World War II: Japanese forces on Wake Island, which they had held since December 1941, surrender to U.S. Marines.

Wake Island

Pacific island administered by the United States

Wake Island, also known as Wake Atoll, is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets – Wake, Wilkes, and Peale Islands – surrounding a lagoon encircled by a coral reef. The nearest inhabited island is Utirik Atoll in the…