Which date marks the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor?

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor took place on December 7, 1941. The assault began shortly before 8 a.m. Hawaii time, when Japanese carrier aircraft attacked American naval and air installations on Oahu.

The date is often remembered in the United States because President Franklin D. Roosevelt called it “a date which will live in infamy” in his address to Congress on December 8. The attack led the United States to declare war on Japan the next day.

Because Hawaii was on the other side of the International Date Line from Japan, the attack occurred on December 8 in Japan. This explains why Japanese wartime records and some Pacific histories describe the operation using December 8, while the American historical date is December 7.

The attack was part of Japan’s wider offensive across the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Japanese forces also struck targets in the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, Malaya, and Hong Kong around the same period.