On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM local time, the U.S. Army Air Forces B-29 bomber Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, dropped the "Little Boy" atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This marked the world's first operational use of a nuclear weapon in military history.
The uranium-235 gun-type bomb exploded approximately 1,900 feet above the city center with a yield of roughly 15 kilotons of TNT. The resulting thermal flash, intense blast wave, and firestorm instantly incinerated five square miles of Hiroshima, instantly killing an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people.
President Harry S. Truman ordered the strike to compel Japan's unconditional surrender without launching a costly amphibious invasion of the Japanese mainland. Three days later, a second bomb struck Nagasaki, leading to Emperor Hirohito's announcement of surrender on August 15 and concluding World War II.
Why it matters
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima fundamentally transformed global military strategy and geopolitical relations, ushering in the Nuclear Age. Combined with the Soviet entry into the war and the Nagasaki bombing, it precipitated Japan's unconditional surrender, ending World War II while creating the atomic brinkmanship dynamic that defined Cold War international diplomacy.
Interesting fact
Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived the atomic blast in Hiroshima on August 6 and traveled home to Nagasaki, where he survived the second atomic bombing on August 9.
People
- Harry S. TrumanPresident of the United States
- Paul TibbetsPilot of the B-29 bomber Enola Gay
- J. Robert OppenheimerDirector of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory
Quotes
"Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima and destroyed its usefulness to the enemy."
Location
Hiroshima Ground Zero · Hiroshima · Japan
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