President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to the date Dec. 7, 1941 with an ominous quotation. What happened on that date, and how did FDR refer to it?

On the morning of December 7, 1941, the United States was formally at peace. That peace was shattered when the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a devastating surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The assault killed over 2,400 Americans and crippled a significant portion of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The attack was a calculated strike intended to prevent American interference with Japan's military ambitions in Southeast Asia.

The very next day, a determined President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress and the nation. In his powerful speech, he immortalized the date with the phrase, "a date which will live in infamy." Interestingly, Roosevelt himself edited the speech's first draft, changing the less-impactful "a date which will live in world history" to the final, condemnatory wording. His address successfully galvanized a shocked and outraged public, and within an hour, Congress formally declared war on Japan, officially marking America's entry into World War II.