History for the day

During World War Two, some 30,000 United States Marines landed on the Western Pacific island of Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945, where they encountered ferocious resistance from dug-in Japanese forces. The Americans took control of the strategically important island after a month-long battle, incurring nearly 7,000 casualties in the process; the Japanese had over 18,000 dead or missing (many by suicide), with only 216 captured alive.