Topic III: Bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another bomb on Nagasaki, killing an approximate 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.” Hiroshima, a manufacturing industry of about 350,000 people located about 500 miles from Tokyo, was selected first as a target. The Hiroshima bomb was known as "Little Boy". At first, the US thought of the Hiroshima devastation as surrender prone however it failed to do so. The US had a second target which was the city of Kokura, however thick clouds prevented to hit there. So instead the second target was dropped at Nagasaki, The plutonium bombs name was "Fat Man". Soon after the dropping of the second bomb, Emperor Hirohito announced his country's surrender. Down below are two primary source links including information on the "Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
NOT-SO-FUN FACT: If it became necessary for a third bomb to be dropped, the target would have been Japans capital Tokyo.