World War II: The United States and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_the_Philippines" id="mw5w" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Commonwealth of the Philippines">Philippine Commonwealth</a> begin <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manila_(1945)" id="mw6A" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Battle of Manila (1945)">a month-long battle</a> to retake <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila" id="mw6Q" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Manila">Manila</a> from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Japan" id="mw6g" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Empire of Japan">Japan</a>.