First Bombing of Tokyo

On April 18, from the carrier Hornet, Colonel James H. Doolittle led 16 B-25 bombers in a raid on Tokyo and other Japanese cities. The raid succeeded in its main purpose—to raise American morale—but did little serious damage. When asked what base the bombers had used, President Roosevelt replied "Shangri-La," a fictional country in James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon. Later a United States aircraft carrier was named Shangri-La.