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Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; also attack the Philippines, Wake Island, Guam, Malaya, Thailand, Shanghai and Midway.
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U.S. and Britain declare war on Japan. Japanese land near Singapore and enter Thailand.
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China declares war on Japan.
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Japanese invade the Philippines and also seize Guam.
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Japanese invade Burma.
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First Japanese merchant ship sunk by a U.S. submarine.
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Japanese invade British Borneo.
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Japanese invade Hong Kong.
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Japanese invade Luzon in the Philippines.
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General Douglas MacArthur begins a withdrawal from Manila to Bataan; Japanese take Wake Island.
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British surrender at Hong Kong.
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Manila declared an open city.
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Japanese bomb Manila.
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President Roosevelt announces the Japanese have executed several airmen from the Doolittle Raid.
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U.S. begins submarine warfare against Japanese shipping.
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The U.S. Army Air Force begins preparations for dropping the Atomic Bomb by establishing the 509th Composite Group to operate the B-29s that will deliver the bomb.
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First Atomic Bomb is successfully tested in the U.S.
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Components of the Atomic Bomb "Little Boy" are unloaded at Tinian Island in the South Pacific.
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First Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima from a B-29 flown by Col. Paul Tibbets.
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Second Atomic Bomb is dropped on Nagasaki from a B-29 flown by Maj. Charles Sweeney -- Emperor Hirohito and Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki then decide to seek an immediate peace with the Allies.
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Japanese accept unconditional surrender; Gen. MacArthur is appointed to head the occupation forces in Japan.
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United Nations is born.
