Saturday marks the 78th anniversary of Japan’s surprise attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, which plunged the United States into the biggest war in its history. This is one of those historical events that no longer gets much attention except on the big anniversaries — such as the 75th, in 2016. That anniversary preceded a visit by President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe, who together paid solemn tribute to the Americans who died on Dec. 7, 1941.