Learn from history to avoid same errors

In this article we will talk, maybe, of the most tragic event never happened in history that mankind has ever known. We are at the end of World War II. On August 6, 1945 at 8:16 and 8 seconds (local time) by the US Air Force bomber ‘Enola Gay’, upon the order of President Truman, was launched the first atomic bomb (codenamed ‘Little Boy’) used for the first time in a military conflict, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, which until then had been spared by the bombings. The bomb exploded at an altitude of 576 meters with a capacity of 12,500 tons of TNT (trinitrotoluene). Needless to say it was a terrible tragedy. The blast killed on the spot between 70,000 and 80,000 persons until to 100,000 in the following years because of the radiation. More than 180,000 people displaced and some later died as a result of the devastating injuries caused by the radiations. Almost 90% of the buildings was destroyed and all the fifty temples in the city were totally destroyed by the force of the explosion. On Hiroshima was also used the bomber ‘Boeing B-29 Superfortress’, then called, ‘Neccessary Evil’ which had the only function of documenting, through a series of photographs, the effects of the use of atomic weapons.

Just three days later, on August 9, 1945 at 11:02 am (about) Nagasaki was chosen as the second target on which has been launched the second atomic bomb (codenamed ‘Fat Man’) with the use of the bomber ‘Boeing B-29 Superfortress’. The bomb exploded at an altitude of 470 meters. Here, too, the victims, dead and wounded, were estimated at around 55,000 units of which 40,000 killed instantly. The victims become up to about 80,000 in the following years because of the radiation. A mistake in dropping the bomb because of adverse weather conditions have saved much of the city, protected by the surrounding hills, infact the bomb fell in the Urakami valley.

The two attacks so close in time have forced the Japanese to surrender on August 15, 1945.

It was the end of World War II, the most violent and bloody conflict in mankind history

Several debates were opened on the use of a weapon of such potency by the US against Japan to force them to surrender. For Japan it came to war crimes, while for Americans the atomic attacks have been used to reduce the time of the Second World War, avoiding the loss of more lives of soldiers (both allies and Japaneses) and of civilians. The reasons may still be due to many others hypotheses. In any case, the awareness of the severity of the event is still being shared by all, to the point that the use of such devices hasn’t more been used.

A Before and After lasted an instant

Additional sources for learning:

• Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (2016, July 18). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12:59, July 28, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki&oldid=730290278.

Video (english only)

Gallery

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