The attack on pearl harbor was of great significance to everyone involved in WWII.

It was actually an extremely successful attack. Not terrible. I'm sure you probably don't consider the bombing of Tokyo or Fat Man and Little Boy to be terrible do you? Oh... that's because it was 'Merica killin' the hell out of the Japs who had it comin'!

Yes, it was extremely successful in dragging America into WWII. I'm sure you can't find anyone living in any of those places that don't consider all of the afore mentioned attacks to be terrible although, as you suggest, they were all successful from a tactical point of view.

Well, Baconfish suggests that as a foreigner he has no knowledge of an incredibly significant event of that era so I must assume it is because WWII is not relevant to the history of his country. I find it astonishing that we would have a member here from a country not too terribly familiar with the era but diversity thrives here.

He never said he had no knowledge of it, just that he didn't know the exact date. I'd bet that the vast majority of Americans don't have the date memorized, either.

They do Day/Month/Year over there.

Well seeing as the UK arguably started the war in the first place I'm going to go ahead and say it's pretty effing relevant to the history of the country. Whilst I know more about WWI, I do know quite a bit about WWII though not the Pacific theatre. That's probably because, y'know, we were focused on Europe and Africa and hence that's what I know most about.

I'm willing to bet than less than 1% of British people would be able to give the date of the attack on pearl harbour, most likely because it happened on the opposite side of the planet and we'd already been at war for over 2 years by then.

You don't have to get bent out of shape because someone from a foreign country knows more about their own history than yours.

:hist101::hist101::hist101:

From the perspective of the people getting attacked, that's the same thing.

Do you know the day the Rape of Nanjing started?

Pommy says something along the lines of what i was going to say.

Hey, I was acquitted of that, Nanjing is a lying whore, it's not my baby

That didn't really have significant effect on the course of the war.

But it's a "significant date" related to "a terrible attack that took place [more than] 70 years ago."

But the actual date that it took place is far less significant than the fact that it took place. It could have happened at any point during the war with negligible effect on the outcome. It has no strategic significance.

You sir, are my Hero. Perfect placement.

The assumption is that the date of Pearl Harbor is remembered not because the event or date was strategically significant but simply by virtue of the fact that the event the date is associated with was a particularly impactful one that affected many people's lives, and the date is part of the identity of that event. This also applies to the Rape of Nanjing (amongst other things -- e.g. 9/11).

What are you, FGR?

fgr would be proud of this thread

Hahahaha oh yeah, the whole difference in how we write our date.

That amuses me for some reason

Obviously I was being sarcastic about your country not being involved in WWII but taking the thread title in context with the images in the opening post and the fact that a simple search with the exact thread title answered your confused little smiley makes you appear pretty ignorant in my eyes. At least I try much harder by actually writing posts that people believe make me look ignorant.



Using the same method I described earlier I see that the BBC says "between December 1937 and March 1938" however I could just post a confused smiley. I'm not the one in this thread that has demonstrated inadequate search techniques or deductive reasoning to help inform me of the topic being written about.

Things are never obvious with you.



Again. Day/month/year is not the same as our Month/Day/Year



Maybe it was genuine confusion, or he tried to look it up and didnt find anything. Or maybe cause hes un-american he sjust a lazy *******!



nope, but you seem annoyed about it

Is the internet different too?

Boco is being obstinate, everyone on internet knows about the date format differences. He's just being belligerent.

Says Steven

Actually I was being Facetious.

And JLee, google uk tends to bring up stuff in the proper date format first.

?

Huh, fair enough, but you realise that I didn't actually search for anything and I was just making a joke, right?

HA.

I don't think so. Compared to other major battles in the PTO, relaatively few lives were lost. It's significance lies in the fact that it pissed the US off enough to make us fully commit ourselves to the war. Also, the fact that that particular day had special significance, like the day Hitler invaded Poland or D-Day, makes it a more significant date.

.

The point is that it affected many lives (I'm not sure how the relatively fewer number of lives lost is relevant), which makes it an "important event". People remember December 7th, 1941 first and formost because the date is a part of the identity "Pearl Harbor," not because it's when the US entered the war -- the fact that Pearl Harbor is when the US entered the war is irrelevant to what Wookie was implying, which is "dates of important historical events should be remembered because they are are important events". I understand that you're trying to say that dates are remembered because they in their own right have historical significance, but I don't think that's what's being argued here -- i.e. it's NOT "The date of Pearl Harbor is significant" but "The event of Pearl Harbor was significant and the date it happened on is part of its identity." Similarly, "The event of the Rape of Nanjing was significant and the date(s) (weeks) it happened on are a part of its identity." September 11th, 2001 is significant not because it was the beginning of our focus on terrorism, but because it is a part of "9/11"'s identity. And so on.

How confusing. Let us discuss the battle of Midway, and how amazingly awesome a movie about it would be.

It was a movie.

WHAT DIDNT YOU KNOW THAT HOW INGNORMANT

Wake Island was the best map in 1942. I'd like to see a movie about that. Only if it has capture the flag in it, though.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074899/

Yes... I see how the title of the film could be misleading as to the subject matter....

Movies made in the 70s don't count. Besides I already saw that one.

A high budget mini-series about carrier warfare in the PTO would be to die for.

yes