World War II: Battle of Tarawa (Operation Galvanic) begins: United States Marines land on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands and suffer heavy fire from Japanese shore guns and machine guns.

The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, now part of the Republic of Kiribati but then a Japanese-occupied British colony. The battle was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts, and…