December 2003      

This bronze Buddha was melted by heat from the Hiroshima bomb. Bronze melts at around 1600 degrees F. The temperature on the ground beneath the exploding Hiroshima bomb reached about 7000 degrees DAMAGE REPORT Some 90,000 to 100,000 persons are killed immediately; about 145,000 persons will perish from the bombing by the end of 1945.

At 8:15a.m. on August 6, 1945 the 1st Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The 2nd was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.

President Harry S. Truman ordered the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end WWII.  He felt that this was the only way to resolve all conflict and sent B-29 bombers, armed with Atomic Bombs, to Japan.  The bombs were dropped on August 6, 1945 (Hiroshima, and August 9, 1945 (Nagasaki).  The above chart shows the number of casualties, square kilometers of land destroyed, and other facts about the bombings.  

• American, General Tibbets dropped "Tall Boy," from his B-29, named "Enola Gay," after Tibbets' mother

• the bomb was dropped before the Soviet Union could solve the war, as they already had ways to resolve it peacefully as possible, and it was 

• planned out

• many saw these bombings as retaliation for Pearl Harbor

• first use of Nuclear Weapons ever, ended up concluding the Second World War

• had been four cities chosen as possible targets: Hiroshima, Kokura, Nagasaki, and Niigata (Kyoto was the first choice until it was removed from the list by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson)

• cities were chosen because they had been otherwise relatively untouched during the war

• Japanese surrendered on August 10, 1945, a day after the second bombing

Links
Markville American History
History Place Time Line     

WWII Guide, Atom Bombs

Decisions About the Atomic Bombs

Nuclear Files about Bombs, Targets, and Results

Weapon Testing on Atomic Bombs for Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Avalon Project at Yale

"Dropping the Bomb"
1945 Day by Day Through Primary Sources