"NOTHING WAS THE SAME AFTER AUGUST 6 1945"

FIRST ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA 80 YEARS AGO 

Hiroshima, Japan (JFK+50) On August 6, 1945, 80 years ago today, the world entered the Atomic Age as the United States dropped the first Atomic Bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima*. 

The bomb exploded over the city killing "up to 140,000 people" with more to die from "the effects of fallout and radiation."  Jim Beckerman of USA Today writes that "nothing was the same after August 6, 1945," and the day marks "history's greatest dividing line."  

One of Beckerman's sources is the recent book by Susan Southard, "Nagasaki:  Life After Nuclear War."  An interesting fact she brings out is that "of the 74,000 deaths initially counted in Nagasaki (the second atomic bomb dropped 3 days after Hiroshima), only 150 were military personnel." 

Beckerman says that today there are 9600 nuclear warheads "ready for use."

JFK+50 NOTE

Oak Ridge, Tennessee played a vital role in the Manhattan Project "by developing and producing enriched uranium for the 1st atomic bombs."  On the cover of today's Knoxville News-Sentinel is a reprint of an Extra Edition of the newspaper dated August 6, 1945.  The article, cited below, says that "Oak Ridge has over 425 buildings" including K-25 & Y-12.  Oak Ridge did not exist as a city before WWII.  It was selected for the project because of its isolated location, access to electric power (TVA) & proximity to a major city, Knoxville.

*Hiroshima, Japan, located on Honshu Island, was founded in 1589 as a castle town.  Rebuilt after WWII, the city today has a population of 1,199,351.  It is a major industrial city with automobile production, ship building & electronics.  It is the headquarters of MAZDA.

SOURCES

"Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org/

"Atomic Super-Bomb, Made At Oak Ridge, Strikes Japan," by Charles Coleman, United Press Staff Correspondent, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Second Extra Edition, August 6, 1945.

"80 Years ago, A-bomb split history," by Jim Beckerman, USA Today Network--New Jersey, Knoxville News-Sentinel, August 6, 2025, www.knoxnews.com/

Photo of Hiroshima After A-Bomb

National Archives (1945)

NARA Photo-PD

"THE MOST FEARSOME SIGHT"

A-BOMB DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA

Hiroshima, Japan (JFK+50) On August 6, 1945, the world officially entered the "Atomic Age"* as the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese industrial city Hiroshima.

The weapon was dropped from the B-29 "Enola Gay"** piloted by Paul Tibbets**.  It detonated 2000 feet above the city at 8:15 in the morning.

The A-bomb exploded with the force of 15,000 tons of TNT.  Ground temperature reached 7000 degrees F. in one second.  People one-half mile from ground zero were vaporized.

Total destruction was seen within a one mile radius of the blast. 75% of the city was destroyed with 80,000 people killed instantly and 170,000 more injured.

The United States hoped by using this "awful weapon" the government of Imperial Japan would quickly surrender.  As President Harry S Truman said...

"If (the Japanese) do not accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the likes of which has never been seen on this earth."

*Atomic Age (1945-1960) a period of history following detonation of the first atomic weapon which actually came on July 16, 1945 with the Trinity test in New Mexico.

**Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber named after the mother of the pilot.  It is preserved at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

***Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. (1915-2007) was born in Illinois & attended University of Florida & University of Cincinnati.  PWT was promoted to Brigadier General in the USAF in 1964. 

SOURCE

"The Most Fearsome Sight:  The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima," The National World War II Museum, August 6, 2020, www.nationalww2museum.org/

   

 

Atomic Cloud Over Hiroshima

August 6 1945

Photo by George R. Caron

NARA