07/08/1853
U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry anchored his ships in Edo Bay near Tokyo and delivered a letter from President Millard Fillmore to the Japanese emperor requesting the opening of Japan's ports to American trade. (By Brian Bockelman)
Source Citation:
Peter Stearns, ed., The Encyclopedia of World History (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2001), 570.