On this Day in Chinese History; 13 December

This day, 13 December, in 1937, saw the start of the Nanjing Massacre, as the Japanese army took the city following their earlier capture of Shanghai. No less than 300,000 Chinese civilians were killed, many of them brutally and bloodily, in the 6-week long rampage that is often cited as the true beginning of World War II. Mass wartime sexual violence, looting and arson were commonplace.