Attack on Pearl Harbor: On This Day, 1941

Seventy-five years ago, shortly before 8 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack against US armed forces in Hawaii. Japanese pilots targeted Army, Navy, and Marine airfields, followed by naval ships at Pearl Harbor, with the aim of devastating the entire US Pacific fleet.

The two-hour attack left 2,403 Americans dead and 1,178 injured, and was followed by a formal declaration of war against the United States. On December 8, after a nearly unanimous vote by Congress, the US formally declared war on Japan.

This interactive story map uses a timeline and photographs, documents, and letters to provide a full visual of the attack from both an American and Japanese perspective. Launch a larger version of the storymap in a new window here.

Click here to learn how to create your own interactive storymap, and discover more Gilder Lehrman resources related to the attack on Pearl Harbor and US involvement in World War II here.