📅 On This Day in Military History

December 8

1 event across history

⚔️📍 Washington D.C., USA1941

Congress Declares War on Japan — 'A Date Which Will Live in Infamy'

President Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress the day after Pearl Harbor, calling December 7 'a date which will live in infamy' and requesting a declaration of war. The Senate voted 82-0; the House 388-1, with pacifist Jeannette Rankin the only dissent.

America's entry into WWII ended its isolationism and permanently established it as a global power that could not stand apart from world affairs.

Outcome

U.S. enters WWII; Germany and Italy declare war Dec 11