September 19, 1931 Japanese troops conquer Mukden, South Manchuria

December 9, 1931 Japanese army attacks Chinese province of Jehol

December 12, 1931 Japanese Govt of Imukai forms

January 28, 1932 Japan occupies Shanghai

February 4, 1932 Japanese troop occupy Harbin, Manchuria

February 20, 1932 Japanese troops occupy Tunhua China

March 9, 1932 Former Chinese emperor Henry Pu-Yi installed as head of Manchuria

May 5, 1932 Japan & China sign a peace treaty

December 12, 1932 USSR & China resume diplomatic relations

May 26, 1932 Admiral Makoto Saito forms parliament in Tokyo

March 27, 1933 Japan leaves League of Nations

March 1, 1934 Henry Pu Yi crowned emperor Kang Teh of Manchuria

October 18, 1934 Chinese Red leader under Mao Tse Tung begins Long March

December 19, 1934 Japan agrees to fleet treaty of 1922 & 1930

December 29, 1934 Japan renounces Wash Naval Treaty of 1922 & London Treaty of 1930

April 16, 1935 Pan Am begins survey flights for Trans Pacific Service

October 10, 1935 League of Nations denounces Italian invasion of Abyssinia

October 20, 1935 Mao Tse Tung & his Communist forces ended their "Long March" at Yan'an, in Shaanxi China

November 9, 1935 Japan invades Shanghai China

November 22, 1935 China Clipper (flying boat) took off from Alameda, Calif, carrying 100,000 pieces of mail on 1st trans-Pacific airmail flight

February 26, 1936 Military coup in Japan

April 18, 1936 Pan-Am Clipper begins regular passenger flights from SF to Honolulu

July 4, 1936 League of Nations starts sanctions against Italy

November 15, 1936 Nazi-Germany & Japan sign Anti-Komintern pact

July 7, 1937 Japanese & Chinese troops clash, (Marco Polo Bridge), becomes WW II

April 29, 1937 Pan-Am first scheduled passenger flight to Hong Kong

July 15, 1937 Japanese attack Marco Polo Bridge, invade China

August 13, 1937 Japanese attack Shanghai

August 14, 1937 China declares war on Japan

August 25, 1937 Japanese fleet blockades Chinese coast

November 9, 1937 Japans army conquers Shanghai

December 1, 1937 Japan recognizes Franco goverment

December 12, 1937 Japanese aircraft shell & sink US gunboat Panay on Yangtze River in China. (Japan apologized & eventually paid US $2.2M in reparations)

December 14, 1937 Japanese troops conquer/plunder Nanjing

December 29, 1937 Pan Am starts San Francisco-to-Auckland, New Zealand service

August 30, 1939 Isoroku Yamamoto now supreme commander of Japanese fleet

August 31, 1939 Japanese invasion army driven out of Mongolia

April 22, 1940 Rear Adm Joseph Taussig testifies before US Senate Naval Affairs Committee that war with Japan is inevitable (He was right)

June 5, 1940 Battle of France begins in WW II

July 2, 1940 Hitler orders invasion of England

July 23, 1940 "Blitz" all-night air raid by German bombers on London begins

September 26, 1940 Japanese troops attack French Indo-China

September 27, 1940 Nazi-Germany, Italy & Japan sign 10 year alliance (Axis)

October 31, 1940 Battle of Britain: control of English Channel, ends

July 25, 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt bans selling benzine/gasoline to Japan

July 26, 1941 US embargo on oil-export to Japan

July 27, 1941 Japanese forces land in Indo-China

October 18, 1941 Spy Richard Sorge arrested in Tokyo

October 27, 1941 Chicago Daily Tribune editorialize no war with Japan

November 1, 1941 Japanese marine staff officiers Suzuki/Maejima arrive in Pearl Harbor

November 5, 1941 Japanese marine staff officiers Suzuki/Maejima leave Pearl Harbor

November 6, 1941 Japanese fleet readies assault on Pearl Harbor

November 23, 1941 German troops conquer Klin, at NW of Moscow

November 26, 1941 Japanese carrier force left its base & moves east toward Pearl Harbor

November 29, 1941 Passenger ship Lurline sends radio signal of sighting Jap war fleet

mber 30, 1941 Japanese Emperor Hirohito consults with admirals Shimada & Nagano

December 1, 1941 Japanese emperor Hirohito signs declaration of war

December 2, 1941 Naval Intelligence ceases bugging Japanese consul
December 2, 1941 Yamamoto sends his fleet to Pearl Harbor

December 6, 1941 Dutch & British pilots see Japanese invasion fleet at Singapore

December 7, 1941 Japanese attack Pearl Harbor (a date that will live in infamy)