Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day The History of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is the history of the attack itself, an attack which took place on December 7th, 1941. The attack was devastating, killing over 2,400 citizens of the United States from the time it began at 7:48am Hawaiian time and ended just 90 minutes later, making the attack incredibly devastating. Multiple ships were lost during the attack, though things could have been much worse.