Important World War II Battles/Events
Pearl Harbor
 December 7, 1941
 Japanese surprise attack U.S. Naval Base in Hawaii – 2,403 American were killed
 U.S. declares war on Japan and enters World War II
War in Europe
D-Day (_______________________________)
 June 6, 1944
 U.S. and other Allied Powers land in Normandy, France to free Europe of Nazi control –
 Largest land-sea-air invasion ever
 Significance?
Fall of Berlin  V-E Day
 May 1945  May 8, 1945
 U.S. moves into Germany from the West, while the Soviet Union approaches from the East.
 Nazis lose control of the city and surrender.
 Significance?
Pacific Theatre
Battle of Midway
 June 3, 1942
 America attacks Japanese fleet on the island of Midway (revenge for Pearl Harbor!)
 Significance?
Battle for Iwo Jima/Okinawa
 April 1945
 Fierce battles for the last two islands before the main island of Japan
 Significance?
Hiroshima/Nagasaki
 August 6 and August 9 1945
 U.S. Dropped 2 atomic bombs from its Manhattan Project (with a secret test facility in Los Alamos, New Mexico
where the fist one was tested) on these Japanese cities to force the unconditional surrender of Japan
 Significance?
V-J Day
 August 15  September 2, 1945
 Japanese formally surrender to the U.S.
 Significance?