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Japan invades Manchuria.
The Japanese established a puppet state called Manchukuo, and their occupation lasted until the end of World War II. -
Japan invades China, initiating World War II in the Pacific.
Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria immediately following the Mukden Incident. -
Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact
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Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
The bombing killed more than 2,300 Americans -
The United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II
It was formulated an hour after the Infamy Speech of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. -
MacArthur ordered out of the Philippines
Douglas MacArthur pulls out of the Philippines, as the American defense of the islands collapses -
Firebombing raids of Tokyo and other Japanese cities begin
continued until the end of the war -
British and US navies halt the Japanese naval advance in the central Pacific at Midway.
The Battle of the Coral Sea, -
Manhattan Project launches
The Manhattan Project created the first nuclear bombs. TheManhattan Project was a research and development project that produced the first atomic bombs during World War II. -
US troops halt the Japanese island-hopping advance at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands
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Allied troops conquer Okinawa, the last island stop before the Japanese islands.
Okinawa was defended by 77,000 troops of the Japanese 32nd Army -
Trinity test- Atomic Bomb
Part of the Manhattan project -
USS Indianapolis sunk
the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea -
The United States drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
“Fat Man” the second bomb was dropped -
The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
"Little Boy" the first atomic bomb was dropped -
The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria.
As agreed at Yalta, the Soviet Union had intervened in the war with Japan within three months. -
Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II.
Japan formally surrendered in a formal ceremony aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, ending World War II.