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Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Ten hours later, across the date line (December 8), they attack Clark Field in the Philippine Islands. In the days that follow, Japanese ground forces under the command of Lt. General Masaharu Homma begin landing in the Philippines.
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About 43,000 Japanese troops begin the main invasion of Luzon; American and Filipino troops begin to amass on Bataan
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General MacArthur declares Manila an open city.
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Under orders from President Roosevelt, MacArthur leaves the Philippines for Australia. President Quezon has already left.
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The sixty-five mile death march from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga begins. Hundreds of Americans and thousands of Filipinos die from starvation, thirst, disease and random execution throughout the six- to nine-day trek.
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Japanese take Corregidor as Gen. Wainwright unconditionally surrenders all U.S. And Filipino forces in the Philippines.
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A Japanese-sponsored Philippine Constitution is signed
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MacArthur returns to the Philippines, wading to shore on the island of Leyte.
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U.S. Sixth Army attacks Japanese in Manila.
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Manila officially liberated, but the city is devastated by bombing and the Manila Massacre, in which about 100,000 people were killed.
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Truman announces the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan by a U.S. Army Air Force B-29 bomber named Enola Gay.
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Japanese general Tomoyuki Yamashita surrenders the Philippines, the same day as Japan's formal surrender.
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Japanese generals Masaharu Homma and Tomoyuki Yamashita are found guilty of crimes of war in Manila tribunals.
