Exactly 200 years ago today, America lost two Founding Fathers on the same day.
On July 4, 1826—50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was adopted—John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died within hours of one another.
Later, James Monroe also died on a July 4, in 1831.
On this day in 1942, U.S. warships ambush a Japanese task force at Midway. Japan loses four carriers and nearly 250 warplanes in the ensuing battle. It's a turning point in the Pacific War.
A future President had his boat cut in half by a Japanese destroyer.
He swam four miles through enemy waters with a wounded man's life jacket strap clenched in his teeth.
Then it got worse.
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Yes, what you are seeing here is a captured Japanese Zero with American markings.
In 1942 a Japanese pilot crashed it in Alaska.
The Americans rebuilt it and flew it across California for the next two years.
What they discovered changed the Pacific war.
This is the story of the Akutan Zero..🧵1/4
Today in 1942, U.S. and Japanese fleets clash in the Coral Sea. It's the first battle in history fought entirely between aircraft carriers. The U.S. loses the USS Lexington while USS Yorktown is heavily damaged. Japan’s carrier Shōhō is sunk and Shōkaku badly damaged.
This day in 1942, U.S. forces launched the Doolittle Raid, the first air attack on Japan after Pearl Harbor. Sixteen B-25 bombers took off from USS Hornet, boosting American morale despite limited damage. #WW2
April 18, 1943: Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto saluting IJN pilots at Rabaul. Shortly after this photograph, Admiral Yamamoto boarded a G4M "Betty" bomber and headed out for Bougainville. He was completely unaware that his itinerary was already in American hands and that he was flying into an ambush. 18 P-38Gs from the 339th FS, led by Maj. John Mitchell, have flown a grueling 400+ miles in total radio-silence, sometimes flying at 30 ft above the waves to avoid detection, were heading straight for his bomber. 1/2