Pearl Harbour

Infamous surprise attack

Pearl Harbour is the British spelling of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. naval base in Hawaii attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941, drawing America into World War II.

The name now stands for any sudden, devastating surprise attack: The cyberattack was a digital Pearl Harbour.

The phrase another Pearl Harbour warns of catastrophic unpreparedness.

Related
  • PacificEarth's vastest ocean
  • OahuThird-largest Hawaiian island
  • attackAggressive act against another
  • surpriseUnexpected event causing astonishment
  • warshipsMilitary combat vessels

Japan · bombers · Hawaii · infamy · USA · World War II · USS Arizona · Pacific Theater · military history · sleeping giant · wake up call · war declaration · military base · zero · fighter planes · sneak attack · Allied Powers · Honolulu

Opposites
military surprise attacks

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First nuclear-struck city

Nagasaki · D-Day · Operation Overlord · Dresden bombing

WAR INITIATION vs WAR CONCLUSION

Pearl HarbourV-J Day

Imperial capitulation commemoration

Japanese surrender · Hiroshima · Nagasaki · atomic bombings · V-E Day

AMERICAN DEFEAT vs AMERICAN VICTORY

Pearl HarbourHiroshima

First nuclear-struck city

Nagasaki · Midway · Battle of Midway · Iwo Jima · Okinawa

Family

pearl, harbour, harbor, pearls, pearled, pearly, harbours, harbors, harbored

Familiarity
Top 500,000
Profile
Mostly American · Timeless · Concrete · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG