Franklin D. Roosevelt, "A Date That Will Live in Infamy" (1941)

On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States naval base located at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Over 2,400 Americans died. The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress to ask for a declaration of war. He began by referring to December 7 as "a date that will live in infamy." The Pearl Harbor attack brought the United States into World War II and was the most deadly foreign attack on American soil until the 9/11 attacks by al Qaeda in 2001.