Attack on Pearl Harbor

Oklahoma City bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It remained the most destructive act of terrorism committed in the United States until the September 11 attacks of 2001. The bombing killed 168 people[1] and injured more than 680 others.[2] The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a 16-block radius, destroyed or burned 86 cars, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings,[3][4] causing at least an estimated $652 million worth of damage.[5] Extensive rescue efforts were undertaken by local, state, federal, and worldwide agencies in the wake of the bombing, and substantial donations were received from across the country. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) activated eleven of its Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces, consisting of 665 rescue workers who assisted in rescue and recovery operations.[6][7] Planning[edit] Motivation[edit] Target selection[edit] Alfred P.

FDR's Speech A first draft of the Infamy Speech, with changes by Roosevelt The Infamy Speech was a speech delivered by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a Joint Session of Congress on 8 December 1941, one day after the Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii.[1][2][3][4][5] The name derives from the first line of the speech: Roosevelt describing the previous day as "a date which will live in infamy". Within an hour of the speech, Congress passed a formal declaration of war against Japan and officially brought the U.S. into World War II. [edit] The Infamy Speech was brief, running to just a little over seven minutes. His revised statement was all the stronger for its emphatic insistence that posterity would forever endorse the American view of the attack. The first paragraph of the speech was carefully worded to reinforce Roosevelt's portrayal of the United States as the innocent victim of unprovoked Japanese aggression. Impact and legacy[edit] Media[edit] Notes[edit]

NKVD prisoner massacres Process[edit] With the invasion of Russia by German forces, the NKVD was responsible for evacuating prisons in the occupied regions. More than 140,000 prisoners were successfully evacuated by the NKVD. More than 9,800 were reportedly executed in the prisons, 1,443 were executed in the process of evacuation, 59 were killed for attempting to escape, 23 were killed by German bombs, and 1057 died from other causes.[6] The massacres[edit] The NKVD and the Red Army killed prisoners in many places from Poland (e.g. Entrance to memorial in Piatykhatky Katyn-Kharkiv memorial Belarus[edit] Hrodna (Grodno): on June 22, the NKVD executed several dozen people at the local prison. Estonia[edit] Tartu: on July 9, 1941, almost 250 detainees were shot in Tartu prison and the Gray House courtyard; their bodies were dumped in makeshift graves and in the prison well.[17]Kautla massacre: on July 24, 1941 the Red Army killed more than 20 civilians and burnt their farms. Latvia[edit] Lithuania[edit] Poland[edit]

USS Greer (DD-145) Six months' duty with the Pacific Fleet terminated 25 March 1920, when Greer sailed to join the Asiatic Fleet. After standing by off Shanghai to protect American lives and property during riots there in May, Greer sailed to Port Arthur and Dairen on intelligence missions and returned to Cavite, Philippines, for fleet exercises. The destroyer returned to San Francisco 29 September 1921 via Guam, Midway, and Pearl Harbor. Greer decommissioned at San Diego 22 June 1922, and was placed in reserve. Greer recommissioned 31 March 1930, Commander J. W. As war swept across Europe, Greer recommissioned 4 October 1939, Commander J. The "Greer incident" occurred 4 September. In response, Germany claimed "that the attack had not been initiated by the German submarine; on the contrary, ... the submarine had been attacked with depth bombs, pursued continuously in the German blockade zone, and assailed by depth bombs until midnight The Greer was flying the American flag. The aggression is not ours.

Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki In August 1945, during the final stage of the Second World War, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in human history. Background Pacific War Main article: Pacific War As the Allied advance moved inexorably towards Japan, conditions became steadily worse for the Japanese people. Preparations to invade Japan Even before the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945, plans were underway for the largest operation of the Pacific War, Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan. U.S. Japan's geography made this invasion plan obvious to the Japanese; they were able to predict the Allied invasion plans accurately and thus adjust their defensive plan, Operation Ketsugō, accordingly. The Americans were alarmed by the Japanese buildup, which was accurately tracked through Ultra intelligence. Air raids on Japan A B-29 over Osaka on June 1, 1945

