Sunday · November 15, 2026
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American history, reported as it happened
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19421776 Club

U.S. and Japanese fleets trade blows in the Coral Sea; neither side ever sees the other

Carrier aircraft do all the fighting as Allied forces move to block a Japanese thrust into the South Pacific.

In the heart of the Pacific, a pivotal clash unfolded. The Battle of the Coral Sea, a groundbreaking naval engagement where opposing fleets never sighted each other, marked a turning point in World War II. Stakes were high as the Allies sought to halt Japanese expansion, with the outcome determining the future of the South Pacific…

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More from May 8
1639

Coddington founds Newport; a new settlement opens on Aquidneck Island for those driven out by the Antinomian Controversy

The colony takes shape as Coddington plants a settlement built around the promise of religious freedom in Rhode Island.
1846

Taylor's army beats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande; a war is now underway

American troops hold their ground in the first major engagement of the border dispute, with the armies still in the field and the outcome of the wider conflict far from settled.
1976

Six Flags opens the world's first modern looping coaster; the Great American Revolution launches at Magic Mountain

The ride debuts in the park's Bicentennial summer, sending riders through a complete vertical loop for the first time on a modern steel coaster.
19451776 Club
The remnants of Hitler's military machine lay down arms as Allied commanders accept the unconditional capitulation of all German forces.
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More from The World Wars
1942

Marines cross the Matanikau and the Japanese line breaks

Three days of fighting end with Japanese forces falling back from the river they had held since late September.
1943

Sixty B-17s go down over Schweinfurt; the Eighth Air Force loses the sky over Germany

Of 291 Flying Fortresses sent to hit the ball bearing works, 650 airmen did not come home.
1923

Walt and Roy Disney start a cartoon studio out of a Hollywood real-estate office

Roy signs on the morning after leaving a tuberculosis ward, betting on his brother's deal with a New York distributor.
1933

Einstein steps off the boat in America, a scientist with no country to go home to

Seven months after refusing to return to Germany, he lands to take up a post at a research institute that barely exists yet.
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