1941

December 7, 1941 - Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; also
attack the Philippines, Wake Island, Guam, Malaya, Thailand, Shanghai and Midway.

December 8, 1941 - U.S. and Britain declare war on Japan.
Japanese land near Singapore and enter Thailand.

December 9, 1941 - China declares war on Japan.

December 10, 1941 - Japanese invade the Philippines and also
seize Guam.

December 15, 1941 - First Japanese merchant ship sunk by a
U.S. submarine.

December 16, 1941 - Japanese invade British Borneo.

December 23, 1941 - General Douglas MacArthur begins a withdrawal
from Manila to Bataan; Japanese take Wake Island.

1942

January 2, 1942 - Manila and U.S. Naval base at Cavite captured
by the Japanese.

January 11, 1942 - Japanese invade Dutch East Indies and Dutch
Borneo.

January 23, 1942 - Japanese take Rabaul on New Britain in
the Solomon Islands and also invade Bougainville, the largest island.

January 27, 1942 - First Japanese warship sunk by a U.S. submarine.

February 1, 1942 - First U.S. aircraft carrier offensive of
the war as YORKTOWN and ENTERPRISE conduct air raids on Japanese bases in the
Gilbert and Marshall Islands.

February 2, 1942 - Japanese invade Java in the Dutch East
Indies.

February 8/9, 1942 - Japanese invade Singapore.

February 23, 1942 - First Japanese attack on the U.S. mainland
as a submarine shells an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California.

February 27- March 1, 1942 - Japanese naval victory in the
Battle of the Java Sea as the largest U.S. warship in the Far East, the HOUSTON,
is sunk.

March 24, 1942 - Admiral Chester Nimitz appointed as Commander
in Chief of the U.S. Pacific theater.

April 3, 1942 - Japanese attack U.S. and Filipino troops at
Bataan.

April 6, 1942 - First U.S. troops arrive in Australia.

April 18, 1942 - Surprise U.S. 'Doolittle' B-25 air raid from
the HORNET against Tokyo boosts Allied morale.

April 29, 1942 - Japanese take central Burma.

May 3, 1942 - Japanese take Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.

May 6, 1942 - Japanese take Corregidor as Gen. Wainwright
unconditionally surrenders all U.S. And Filipino forces in the Philippines.

May 7-8, 1942 - Japan suffers its first defeat of the war
during the Battle of the Coral Sea off New Guinea - the first time in history
that two opposing carrier forces fought only using aircraft without the opposing
ships ever sighting each other.

May 12, 1942 - The last U.S. Troops holding out in the Philippines
surrender on Mindanao.

May 20, 1942 - Japanese complete the capture of Burma and
reach India.

June 4-5, 1942 - Turning point in the war occurs with a decisive
victory for the U.S. against Japan in the Battle of Midway as squadrons of U.S.
torpedo planes and dive bombers from ENTERPRISE, HORNET, and YORKTOWN attack
and destroy four Japanese carriers, a cruiser, and damage another cruiser and
two destroyers. U.S. loses YORKTOWN.

August 7, 1942 - The first U.S. amphibious landing of the
Pacific War occurs as 1st Marine Division invades Tulagi and Guadalcanal in
the Solomon Islands.

September 12-14, 1942 - Battle of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal.

October 11/12, 1942 - U.S. cruisers and destroyers defeat
a Japanese task force in the Battle of Cape Esperance off Guadalcanal.

November 30/31, 1942 - Battle of Tasafaronga off Guadalcanal.

December 31, 1942 - Emperor Hirohito of Japan gives permission
to his troops to withdraw from Guadalcanal after five months of bloody fighting
against U.S. Forces.

1943

January 2, 1943 - Allies take Buna in New Guinea.

January 22, 1943 - Allies defeat Japanese at Sanananda on
New Guinea.

February 9, 1943 - Japanese resistance on Guadalcanal ends.

March 2-4, 1943 - U.S. victory over Japanese in the Battle
of Bismarck Sea.

April 18, 1943 - U.S. code breakers pinpoint the location
of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto flying in a Japanese bomber near Bougainville in
the Solomon Islands. Eighteen P-38 fighters then locate and shoot down Yamamoto.

June 1, 1943 - U.S. begins submarine warfare against Japanese
shipping.

August 25, 1943 - Allies complete the occupation of New Georgia.

September 4, 1943 - Allies recapture Lae-Salamaua, New Guinea.

November 1, 1943 - U.S. Marines invade Bougainville in the
Solomon Islands.

November 2, 1943 - Battle of Empress Augustusta Bay.

November 20, 1943 - U.S. Troops invade Makin and Tarawa in
the Gilbert Islands.

November 23, 1943 - Japanese end resistance on Makin and Tarawa.

