British forces in Singapore surrender to Japan, the largest capitulation in British military history, beginning the Japanese occupation of Malaya.
At Pác Bó, Hồ Chí Minh presides over the founding of the League for the Independence of Vietnam (Việt Minh).
The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, bringing the United States into World War II.
Nationalist leader Phan Bội Châu dies in Huế after years under French house arrest.
The Royal Air Force repels a large-scale air campaign by the Luftwaffe, forcing Hitler to postpone his planned invasion of Britain.
Japanese forces attack Lạng Sơn and land near Haiphong, compelling the French administration to accept Japanese bases in Tonkin.
A famine in northern Vietnam under French and Japanese rule kills an estimated 400,000 to 2 million people.