of war crimes, of whom more than 900 are executed.