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On This Day - 1942 - Guadalcanal. Japanese Colonel Ichiki believes only a few Americans defend Henderson Aitfield along the Tenaru River. At 1h30 he sends 100 troops across the Tenaru River, supported by machine guns and mortars, but 2500 Marines mow them down with machine gun- and anti tanks.

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On This Day - 1940 - The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, has spent the last few days in a top-secret meetings with the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

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On This Day - 1945 - In Tokyo, the Japanese government at last accepts the inevitable and surrenders to the Allies unconditionally. President Truman declares that "This is the day we've been waiting for since Pearl Harbor". Emperor Hirohito makes an emotional broadcast to the Japanese nation saying that they had to surrender to keep the country from being destroyed by "a new and most cruel bomb". The surrender is formally made to General MacArthur at a ceremony abroad the U.S. battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

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On This Day - 1942 - Japanese counter attack U.S. Marines on Guadalcanal.

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On This Day - 1942 - U.S. 1st Marine Division begins Operation Watchtower, the first U.S. offensive of the war, by landing on Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands.

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On This Day - 1945 - The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

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On This Day - 1944 - The allies report that the Germans have penetrated up to 40 miles in the Ardennes. The American defenders of Bastogne receive the German surrender ultimatum which Brigadier General McAulife, answers with a single word, "Nuts" ! The U.S. 3rd Army begins an offensive to relieve Bastogne.

On the same day - 1941 - The Japanese begin their invasion of the Philippines by landing 43,000 troops of General Homma's 14th Army in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, 150 miles north of Manila.

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On This Day - 1941 - The Flying Tigers, American pilots in China, enter combat against the Japanese over Kunming.

On the same day German forces of Army Group Centre retreating from Moscow reached a new defensive line, more than 100km to the west, where, following strict orders by Hitler, they are to stand and fight off any further Soviet advances.

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On This Day - 1943 - The US Calvary Regiment (6th) army lands on the Arawe Peninsula in New Britain. The new position was 280 miles from Rabul.

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On This Day - 1944 - During World War II, the U.S. cruiser Nashville was badly damaged in a Japanese kamikaze suicide attack. 138 people were killed in the attack.

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On This Day - 1941 - China declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy.

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On This Day - 1941 - The United States entered World War II when it declared war against Japan. The act came one day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Britain and Canada also declared war on Japan.

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On This Day - 1944 - The Battle of Peleliu ended. This battle began on 15 September and considering the number of men involved, it had the highest casualty rate of any battle in the Pacific.

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On This Day - 1936 - The Anti-Comintern Pact, an agreement between Japan and Germany, was signed.

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On This Day - 1944 - The first raid against the Japanese capital of Tokyo was made by land-based U.S. bombers.

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On This Day - 1943 - U.S. forces seized control of Tarawa and Makin from the Japanese during the Central Pacific offensive in the Gilbert Islands.

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On This Day - 1943 - U.S. President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss the measures for defeating Japan.

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On This Day - 1943 - U.S. Marines began their landing on Tawawa and Makin atolls in the Gilbert Islands.

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On This Day - 1944 - The long battle in the Philippines continued. Within a couple of days the Americans had regained their confidence. They just destroyed an entire Japanese convoy of 6 destroyers and 4 transports. However, the battle in Leyte, Philippines was not over yet.