27 Washington sends warning to U.S. Pacific fleet commanders that war may be imminent. December 7 Attack on Pearl Harbor. 8 FDR asks for declaration of war, and Congress grants it with only one dissenting vote. 10 Japansese attack Bataan Island off the coast of the Philippines. January 2 Japanese enter Manilla, and MacArthur is pushed back on Bataan Peninsula.
Japan receives surrender of Singapore.
March 6 Japan captures Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies. April 9 Bataan falls to the Japanese. 18 Colonel James Doolittle leads 16 B-25's from the carrier Hornet on bombing raids over Tokyo, Yokahama, Kobe, and Nagoya. May 3 Japanese capture Mandalay in Burma. They look to encircle the Coral Sea.