Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
At 8:15 a.m. on 6 August 1945, the American B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped 'Little Boy,' the first nuclear weapon used in warfare, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bomb, equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT, destroyed everything within one mile of the hypocenter; between 70,000 and 80,000 people were killed instantly, and a total of 90,000–166,000 died within the end of 1945 from the blast, firestorm, and radiation. On 9 August a second bomb, 'Fat Man,' was dropped on Nagasaki, killing 60,000–80,000. On 15 August Emperor Hirohito broadcast Japan's surrender, citing 'a new and most cruel bomb.' The bombings ended the Pacific War without the invasion of the home islands that American planners had estimated would cost hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides. They also inaugurated the nuclear age, irrevocably changing the character of warfare and great-power competition. Whether the bombings were morally justified — necessary to end the war and save lives, or unnecessary attacks on civilians given Japan's imminent surrender — remains one of the most debated ethical questions of the twentieth century.
- Year: 1945 CE
- Category: Military
