74 Years Ago: Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor

(Photo: The National World War II Monument, Washington DC. Taken by Tim Darnell)

Monday marks the 74th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, marking the entrance of the United States into World War II.

The war would become the deadliest conflict in human history, with more than 50 million fatalities due to the Holocaust, deaths on the battlefield, and the aftermath of the two atomic devices detonated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The conflict also shaped the world we live in today, and its effects are still being felt through global events.

The Japanese government intended the attack to be a preventive action, hoping the U.S. government would not interfere with the empire’s military operations in southeast Asia. Instead, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan, and the U.S. soon entered the Atlantic theater and the war against Nazi Germany.

Here is a short video that shows the Japanese attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which began at 7:48 am on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941.