-
Japanese forces captured French Indochina in July. Roosevelt protested and demanded that Japan withdraw. Then the United States froze Japanese funds in its banks and cut off exports to Japan. -
At 7:55 a.m, the Japanese attack the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor. In just a few hours, the Japanese sank or damaged all of the battleships anchored at Pearl Harbor. More than 2,400 Americans were killed. Almost 200 airplanes were destroyed. -
The first dive bomber was spotted on US Army radar. This is an aircraft whose purpose is to drop bombs at low altitude. -
At the end of the attack, the American battleships suffered a major defeat. Several ships are destroyed: The USS Arizona, the Oklahoma, and the California, Nevada and West Virginia. “I began to realize there were dead men all around me … it was obvious the ship was doomed. I made my way to the side of the ship, which by this time was sinking fast, and jumped off.” said an American sailor aboard the USS Arizona -
President Roosevelt and the Congress voted to declare war on Japan. Germany then declared war on the United States. -
President Roosevelt called December 7, 1941, "a date that will live in infamy [disgrace]".
-
American and Filipino forces under the command of American general Douglas MacArthur could not stop Japan's advance in the Philippines. MacArthur left the islands in March. More than 600 Americans and about 10,000 Filipinos died in the Bataan Death March. -
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, initiating a controversial World War II policy with lasting consequences for Japanese Americans. The document ordered the forced removal of resident "enemy aliens" from parts of the West vaguely identified as military areas.