1931: Japan invades Manchuria, which initiates the war in Asia.
1933: Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany.
1939: Germany invades Poland. France, Great Britain and Canada declare war on Germany.
1940: Germany, Italy and Japan form a military alliance.
June 25, 1941: President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 8802, which prohibits racial discrimination in defense industries.
December 7, 1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor.
December 8, 1941: The United States enters World War II.
March, 1942: The Civil Air Patrol is organized to protect the coasts of Florida.
April 11, 1942: German submarine U-123 sinks the American tanker Gulfamerica five miles offshore from Jacksonville Beach.
August 6, 1945: The United States drops an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima in Japan.
August 9, 1945: The United States drops a second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki in Japan.
September 2, 1945: Japan officially surrenders, ending the war.
1946: The University of Florida establishes a temporary branch in Tallahassee to accommodate the sudden demand for higher education as returning veterans begin taking advantage of the GI Bill. The classes are taught by professors at the Florida State College for Women.
May 15, 1947: Governor Millard Caldwell signs legislation converting the Florida State College for Women into Florida State University, which accepted both male and female students.
1947: A. Philip Randolph and Grant Reynolds form the Committee Against Jim Crow in Military Service and Training.
1948: President Harry S. Truman issues Executive Order 9981 calling for equal treatment in the armed services regardless of race, color, religion or national origin.
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