Two biggest and worst impacts in history
Do you know when the first atomic bomb was dropped? In the article The Atomic Bomb, it states that “At approximately 8:15am on August 6, 1945 a US B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, instantly killing around 80,000 people. In the months following the attack, roughly 100,000 more people died slow, horrendous deaths as a result of radiation poisoning”(History 1). The United Sates dropped this bomb on Japan to get revenge after the attack of Pearl Harbor. The drop of this bomb also started the Cold War that caused more issues in the future.
After the attack of Pearl Harbor In 1941, The United States began an atomic bomb program called the “Manhattan Project”. The main goal of the “Manhattan Project” was to build an atomic bomb before Germany could create one and use it during World War II. Germany had started a similar program four years before the “Manhattan project” was secretly happening. The United Sates was planning a good revenge that would kill many innocent Japanese civilians. “Minutes later, the new atomic weapon released its powerful energy and detonated in the sky, the atomic bomb killed around 70,000 Japanese civilians instantly and leaving the city completely destroyed. Three days later, the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb over the city of Nagasaki, with the same results (Hamner 1). The following week, Japan’s emperor finally surrendered. The Japanese were expecting the United States to attack back after Pearl Harbor, but not as powerful as the two deadly atomic bombs.
In August of 1945 during World War II, the two atomic bombs that were ever dropped in history were dropped on the two Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, which left the cities completely destroyed. Truman states “That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British "Grand Slam" which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare”(Truman 1). No other bomb could have done the damage that these two bombs did. Up to “60,000 of 90,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged by the atomic bomb” (Avalon Project 1). Three days later of the bombing of Hiroshima the United Sates bombed the city of Nagasaki. “When Nagasaki got bombed “14,000 or 27% of 52,000 residences were completely destroyed and 5,40O, or 10% were half destroyed. Only 12% remained undamaged” (Avalon Project 1). The Bomb left Nagasaki destroyed but not as much like the city of Hiroshima. The reason why Nagasaki was not destroyed as much was because it had more hills and mountains.
There was health consequences on the Japanese after the atomic bombing even after years passed. ”Five years after the atomic bombings, in the 1950 Japanese national census, approximately 280,000 persons indicated that they "had been exposed"(ucla.edu 1). The people had been exposed to radiation after the bomb was dropped; this was a reason why so many people died . The radiation affected everybody that got exposed to it; it caused people to lose hair and vomiting. In the future babies were affected and born with disabilities and sicknesses. Many people that survived had health issues in the future.
Was Japan aware of the bomb? According to David Krieger “before the bombs were dropped Japan had been fully aware of the true devastation our threats held” (1). Japan was expecting revenge from the United States but not a bomb as powerful like the “Little Boy” and the “Fat Man”. The “Fat Man” is a name for the bomb that was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, and the” Little Man” was the bomb dropped on the city of Nagasaki. What was the” Little Boy”? A nuclear weapon of the "Little Boy" type, the uranium gun-type detonated over Hiroshima. It is 28 inches in diameter and 120 inches long. "Little Boy" weighed about 9,000 pounds and had a yield approximating 15,000 tons of high explosives” (William Burr).
Are Hiroshima and Nagasaki still radioactive? “Among some there is the unfounded fear that Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still radioactive; in reality, this is not true” (k1team 1). The levels of radioactivity in these cities are so low that it can barely be distinguished now. Although many people think that there still is radiation in these cities but there isn’t according to the information by k1team. But you never know maybe there still is radiation in these two cities.
The atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki where two worst disasters ever to exist in history because of the effects they did. Although these two bombs brought the war to an end faster and saved American lives but killed many innocent Japanese civilians’ .The two bombs also caused health issues to the survivors and to the people that were exposed to the radiation. Well maybe the war could have ended in a different way. Without the use of the “Little Man “or the “Fat Man” that killed many people and destroyed the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.