On December 7, 1941 the Japanese sent a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in order to keep the US with intervening with their plans. Sending two waves of over 300 aircraft, the Japanese had destroyed over 20 naval vessels and killed over 2,000 people in the process. The next day the US declared war on Japan. This was an important event in WWII because it sparked the war to become worldwide with the US going to with Japan and Germany as well. It was also the first attack in America since the Spanish-American war, and the only attack in the US during WWII. The attack on Pearl Harbor showed a vital outcome in the war because if the US would have waited on joining the war, Germany could have already had it won by then. If the attack on Pearl Harbor