FDR delivers ‘Day of Infamy speech’ asking Congress to declare war on Japan 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDate #OTD (Dec 8 1941)


Video: 'President Franklin D. Roosevelt Declares War on Japan (Full Speech) | War Archives'

(Monday, December 8, 1941, 7:00 a.m. in Honolulu/12:30 p.m. in Washington/Tuesday, December 9, 1941, 2:30 a.m. in Tokyo; 23 hours after the Attack on Pearl Harbor began, part of the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of World War II — One day after the Empire of Japan’s attack on the United States military bases at the Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the Philippines along with the Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, declaring December 7th, 1941, as “a date which live in infamy,” asked lawmakers to declare war against Japan this afternoon during an address before a joint session of Congress.


Video: 'President Franklin D. Roosevelt Declares War on Japan [Colorized Version]'

On Dec. 7, 1941, the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service aircraft in a surprise military strike, destroying various American ships and aircraft, and killing over 2,400 civilians and military personnel.


Video: 'Day of Infamy: FDR and Pearl Harbor'

After consulting with his cabinet, Roosevelt decided to deliver an address before the joint session of the Congress the next day.