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World War II
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The Battle of Britain
Churchill announced that the battle with France was over and the battle with Britain was about to begin. Four days later France surrendered to Germany and Hitler had turned his focus to Britain. The battle was postponed, and Hitler’s focus turned to the Soviet Union. -
The Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack on the United States by the Japanese. They bombed the American naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. It was important to World War II, because it caused the United States to enter the war. It also was one of the reasons that the depression ended. -
The Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was fought near the pacific island of Midway. It was one of the most decisive battles of the war. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz had gained intelligence that the Japanese were going to try to gain the island to use as another base. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
This battle is considered to be the turning point of World War II in Europe. It was fought by the Soviets and the Germans, ending the victory of the Soviet army. It's said to be the bloodiest battle in human history. It was important, because up until that point everything was going great for the Germans. -
Operation Torch
This operation followed after the attack on Pearl Harbor. America saw almost no action for almost a year due to the fact they were unprepared and Roosevelt wasn’t too sure if he wanted to fight or not. This was the first attack against the Allied leaders, retaliating what they had done to us. -
Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Program
Monument Men were people who worked with the army to protect historical monuments during war. Once the war ended they were responsible for looking for new items to be used for history and restore stolen ones from the allies. -
D-Day
160,000 Allied troops landed on the shores of Normandy. The Canadians, the British and the Americans were the troops that landed on the beaches. It was one of the most important battles of World War II, because it gave Americans a strong advantage against Germany. -
The Battle of the Bulge
This was Hitler's last attempt to turn the war back to his favor. The German army caught the Americans by surprise. It was fought during the Winter months, so everything was frozen. Hitler's army ran out of fuel, so they had to end the fight. It's counted as a German victory. -
The Battle of Iwo Jima
America invaded Iwo Jima, one of the Japanese islands. The United States wanted to gain control Iwo Jima so they could have a base near the coast of Japan. Iwo Jima was important, because America had a place that they could use to potentially drop bombs onto Japan. -
The Battle of Okinawa
Okinawa was the biggest and last battle of the Pacific. America defeated the last troops of the Japanese military in this battle. It was one of the reasons that the Japanese eventually surrendered. -
The Death of FDR
FDR died in office after he served four terms. He was president during the Great Depression and during World War II. Harry S. Truman became president after FDR's death. He died of cerebral hemorrhage in the rehab center for Polio that he founded. -
The Death of Adolf Hitler
Hitler got married and within the next few days killed his wife and then took his own life. He's said to have shot himself in his bunker after he found out that the allies were coming into Berlin. The Soviets wouldn't let the Americans see Hitler's body. -
Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki
The final bomb was dropped on Japan by American which led to the full surrender of Japan. The crew named this bomb "Fat Boy", because it was about two times bigger and used a different method to explode. They were originally going to drop the bomb on Kokura, but it was too cloudy, so they dropped the bomb on Nagasaki on their way back. -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
A B-29 Bomber took off from a Northern Pacific Island and dropped an atomic bomb on Japan. A 12 man crew was assigned to the secret mission to make sure it went smoothly. They called the bomb "Little Boy" and dropped it onto Hiroshima, because it hadn't been touched during the war.
