Today in Technology History
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August 6
Fifty-six years ago, an atomic bomb exploded over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
Both the Axis and Allied countries in World War II researched nuclear weapons, but the U.S. pulled far ahead. The war in Europe ended in May 1945, but the fighting in the Pacific continued: Japan refused to submit to the surrender terms demanded by the Allies.
Wishing to avoid a land invasion with a high death toll, U.S. President Truman authorized the use of atomic bombs against Japan. On August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber with twelve crew members flew to Japan on "special bombing mission number 13." The plane was nicknamed Enola Gay, after the pilot's mother. The bomb, a uranium bomb of a variety that had never been tested, was nicknamed "Little Boy" because it was the smaller of America's two atomic bombs. The crew was given cyanide tablets to use if captured.
The bomb was dropped at 8:16 a.m. local time.
It exploded with the force of 15,000 tons of TNT. Everything immediately beneath was destroyed, and several square miles were burned into nothingness. A huge mushroom cloud billowed from the burning city. Between 70,000 and 80,000 people died right away; perhaps as many died from radiation or injuries.
Japan surrendered soon after a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
The atomic bomb instantly and irrevocably transformed warfare. When nuclear and missile technology were eventually combined, we attained the power to wreak godlike destruction anywhere on the planet. Mankind will have to cope with the consequences of this power forever.
Related links:
Click here to visit the homepage of the Enola Gay's pilot.
Click here and here to read about the controversial museum exhibit of the restored Enola Gay.
Click here and here to see documents related to the decision to drop the bomb.
Click here to visit the homepage for the city of Hiroshima.
Click here to read about the first manmade atomic explosion, several weeks before Hiroshima.
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