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Black and white photo of plume of smoke at Pearl Harbor attack.

From the Archives: The Pearl Harbor Attack

From The Second World War: Triumph of the Axis (1963).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
  • Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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    Understanding V-J Day and the End of World War II
    Understanding V-J Day and the End of World War II
  • Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
    On December 16, 1773, American patriots dumped 342 chests of black tea off British boats into Boston Harbor.
    What Was the Boston Tea Party?
    Historical illustration of the Boston Tea Party, showing colonists dumping tea chests from a ship into Boston Harbor while a crowd gathers on the shore in the background.
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    Learn about the Germanic leader Arminius and the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.
    How Arminius Led a Germanic Defeat of Rome
    How Arminius Led a Germanic Defeat of Rome
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    Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) flying, perching, and fishing in the Chilkat River valley of southern Alaska.
    Study the migratory, predatory, and living habits of North American bald eagles
    Study the migratory, predatory, and living habits of North American bald eagles
  • Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
    In September 1940 Imperial Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. Why?
    Before World War II: The Rise of Imperial Japan
    Vintage map of Japan and Indo China region.
  • © American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
    Watch this clip from a 1940s film promoting the production of hemp for the U.S. war effort.
    Hemp production in the United States during World War II
    Hemp production in the United States during World War II
  • © World Science Festival (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
    Learn about the history of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S., including the response from activists and from political and medical establishments.
    The AIDS Epidemic in the U.S.
    The AIDS Epidemic in the U.S.
Related Articles: Pacific War , Pearl Harbor attack , United States , history of United States , World War II

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Transcript

NARRATOR: The goal was the destruction of the American Pacific fleet lying at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands [music in]. The United States would now be at war with the Axis powers, and the last traces of isolationism were to vanish overnight.

[Music out]
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