Matthew Diebel of USA Today is the author of the following information.

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 2019: What happened during fateful attack 78 years ago?

“December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy,” President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously proclaimed.

On Saturday, Americans will mark the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

The surprise raid on the major U.S. Navy base near Honolulu killed more than 2,400 Americans and, in short, brought the United States into World War II.

According to the National Park Service, Congress designated Dec. 7 as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day in August 1994. Remembrance events are held every year at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial.

Here are some facts surrounding that fateful day in U.S. history:

What happened during the attack on Pearl Harbor?

Just before 8 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese planes made the surprise raid on Pearl Harbor. During the attack, which was launched from aircraft carriers, nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, were damaged or destroyed, as well as more than 300 aircraft, according to the History Channel.