| A | B |
|---|
| Battle of Britain: 1940-1941 | German air attack on Great Britain; the German air force repeatedly bombed the country, forcing thousands to seek refuge in underground bomb shelters |
| Pearl Harbor: Dec. 7, 1941 | Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Congress declared war on Japan the next day |
| Battle of the Coral Sea: May 4–8, 1942 | Major battle between Japanese forces and combined US and Australian naval and air forces in the Pacific Theater; Allies defeated Japan, thus saving Australia from invasion |
| Battle of Midway: June 4-7, 1942 | Major battle in which the US heavily damaged hundreds of Japanese planes and all of the aircraft carriers on the island of Midway |
| Battle of Guadalcanal: Aug. 7, 1942 – Feb. 9, 1943 | the first offensive against Japan launched by combined allied forces on land, sea and air; Japan’s loss was a turning point for the Allied forces |
| Battle of Stalingrad: July 17, 1942 – Feb. 2, 1943 | bloodiest battle in the history of warfare (estimated 2 million killed) between Nazi forces and the Soviet Union |
| D-Day: June 6, 1944 | The invasion of Normandy to liberate German-controlled France and northern Europe |
| Battle of the Bulge: Dec. 16, 1944-Jan. 25, 1945 | Hitler’s final attempt to achieve a victory against Allied forces; he lost |
| VE Day: May 7, 1945 | Victory in Europe Day; date of Germany’s surrender to the allies |
| Hiroshima & Nagasaki: Aug. 1945 | President Harry Truman ordered the dropping of atomic bombs on these two Japanwese cities |
| VJ Day: Sept. 2, 1945 | Victory in Japan Day; Date of Japan’s surrender to the allies |
| Iwo Jima & Okinawa | The U.S. moved closer to defeating Japan with these two victories |
