Dec. 7, 1941: Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Dec. 8, 1941: Japanese bomb the Philippines, destroying many aircraft at Clark Field
Dec. 22, 1941: About 43,000 Japanese troops begin the main invasion of Luzon; American and Filipino troops begin to amass on Bataan
Dec. 24, 1941: Manila declared "open city"
End of December 1941: Ground war in progress on Bataan
Feb. 8, 1942: Japan decides to regroup after its forces are repelled
March 1942: Having received reinforcements, Japanese strengthen attacks
March 12, 1942: Gen. Douglas MacArthur evacuated to Australia from Corregidor
April 9, 1942: Gen. Edward King surrenders Bataan; death march begins
March 1, 1942: Final Japanese assault on Corregidor begins
May 6, 1942: Gen. Jonathan Wainwright asks to surrender Corregidor
October 1944: MacArthur returns, coming ashore at Leyte in the southern Philippines
Feb. 3, 1945: Battle of Manila begins
March 4, 1945: Manila officially liberated, but the city is devastated by bombing and the Manila Massacre, in which about 100,000 people were killed.
Aug. 6, 1945: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan
Aug. 9, 1945: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan
Aug. 15, 1945: Japanese Emperor Hirohito announces Japan's surrender
Sept. 2, 1945: Japan officially surrenders aboard the Missouri
December 1945: Japanese Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita sentenced to death for the Manila Massacre and other war crimes.
Feb. 23, 1946: Yamashita hanged in the Philippines
April 3, 1946: Japanese Gen. Masaharu Homma, who directed the battle for Bataan, is executed for his role in the death march and atrocities committed in prison camps. American and Filipino forces make up the firing squad.