1931
Sept. 18 -- Japan invaded Manchuria in North China.

1937
July 7 -- Japan invaded China.

1940
Sept. 22 -- Japan pushed into French Indochina.

1941
Apr. 13 -- Japan and Russia signed a non-aggression pact.
June 8 -- British and French forces invaded Syria.
Aug. 25 -- Russian and British forces invaded Iran.
Dec. 7 -- The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Dec. 8 -- The United States declared war on Japan.
Dec. 9 -- China declared war on Germany, Italy, and Japan.
Dec. 10 -- Guam surrendered to the Japanese.
Dec. 23 -- Wake Island surrendered to the Japanese.
Dec. 25 -- British troops at Hong Kong surrendered.

1942
Jan. 2 -- Manila fell to invading Japanese forces
Jan. 11 -- The Japanese landed in the Netherlands East Indies.
Feb. 1 -- U.S. ships raided the Marshalls and Gilberts.
Feb. 15 -- Singapore surrendered to the Japanese.
Feb. 27 -- The Allies lost the Battle of Java Sea.
Mar. 7 -- The Japanese occupied the Netherlands East Indies.
April 9 -- Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
Apr. 18 -- U.S. carrier-based aircraft bombed Tokyo.
May 4-8 -- The Allies won the Battle of the Coral Sea.
May 6 -- The Japanese occupied Corregidor.
June 4-6 -- The Battle of Midway ended Japan's expansion eastward.
Aug. 7 -- U.S. marines landed on Guadalcanal.

1943
Mar. 2-5 -- The Allies defeated a Japanese naval force in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.
Mar. 13 -- Japanese troops retreated across the Yangtze.
May 30 -- Organized Japanese resistance on Attu ended.
Oct. 2 -- Allied forces captured Finschhafen.
Nov. 1 -- U.S. troops landed on Bougainville Island.
Nov. 20 -- U.S. marines invaded Tarawa and Makin.
Nov. 22 -- The Allies conferred at Cairo in Egypt.

1944
Jan. 31 -- U.S. troops attacked Kwajalein atoll.
Feb. 17 -- U.S. naval forces raided Truk Island.
Feb. 29 -- Allied soldiers landed in the Admiralties.
Mar. 22 -- Japanese troops crossed the border of India.
Apr. 22 -- Allied forces landed at Hollandia.
June 15 -- U.S. marines invaded Saipan Island.
June 15 -- B-29 Superfortresses raided Japan.
June 19-20 -- U.S. forces won the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
July 21 -- U.S. troops landed on Guam Island.
Sept. 15 -- U.S. marines invaded Peleliu Island.
Oct. 20 -- U.S. Army forces landed on Leyte.
Oct. 23-26 -- The U.S. Pacific Fleet crushed the Japanese fleet in the Battle for Leyte Gulf.

1945
Jan. 9 -- Allied troops invaded Luzon, Philippines.
Jan. 22 -- The Allies reopened a land route to China.
Feb. 19 -- U.S. marines stormed Iwo Jima Island.
Apr. 1 -- U.S. troops landed on Okinawa Island.
Aug. 6 -- The U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Aug. 9 -- The U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
Aug. 10 -- Japan opened peace negotiations.
Aug. 14 -- Japan accepted the Allied surrender terms.
Sept. 2 -- Japan signed the terms of surrender.
Sept. 8 -- Japanese forces in China surrendered.
Sept. 12 -- Japanese troops in Southeast Asia surrendered.

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This page was last updated on 04/04/2011.