06 August 2016
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The atomic cloud over Hiroshima
On 6 August 1945, a US aircraft drops the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan, killing an estimated 140,000 people...
On this day, 6 August 1945, a US aircraft, with the consent of the United Kingdom, drops the world’s first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima in Japan. The bomb killed an estimated 140,000 people (including those who died later from radiation), out of a population of 300,000, and devastated an area of five square miles.
A B-29 Superfortress, Enola Gay, dropped the bomb known as ‘Old Boy’ at 8.16am Japanese time. Hiroshima was one of the chief supply depots for the Japanese army and on 9 August another atomic bomb – known as ‘Fat man’ – was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, killing 74,000 people.
Japan surrendered to the Allies on 14 August 1945, bringing about the end of the Second World War in Asia.
Today, Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park stands below the point where the bomb exploded. A ceremony is held there on 6 August every year to memorialise the victims and advocate world peace.
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