1941

December 7, 1941 The "day that will live in infamy." The U.S. Pacific fleet and air corps is decimated in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

December 11, 1941 Germany and Italy officially declare war on the United States.

1942

March 11, 1942 Douglas C. MacArthur leaves the Philippines. The 78,000 Allied forces surrender on April 9 and are subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March by the Japanese Army.

June 4, 1942 Battle of Midway. A major Pacific victory, as the Japanese lose about 5,000 officers and soldiers and the Americans only about 300.

1943

February 2, 1943 Germans surrender to the Soviets at Stalingrad, having lost 110,000 soldiers and 91,000 prisoners of war.

February 9, 1943 United States forces are victorious on Guadalcanal. It is the beginning of the Allied reconquest of the Pacific.

September 1, 1943 Italy accepts an armistice agreement.

1944

June 6, 1944 D-Day. The Allies land155,000 troops on the beaches on Normandy.

December, 1944 Battle of the Bulge. Bothsides have 80,000 casualties, but the Allies areleft in a better position. It is the last Germanoffensive in the Ardennes.

1945

February 4, 1945 Yalta Conference ofRoosevelt, Churchill and Stalin.