December 15, 1943 - U.S. Troops land on the Arawe Peninsula
of New Britain in the Solomon Islands.

December 26, 1943 - Full Allied assault on New Britain as
1st Division Marines invade Cape Gloucester.

1944

January 9, 1944 - British and Indian troops recapture Maungdaw
in Burma.

January 31, 1944 - U.S. Troops invade Kwajalein in the Marshall
Islands.

February 1-7, 1944 - U.S. Troops capture Kwajalein and Majura
Atolls in the Marshall Islands.

February 17/18, 1944 - U.S. Carrier-based planes destroy the
Japanese naval base at Truk in the Caroline Islands.

February 20, 1944 - U.S. Carrier-based and land-based planes
destroy the Japanese base at Rabaul.

February 23, 1944 - U.S. Carrier-based planes attack the Mariana
Islands.

April 17, 1944 - Japanese begin their last offensive in China,
attacking U.S. air bases in eastern China.

April 22, 1944 - Allies invade Aitape and Hollandia in New
Guinea.

May 27, 1944 - Allies invade Biak Island, New Guinea.

June 5, 1944 - The first mission by B-29 Superfortress bombers
occurs as 77 planes bomb Japanese railway facilities at Bangkok, Thailand.

June 15, 1944 - U.S. Marines invade Saipan in the Mariana
Islands.

June 15/16, 1944 - The first bombing raid on Japan since the
Doolittle raid of April 1942, as 47 B-29s based in Bengel, India, target the
steel works at Yawata.

June 19, 1944 - The "Marianas Turkey Shoot" occurs
as U.S. Carrier-based fighters shoot down 220 Japanese planes, while only 20
American planes are lost.

July 27, 1944 - American troops complete the liberation of
Guam.

August 3, 1944 - U.S. And Chinese troops take Myitkyina after
a two month siege.

August 8, 1944 - American troops complete the capture of the
Mariana Islands.

September 15, 1944 - U.S. Troops invade Morotai and the Paulaus.

October 11, 1944 - U.S. Air raids against Okinawa.

October 20, 1944 - U.S. Sixth Army invades Leyte in the Philippines.

October 23-26, 1944 - Battle of Leyte Gulf results in a decisive
U.S. Naval victory.

October 25, 1944 - The first suicide air (Kamikaze) attacks
occur against U.S. warships in Leyte Gulf. By the end of the war, Japan will
have sent an estimated 2,257 aircraft. "The only weapon I feared in the
war," Adm. Halsey will say later.

December 15, 1944 - U.S. Troops invade Mindoro in the Philippines.

1945

January 3, 1945 - Gen. MacArthur is placed in command of all
U.S. ground forces and Adm. Nimitz in command of all naval forces in preparation
for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan itself.

January 11, 1945 - Air raid against Japanese bases in Indochina by
U.S. Carrier-based planes.

February 3, 1945 - U.S. Sixth Army attacks Japanese in Manila.

February 16, 1945 - U.S. Troops recapture Bataan in the Philippines.

February 19, 1945 - U.S. Marines invade Iwo Jima.

March 1, 1945 - A U.S. submarine sinks a Japanese merchant
ship loaded with supplies for Allied POWs, resulting in a court martial for
the captain of the submarine, since the ship had been granted safe passage by
the U.S. Government.

March 3, 1945 - U.S. And Filipino troops take Manila.

March 27, 1945 - B-29s lay mines in Japan's Shimonoseki Strait
to interrupt shipping.

April 1, 1945 - The final amphibious landing of the war occurs
as the U.S. Tenth Army invades Okinawa.

April 12, 1945 - President Roosevelt dies, succeeded by Harry
S. Truman.

May 8, 1945 - Victory in Europe Day.

May 20, 1945 - Japanese begin withdrawal from China.

May 25, 1945 - U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff approve Operation
Olympic, the invasion of Japan, scheduled for November 1.

June 9, 1945 - Japanese Premier Suzuki announces Japan will
fight to the very end rather than accept unconditional surrender.

July 5, 1945 - Liberation of Philippines declared.

July 10, 1945 - 1,000 bomber raids against Japan begin.

July 16, 1945 - First Atomic Bomb is successfully tested in
the U.S.

July 26, 1945 - Components of the Atomic Bomb "Little
Boy" are unloaded at Tinian Island in the South Pacific.

August 6, 1945 - First Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima from
a B-29 flown by Col. Paul Tibbets.

August 8, 1945 - U.S.S.R. declares war on Japan then invades
Manchuria.

August 9, 1945 - 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.

August 14, 1945 - Japanese accept unconditional surrender;
Gen. MacArthur is appointed to head the occupation forces in Japan.

October 24, 1945 - United Nations is born