USS Reuben James (DD-245) Coordinates: USS Reuben James (DD-245)—a post-World War I, four-funnel Clemson-class destroyer—was the first United States Navy ship sunk by hostile action in the European theater of World War II and the first named for Boatswain's Mate Reuben James (c.1776–1838), who distinguished himself fighting in the Barbary Wars. Reuben James was laid down on 2 April 1919 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, launched on 4 October 1919, and commissioned on 24 September 1920, with Commander Gordon W. Hines in command. Based then at New York City, the ship patrolled the Nicaraguan coast to prevent the delivery of weapons to revolutionaries in early 1926. Upon the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939, she joined the Neutrality Patrol, guarding the Atlantic and Caribbean approaches to the American coast. This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

Jonestown Coordinates: Jonestown Georgetown Kaituma Peoples Temple Agricultural Project ("Jonestown", Guyana) "Jonestown" was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project formed by the Peoples Temple, an American religious organization under the leadership of Jim Jones, in northwestern Guyana. A total of 909 Americans[1] died in Jonestown, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning, in an event termed "revolutionary suicide" by Jones and some members on an audio tape of the event and in prior discussions. The actions in Jonestown have been commonly viewed as mass suicide, although some sources, including Jonestown survivors, regard them as mass murder instead.[2][3] It was the largest such event in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until September 11, 2001.[4] In recent years, the Jonestown massacre has been the subject of several conspiracy theories. Origins[edit] Some of the Peoples Temple California locations

The Fall of the Philippines-Chapter 3 The Reinforcement of the Philippines Another cause for optimism was the recall of General MacArthur to active duty. No one knew as much as he about the Philippines and no one believed more completely that it could be held if the Japanese allowed sufficient time for reinforcement. The possibility of establishing an effective defense against Japan in the Philippines and thereby preventing Japanese domination of the Western Pacific without altering the major lines of strategy already agreed upon "had the effect," Stimson said, "of making the War Department a strong proponent of maximum delay in bringing the Ground Forces The reinforcement of the Philippines now enjoyed the highest priority in the War Department. The arrival of the two tank battalions with their 108 light tanks, M-3, were a welcome addition to the Philippine garrison. Most disturbing was the shortage of light artillery and machine guns in the Philippine Army divisions. Air Forces

Korean War POWs detained in North Korea "Korean War POWs (Prisoners of War) Detained in North Korea" (Korean: 국군포로) refer to the tens of thousands of South Korean soldiers who were captured by the North Korean and Chinese forces during the Korean War (1950–53) but were not returned during the prisoner exchanges under the 1953 Armistice Agreement. Most are presumed dead but the South Korean government estimates some 560 South Korean POWs still survive in North Korea.[1][2] The unaccounted South Korean POW issue has been in dispute since the Armistice in 1953. North Korea continues to deny it holds these South Korean POWs.[3] Interest in this issue has been renewed since 1994, when Lt. Cho Chang-ho, a former South Korean soldier presumed to have been killed in the war, escaped from North Korea. There have also been reports that several hundred American POWs may not have been returned by North Korea.[4][5] But the vast majority of unaccounted POWs are South Koreans. Origins[edit] Number of POWs held in North Korea[edit]

Nanking Massacre An accurate estimation of the death toll in the massacre has not been achieved because most of the Japanese military records on the killings were deliberately destroyed or kept secret shortly after the surrender of Japan in 1945. The International Military Tribunal of the Far East estimated in 1948 over 200,000 Chinese killed in the incident.[5] China's official estimate is more than 300,000 dead based on the evaluation of the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal in 1947. The death toll has been actively contested among scholars since the 1980s, with typical estimates ranging from 40,000 to over 300,000.[6][7] Military situation Relocation of the capital After losing the Battle of Shanghai, Chiang Kai-shek knew that the fall of Nanking would simply be a matter of time. Leaving General Tang Shengzhi in charge of the city for the Battle of Nanking, Chiang and many of his advisors flew to Wuhan, where they stayed until it was attacked in 1938. Strategy for the defense of Nanking Battle of Nanking