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The Attack on Pearl Harbor
Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor- killing more than 2000 American soldiers, and wounding another 1000. They took out 20 Navy vessels and more than 300 airplanes. The next day, FDR asked Congress to declare war on Japan.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Executive Order 9066
10 weeks after Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese, President Roosevelt signed Executive order 9066- it authorized removing any and all people from military areas. This resulted in the removal of more than 110000 Japanese Americans and relocating them to interment camps where they stayed for the next 2.5 years. They were allowed to return their homes on 12/17/44.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/roosevelt-signs-executive-order-9066 -
The Battle of Midway
Six months after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the US defeated Japan- with the help of code breaking the US was able to counter Japan's ambush plan and inflicted permanent damage on the Japanese navy.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Island Hopping Strategy
The Japanese empire was wide stretching, so the US developed a strategy to go around Japanese strongholds by hopping from one island to the next- and gained land to build bases on that enabled attacks on other islands.
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1671.html -
Battle of Guadalcanal
Japanese troops landed on the Guadalcanal in June of 1942 and started building an air base there, the US Marines showed up 2 months later to take it from them. The battle lasted six months with the US claiming victory on Feb 9th 1943. This battle cost the Japanese more than 2/3 of their troops, the US gave up less than 2000. This battle marks one of the major turning points of the Pacific War.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-guadalcanal -
MacArthur returns to the Philippines
2 years after leaving behind troops, MacArthur returned with support from the Pacific Fleet of Nimitz. Only 1/3 of the men that had been left behind were around for MacArthur's return.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/macarthur-returns -
Battle of Iwo Jima
After a month of fighting, the marines wiped out the Japanese forces. This battle was important because it was fought to gain a military base near the Japanese coast.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Atomic Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The world's first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. 90% of the city was taken out and 80000 people were instantly killed. Many more thousands of people died later from radiation exposure. 3 days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing at least 40000 more. This prompted the Emperor to offer his country's unconditional surrender.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki -
V-J Day
On this day, it was announced that Japan surrendered- unconditionally- to the Allies. This ended WWII marking this day "Victory over Japan Day" or V-J Day for short.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
