Skip to main content

On This Day: Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor


It was On This Day in 1941, at 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, destroying a large portion of the US Pacific fleet and bringing the United States into World War II. It was, as President Franklin D Roosevelt declared, truly a day that would live in infamy.



Being a Sunday morning, most of the ships anchored at Pearl Harbor were only lightly manned. In the end, 18 US ships were destroyed, sunk or capsized. Over 3,000 Americans were among the casualties and another 2,400 killed.



That morning the Harrisburg Telegraph ran a three lone, all capitals bolded headline announcing the bombing. The paper ran various articles about the bombing, the war, and Pennsylvania’s involvement. One noted that PA Governor James instructed State Police to be “in readiness for immediate action.”



Congress quickly declared war on Japan. The Senate voted unanimously 82 to 0. In the House however there was but one lone single dissenting vote. Jeanette Rankin, a Republican congresswoman from Montana, voted against declaring war. According to the Lock Haven Express, both Pennsylvania senators – James J. Davis and Joseph F Guffey - voted in favor of the resolution.



The New York Fire Commissioner Patrick Walsh ordered all firemen on alert and warned them to be ready for a blackout. The US Navy announced a censorship on all outgoing communication.



In the Panama Republic police were rounding up the Japanese and took them to Colon. That same day, the Dutch East Indies, Costa Rica and Canada also declared war on Japan.



Sources

“A date which will live in infamy.” This Day in History, 1941. History.com.



Harrisburg Telegraph. (Harrisburg, PA), 7 December 1941. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.



The Express. (Lock Haven, PA), 8 December 1941. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.






On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.

                

© Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Coatesville's First Serial Killer

Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal. On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasc

Thaddeus Stevens at the Lancaster Convention Center

Within the Lancaster Convention Center (Lancaster, PA) is a small section dedicated to Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The section is known as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. It is scheduled for development this year. At the moment one can only get a glimpse of it through the Convention Center or by peeking in from the outside. Here at Queen and Vine Streets in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens had his law office. Stevens was an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. Stevens was born 4 April 1792 to Joshua Stevens and Sarah (Sally) Morrill in Danville Vermont. One of four children, he attended Vermont University from 1810 to 1812 when the War prompted its closure. He then went to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. He then studied law and found himself set up in Gettysburg, PA in 1816. He practiced law there until 1828 when he found hi

Living History Offers Opportunity to Step Back in Time

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to work the fields on a plantation during the Revolutionary War? Or stroll through an 18th century village? Or fight in battle during the Civil War?  Living history  offers an interactive perspective which incorporates  historical  activities and dress providing a sense of stepping back in time. So, how can YOU step back in time? Rock Ford volunteer Nancy Bradley in the Study of the mansion Rock Ford Plantation, in Lancaster County, PA, will be hosting a Volunteer Tour Guide Recruitment Event on Sunday, 22 March. They need tour guides for its upcoming tour season.  Built circa 1794, Rock Ford was the home of Edward Hand and his family. Hand, an Irish immigrant and physician, served as Adjutant General to George Washington during the Revolutionary War.   Volunteer tour guides at Rock Ford bring the past to life for museum visitors. A tour guide can be any person aged 18 years and up. No experience is necessary, and trainin