On 8 December 1941, hours after Pearl Harbor but already the next day west of the date line, Japan attacked Hong Kong and Wake Island. Bombers hit Kai Tak airfield as Japanese troops crossed into the New Territories, and caught the Marine fighters on Wake. Wake fell on 23 December, Hong Kong on Christmas Day.
Battle of Hong Kong, 1941: eighteen days to Black Christmas
8 to 25 December 1941 · 84 years ago
Hours after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese 38th Division crossed into the New Territories. British, Canadian, Indian and local Hong Kong troops fell back to Hong Kong Island and held out for about 18 days before the colony surrendered on Christmas Day, remembered as Black Christmas.
Read the full story of Battle of Hong Kong, 1941: eighteen days to Black Christmas ›Battle of the Falkland Islands, 1914: Coronel avenged
8 December 1914 · 111 years ago
A British squadron with two battlecruisers caught Admiral von Spee's German East Asia Squadron as it tried to raid Stanley in the Falklands during World War I. The Germans were crushed, avenging the defeat at Coronel, and the day is still a public holiday on the islands.
Read the full story of Battle of the Falkland Islands, 1914: Coronel avenged ›Battle of Wake Island, 1941: the atoll that struck back
8 to 23 December 1941 · 84 years ago
Hours after Pearl Harbor, on the other side of the date line, Japanese bombers struck Wake. The Marine and Navy garrison beat off the first landing on 11 December and sank two destroyers, but a reinforced force with carrier support landed on 23 December and the atoll surrendered.
Read the full story of Battle of Wake Island, 1941: the atoll that struck back ›Also on this day
Khopyor-Don Operation
8 December 1919 · 106 years ago
The Red Army's 9th Army, reinforced by Boris Dumenko's cavalry corps, attacked the White Don Army in a Russian Civil War offensive aimed at reaching the Don River. The Reds forced the Khopyor River and took Kalach, though the Don Army struck back with counterattacks.
