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World War II begins
Following Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. World War II begins. -
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World War II
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D-day Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
Japanese force launch a surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, destroying or damaging 19 warships and 150 airplanes and killing 2,402 U.S. soldiers and sailors. Japan also stages attacks on Guam, Hong Kong, The Malay Penninsula, Midway Island, and the Philippines. The surprise attack results in the US entry into World War II. -
US enters WWII
Pres. Roosevelts Pearl Harbor SpeechCongress declared war against Japan, a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. -
American Japanese forced to "War Relocation Camps"
In Executive Order 9066, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt authorizes the forced relocation and internment of over 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese residing along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps." -
First air attack on Japan
Sixteen American airplanes raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities in the first Allied air attack on Japan. -
Gasoline rations start to preserve rubber.
Gasoline rationing goes into effect on the east coast of the United States, becoming nationwide in December. This results in limiting sales to three gallons a week for non-essential vehicles. The main idea is to conserve rubber, not gasoline, since the Japanese had seized plantations in the Dutch East Indies that produced 90% of America's raw rubber. The Office of Price Administration issues stickers to motorists that determine how much gas they were entitled to buy each week. -
Battle at Midway
At the battle of Midway, the Japanese lose four aircraft carriers -
Battle on beaches of Normandy, France
60,000 Allied troops land along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Eisenhower calls the operation a crusade in which "we will accept nothing less than full victory." -
Auschwitz and Birkenau Nazi death camps liberated.
Soviet troops liberate the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland. -
Dachau concentration camp liberated.
American soldiers liberate the Dachau concentration camp. -
Hitler commits suicide.
As Russian troops approach his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler commits suicide -
End of WWII inf Europe
President Harry S. Truman announces the end of World War II in Europe. -
Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
An atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, the location of the Second Army Headquarters, as well as a communications center and storage depot. A second atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki three days later. These two events are the only active deployments of nuclear weapons in war to date. -
End of WWII
President Truman announces that Japan had surrendered unconditionally, ending World War II.
