On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a U.S.

naval base in Hawaii,

killing more than 2,400 people and injuring 1,000. President Franklin D. Roosevelt described the attack
as "a date which will live in infamy" and it prompted the United States to enter World War II. The next
day, the United States declared war on Japan.

It's important to note that the attack on Pearl Harbor was not an isolated incident, but part of a larger
coordinated effort by the Japanese Empire to target U.S. and British territories in the Asia-Pacific region.
On the same day as the Pearl Harbor bombing, Japan also attacked the U.S. territories of Guam and the
Philippines, as well as the British territories of Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaya (now part of Malaysia).
It also invaded the independent nation of Thailand.

These attacks had a significant impact on the course of the war. Japan did not occupy Hawaii, but did
occupy Guam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaya, and successfully persuaded Thailand
to enter the war on the Axis side. The Philippines was occupied by Japan for three years, making it a
major part of the Pacific theater of World War II.